Every design for Saint-Brieuc

In the central gardens of the Parc des Promenades, Paul le Goff's sculpture La forme sortant de la matière seems to pull itself out of the stone, a few steps from the monument to Anatole Le Braz. Saint-Brieuc keeps its memories close like that, in gardens and street names.

The feeling here is of a town that has always looked after its own. It takes its name from Brioc, a Welsh monk who founded an oratory on this spot, and it has been the heart of the Pays de Saint-Brieuc ever since. The town sits at the head of the Bay of Saint-Brieuc, cut by the valleys of the Gouët and the Gouédic, and its people, the Briochins, have carried the name as far as Saskatchewan.

What stays with you is the bay itself, its name on every signpost and the grey-green water at the end of the valleys.