France Month by Month - Discover France: Experience the Best of France - page 85

August
It's that mad summer month when the French join everyone else on holiday. Paris,
Lyon and other big cities empty; traffic jams test the patience of a saint; and temper-
atures soar.
Proud to be Breton
The Fêtes d'Arvor is a passionate celebration of Breton culture. Think street
parades, concerts and dozens of authentic festoù-noz (night festivals) spilling
across the half-timbered, cobbled Vannes ( www.fetes-arvor.org , in French).
Celts Unite!
Celtic culture is the focus of the Festival Interceltique de Lorient ( www.festival-inter-
celtique.com ), when hundreds of thousands of Celts from Brittany and abroad flock
to Lorient.
September
As sun-plump grapes hang heavy on darkened vines and that August madness
drops off, a tranquillity falls across autumnal France. It's the start of the vendange
(grape harvest).
The Rutting Season
Nothing beats getting up at dawn to watch mating stags, boar and red deer at play.
Observatory towers are hidden in woods around Château de Chambord ( Click here
), but when a valley like the Loire is so full of Renaissance hunting pads, who cares
which one?
Braderie de Lille
The mountains of empty mussel shells engulfing the streets after three days of
munching have to be seen to be believed. Then there's the real reason for visiting
Lille the first weekend in September - its colossal flea market is Europe's largest.