Belle-Île (in Breton: Enez ar Gerveur). The island was also named Vindilis by the Gallo-Romans, which means "island of winds". The poetess Eva Jouan had named Belle-Île "the well-named" in one of the poems of her collection "De la grève", published in 1896.

Belle-Île is the largest of the Breton islands. It is a plateau of 85 km² notched by many small valleys. Unlike its neighbours Houat and Hoedic, which are granitic islands, Belle-Île is made of schist. Thus, the coastline has undergone a massive erosion from the sea, mainly in the South-West part facing the ocean (Wild Coast). The schist does not become polished, it weathers and makes cliffs alternating with many beaches and sheltered creeks.

The climate of Belle-Île is very oceanic and enjoys an important sunny period. Frost is rare, it rains more seldom than on the continent and the winters are mild (average low temperature is 9°C), which allows the Mediterranean plants to grow.

Belle-Île has four communes:
Le Palais, main harbour. Accessible by the ferry from Quiberon.
Sauzon, second harbour. Accessible by maritime links during summer.
Locmaria, located in the eastern part of the island, more dedicated to agriculture.
Bangor, hiding some of the most beautiful beaches of the wild coast behind its fields and moors.

The inhabitants live in more than 150 villages, distributed on the whole surface of the island (there are two "Bornor" and two "Kerzo").
By clicking on some of these villages (about 35 villages, for the moment), you may access to some more pictures...

Remarkable places:
The Vauban Citadel of Palais
The needles of Port-Coton, painted by Claude Monet
The Cave of "Apothicairerie"
The harbour of Sauzon with its pastel painted houses
The Foreland of "Les Poulains"
The Beach of Donnant

Useful links :
Belle-Ile websites directory (many links and addresses): http://www.belle-ile.info
To come to Belle-Ile (Compagnie Oceane website): http://www.compagnie-oceane.fr/
Tourism Office website: http://www.belle-ile.com
Website of the CCBI (Communauté de Communes de Belle-Ile en Mer): http://ccbi.fr
Holiday France Direct Travel Guide: http://www.holidayfrancedirect.co.uk/travel-guide/morbihan_websites.html

New ! : Pictures of Belle-Ile: http://via-images.com/belleile/thumb.html

Nice pictures of Belle-Ile: http://www.florent-gury.com/index.php?/categories

Aerial pictures and panoramic views of Belle-Ile taken from a kite : http://ormes54.club.fr/ALBUM/kap/divers/belile09/index.html
Photos, links and videos about Belle-Ile: http://belleileenweb.free.fr (see more particularily in the page "liens" the INA website: many videos about Belle-Ile)
Very beautiful pictures of Belle-Ile:http://www.belle-ile-photos.com
Very beautiful pictures of Belle-Ile: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/belleile/
Pictures of Belle-Ile on a blog : http://madeinfrancoise2.skynetblogs.be
Some photos of Belle-Ile and Britanny: http://photos-balades.over-blog.com/article-13756462.html
Some old postcards of Belle-Ile :http://www.belle-ile-en-mer.blogspot.com
Some photos of Belle-Ile : http://perso.orange.fr/danielle.esposito/belleile.html
Some photos of Belle-Ile: http://www.pbase.com/henkbinnendijk/belleile
Some photos of Belle-Ile: http://glr81.free.fr/blog/index.php?gallery/bretagne/belle-ile/

Beautiful pictures of bodyboarders at Donnant: http://www.pbase.com/georges_felix/donnant
Aerial views of Belle-Ile : http://www.survoldefrance.fr/affichage.php?lieu=Belle-ile-en-mer
Your holidays at Belle-Ile en Mer: http://www.belleileenmer.com
Website of Belle-Ile (pictures, history, art): http://www.sauzon.com/

Locmaria website: http://locmaria-belle-ile.com/
Palais website: http://www.lepalais.fr/
Sauzon official website: http://www.sauzon.fr/
Bangor website : http://www.bangor.fr/

Societies, associations of Belle-Ile, events, websites, etc. :

"Lyrique-en-mer" Festival : (music festival) http://www.belle-ile.net

Society of History of Belle-Ile : http://belle-ile-histoire.org/
Website of the SNBI (Société Nautique de Belle-Ile): http://www.snbi.fr

Music at "Le Kervi": Website of KCJB (Kervi Celti Jazz Band): http://www.kcjb.fr/
Keltan: music from Britanny and Ireland (with musicians from Belle-Ile) : http://www.tamm-kreiz.com/groupe/3165/keltan.html
Fishing around Belle-Ile: http://www.peche-belleile.com/site_uk/arnaud.html
Trek at Belle-Ile: http://marandobelleile.canalblog.com/

Artist website: Françoise Bangor: http://francoisebangor.free.fr

Other Breton websites:	http://www.webbreton.com
Directory and guide of Britanny:

Breton website: http://www.portailbreton.net/
Breton website: http://www.breizhoo.fr
Monthly magazine of the "Golfe du Morbihan": http://www.morbihan.lemensuel.com/
Website of Government services in Britanny: www.bretagne.pref.gouv.fr
Beautiful photos of Britanny: http://www.couleurs-iroise.net
Website of the island of Quemenes: http://iledequemenes.fr : island farm and guest rooms on a almost uninhabited small island in Iroise Sea; visit their superb blog !
3D modeling of the lighthouses of Britanny (for flight simulation): http://www.alrocreation.fr/

Dances and music from Britanny: http://www.nozbreizh.fr/ (more than 11000 titles of Breton music are listed)
Breton cultural website (websites concerning the language and the culture of Britanny): http://www.gwalarn.org
Traditional breton songs: http://pagesperso-orange.fr/per.kentel/index_perso.htm

Here are some keys to decode the local toponimy of Belle-Ile: