Travel the World While Exploring the Arts
Words by ESM Travel Editors
We’ve rounded up four of the best places to experience and explore the local arts. From Texas towns to ancient European cities, there is nothing short of creativity, history, color, and craftsmanship everywhere you look.
St. Brieuc, France
Half-timbered houses line the cobbled streets of Saint-Brieuc, a town that one would be forgiven for mistaking for an English village but is actually located in northwestern France. Look closely at this maritime settlement though, and it is evident that the artistic bent of these ancient streets is decidedly not British. Street art and galleries featuring arts and crafts as well as fine photography dot this seaside town rooted alongside the English Channel.
However, it may be the buildings themselves that represent one of the greatest works of art in St. Brieuc. Towering above the town is the Maison Saint-Yves chapel, an early 20th-century masterpiece wrought in Art Deco style. Filled with Odorico mosaics, fresco paintings, and Xavier de Langlais (Seiz Breur) murals, its beauty is only magnified by the undulating colors cast on the walls by the stained-glass windows.
If architecture is not your kryptonite, just walk out into the open-air gallery of the town’s walls. Concrete, wood, and granite compose the color palette of Saint-Brieuc; however, dozens of murals splash across this neutral background. Wander around on your own or book a guided tour. Visitors that arrive during the annual Just Do Paint festival are sure to be wowed by the democratization of art offered by this small town in Brittany, France.
-by Jessi Devenyns
