| PONT-AVEN, 14km east of Concarneau and just inland from the tip of the Aven estuary, is a small port packed with tourists and art galleries. This was where Gauguin came to paint in the 1880s before he left for Tahiti. Though Gauguin inspired the Pont-Aven School of fellow artists, including Émile Bernard, for all the local hype, the town has no permanent collection of his work. The Musée Municipal (daily: mid-Feb to mid-June & mid-Sept to Dec 10am–12.30pm & 2–6pm; mid-June to mid-Sept 10am–7pm; €4) in the mairie holds changing exhibitions of the school and other artists active during the same period, but you can't count on paintings by the man himself. Gauguin aside, Pont-Aven is pleasant in its own right. Just upstream of the little granite bridge at the heart of town, the promenade Xavier-Grall crisscrosses the tiny river itself on landscaped walkways, offering glimpses of the backs of venerable mansions, dripping with ivy, and a little "chaos" of rocks in the stream itself. A longer walk – allow an hour – leads into the romantically named Bois d'Amour, wooded gardens which have long provided inspiration to painters, poets and musicians. Pont-Aven's tourist office, 5 place de l'Hôtel de Ville (April–June & Sept–Oct daily 9.15am–12.30pm & 2–7pm; July & Aug daily 9.30am–7.30pm; Nov–March Mon–Sat 10am–12.30pm & 2–6pm; tel 02.98.06.04.70), sells an excellent English-language booklet on the town, plus route maps of local walks, for €0.50. Much the best of the town's three relatively expensive hotels is the central Hôtel des Ajoncs d'Or, 1 place de l'Hôtel de Ville (tel 02.98.06.02.06; €40–55; closed Jan), where gourmet menus start at €14. The nicest of the local campsites is Le Spinnaker (tel 02.98.06.01.77; closed Oct–April), set in a large wooded park.
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