Actually, we spent almost as much time in Vannes than in our residence town, almost. And the beat goes on around the wonderful beautiful port or Le Port of Vannes. I had come to many events here but one that missed from my blog is a wonderfully beautiful boat parade, This is a great event and glad was able to capture some pictures to have it in my blog for you and me, Therefore, let me tell you about the Semaine du Golfe du Morbihan !!! Hope you enjoy it as I.
The port of Vannes is a commercial port, a passenger port and a Marina located north of the Gulf of Morbihan along a 1 200 meters channel that leads the boats from the commercial port of Pont-Vert to the afloat basin ,at the foot of the Porte Saint-Vincent,(see post) entrance gate of the old town of Vannes. The event here was the Semaine du Golfe du Morbihan an international maritime and land event taking place in the Gulf of Morbihan, in my beautiful Morbihan dept 56 of my lovely Bretagne and in my belle France. This year was the 13th edition from Monday May 26 to Sunday June 1, 2025. The Gulf Week now takes place every two years during Ascension week, every odd-numbered year,so next will be in 2027, stay tune.
The Semaine du Golfe or Gulf Week allows more than a thousand traditional and classic boats to sail in flotillas in the superb natural setting of the Gulf of Morbihan. The crews move from port to port, maneuvering according to the winds and currents. Each flotilla is led by a “Captain,” surrounded by volunteers and professionals who expertly regulate movements on the water. Every evening, the ports come alive. Sailors and enthusiasts gather, welcomed by the local communities, in a festive atmosphere, enhanced by concerts, sea shanties, and friendly entertainment. 19 towns are associated with the event: Arradon – Auray – Arzon – Baden – Crac’h – Île aux Moines – Île d’Arz – Larmor-Baden – Le Bono – Le Hézo – Locmariaquer – Plougoumelen – Sarzeau – Séné – Saint-Armel – Saint-Gildas de Rhuys – Vannes. From this year 2025, the festivities extend to the islands of Houat and Hœdic to allow the largest sailing boats to sail outside the gulf.
Two boats stands out, me think, and got them afar but pretty pictures, me think, The first one was the Phoenix ,a brig built in Denmark in 1929. It,also, bore the names Anna, Palmeto, Jørgen Peter, Karma, Skibladner, Adella, and Gabriel. It was refitted for the film industry at the Charlestown Harbour shipyards in the United Kingdom. A reconstruction of an 18C Danish ship, it began its career as a schooner for a Danish evangelical mission. In the 1950s, and became a North Sea coaster. In 1974, it was converted into a brigantine and then acquired in 1988 by The Square Sail Fleet, which also owns the Earl of Pembroke and the Kaskelot. This fleet has been carefully rebuilt for use in film shoots. In 1991, the Phoenix became the 15C carrack Santa Maria during the filming of the Anglo-French-Spanish film 1492: Christopher Columbus (1992), directed by Ridley Scott. The ship was known as Santa Maria until 1996, when it reverted to the name Phoenix. The Phoenix relinquished its Danish flag to French in April 2024, and its home port was relocated from Charleston, Cornwall, to Port-Haliguen, Quiberon 56!.right down from me !
The other was the Étoile du Roy , a three-masted square-rigged replica inspired by an 18C English privateer frigate, of the 20-gun sixth-rate type according to the British classification of the time. The ship is 46.3 meters long and 10.4 meters wide. Her mainmast is nearly 36 meters high and her draft is 3.1 meters. Her rigging includes 12 sails. The foremast and mainmast are square-rigged, each with three sails. The mizzenmast is square-rigged on top, while below it carries a spanker. The bowsprit carries a main and a false jib. The ship is equipped with two 450 hp diesel engines , Seen it before at harbor in Saint Malo (Ile et Vilaine 35), The sailing ship was built in 1996 in Turkey, named Grand Turk, and is a replica inspired by the British frigate HMS Blandford (launched in 1741). Its open deck is fitted with cardboard smoothbore cannons (20 cannons armed the original). In 2010, it was acquired by Étoile Marine Croisières. It was then renamed Étoile du Roy with its home port, the corsair city of Saint-Malo. It is the second largest traditional French ship, In 2015, Escoffier’s Étoile Marine Croisières company was bought by Wilfrid Provost, the new owner , The Étoile du Roy served as a set for the British television series Hornblower, based on the novels by C. S. Forester and his fictional character Horatio Hornblower, a Royal Navy officer during the French revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. It appears in Martin Bourboulon’s diptych, The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan and Milady (2023), notably in the scenes filmed in Saint-Malo to represent the Siege of La Rochelle , It served in Ridley Scott’s film Napoleon (2023). It was at Għajn Tuffieħa (or Golden Bay), in Malta, to film the scenes of Napoleon’s first feat of arms, the Siege of Toulon during the French revolution in 1793, It was used again for the adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo directed by Alexandre de La Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte, playing The Pharaoh and anchoring in Malta, Wonderful shot me think.
The official Semaine du Golfe : https://www.semainedugolfe.com/
The City of Vannes on the Semaine du Golfe : https://mairie-vannes.fr/agenda/la-semaine-du-golfe-0
The local Gulf of Morbihan tourist office on the Semaine du Golfe : https://www.golfedumorbihan.bzh/explorer-vannes/activites-vannes/agenda/la-semaine-du-golfe-du-morbihan/
There you go folks, a dandy in my Vannes. The Semaine du Golfe du Morbihan is the happening place to be each two years, and you would do well to stop by. Again,hope you enjoy the post on the Semaine du Golfe du Morbihan !!! as I.
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 