Brest to St Brieuc

Michael Portillo’s railway journey reaches the naval port of Brest, home to France’s oceanographic fleet. Aboard the pride of the fleet, the 107-metre-long Pourquoi Pas, Michael hears how marine biologists deploy research submersibles 6,000 metres below the surface to study life in the deep sea.

In the kitchen of a traditional boulangerie, Michael learns how to make a Breton favourite, a sweet, buttery cake called kouign-amann. The taste for Breton culture leads him to Guingamp, where he attempts to keep up with a Breton dance troupe rehearsing for the regional dance championships.

On the windswept north coast, with some of the highest tides in the world, Michael visits Brittany’s largest nature reserve, which attracts over 100 bird species.