|
WE HAD disembarked from the channel ferry at St Malo to find leaden clouds perched on the roof tops like plump grey pigeons about to download. As if pre-ordained, the first raindrops punctuated the windows as we boarded the Press bus.
"Here we go again," I murmured, as thoughts of soggy socks and non-stop windscreen wipers revived memories of touring Morocco and Iberia during their wettest winter on record.
I hadn't seen Southern Brittany for several years and had been anticipating some pleasant golf, preferably in short sleeves and a sun visor.
But suddenly the four days ahead seemed less than attractive as I tried to recall how many sweaters I'd packed this time and which golf shoes.
At least we'll dine well, I thought, and the wine should be agreeable.
"Don't worry," said our host, hearing our moans. "It's often like this on the channel coast. An hour in-land and it will be like summer."
He was right on. We needed the sun visors as we teed up after a gentle lunch and not a drop of rain came our way until we returned to St Malo, relaxed and replete with all the good things of life that Southern Brittany has to offer.
The weather, indeed, is an ace up the Breton sleeve. The palm trees and tropical flora to be found at the gateway to the Loire Valley endorse claims by the natives that their climate is far removed from that further north. It's a bonus for those seeking an alternative winter holiday destination.
The area we toured is only two hours by road from St Malo but it has a micro climate more in keeping with Cannes, perhaps, or the other Mediterranean fleshpots. Which is why the region holds such appeal for those golfing visitors who wish to avoid flying and all it involves, to say nought of crowded courses.
Brittany summers are a delight -- although France generally should be avoided in July and August when the natives holiday en masse -- but those who visit in late autumn or early spring would have it no other way. Prices are lower, the golf courses are under-populated and good accommodation is more accessible.
Golf aside, the scenery en route is worth the drive: a succession of well endowed villages with neatly trimmed hedges and verges, flower pots in profusion and no signs of litter or graffiti. One suspects that vandals would receive short shrift hereabouts, such is the obvious civic pride, and crime seems minimal.
Then there is the comfortable relationship that exists between Breton and Briton. It has been written that unlike some of their compatriots the Bretons don't harbour thoughts of the perpetual re-enactment of the Battle of Agincourt, indeed there are strong links with Britain, cultural and geological.
A fiercely independent people, the Bretons have great dignity as well as pride. It came as no surprise some years ago when as many as 30 per cent of them voted for independence from France.
'Tis a rare race indeed.
THE development boom that put France to the fore in European golf in the 1980s has run its course but the end results are now part of the tapestry of French life and a magnet for golfing tourists.
Consider these facts: 20 years ago there were 93 golf clubs and 43,613 registered players in a population comparable to Britain's but with a land mass five times its size. In the mid-1990s the statistics had risen to 355 clubs and 173,700 registered players.
Now there are 514 courses and the French Golf Federation is contemplating a membership of 300,000 by the end of the decade.
What's more, unlike the majority of British clubs, many of those in France are dedicated to pay-and-play, commercial ventures combining private housing and extensive facilities for visiting golfers.
One such organisation is Formule Golf, an off-shoot of the French Water Board, which manages, among others, seven courses on the Brittany coast and 11 on the Vendee, the Atlantic coast.
They have limited local membership and rely heavily for revenue on green fees and the use of clubhouse facilities such as their restaurants which, without exception, offer admirable and inexpensive fare, as well as good value green fees -- between £13 and £30 for a day ticket, depending upon season and course.
Unlike the centres of golf in Spain and Portugal, the French resorts are geographically widespread, although the more renowned are within sniffing distance of the sea.
The coastal regions of Normandy, the Cote d'Azur and the Cote Basque were long regarded as the principal golfing centres but thanks to car ferries and the ports of Caen and St Malo the golfing Francophiles have in recent times discovered the delights of Brittany and the coastal region of the Western Loire.
There are 40 or so courses within a comfortable driving distance of St Malo and those who enjoy a touring golf holiday in sublime countryside can have their fill, with a variety of accommodations, from small country inns to de luxe hotels to chateaux.
Page [1], [2] - [next page]
|
