Queer Cinema World Tour is our regular feature taking you to destinations that provide the settings to your favourite LGBTQ2S+ film moments. This week we take you to Britanny, France, the setting for 2019’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire.
Play out your own sapphic drama on the swoon-worthy beach the painter Marianne (Noémie Merlant) arrives on at the beginning of Céline Sciamma’s instant classic.
It’s the late 18th century when Marianne arrives on an island off the shore of Brittany, France, with the mission of painting a wedding portrait of Héloïse (Adèle Haenel) so that Héloïse’s future husband can evaluate her looks—no selfies in 18th century France.
But Héloïse is not supposed to know the portrait-painting is happening—Marianne is posing as a hired companion. As the two women spend profound amounts of time together, they do start to notice something else happening—an intense attraction. The amazing amount of tension Sciamma and her actors develop is enough to make a coy viewer giggle and run away, but the clever dialogue and those late 18th-century bodices help hold us in rapt attention.
Much of the story is set inside a mansion; the interiors and exteriors are shot at the castle of La Chapelle-Gauthier in the town of Seine-et-Marne—quite a cheat, really, since this is just an hour outside Paris, not anywhere near Brittany, which is a six-hour drive away. The castle is currently being restored to be open to visitors.
But the film gets most of its atmosphere from its stunning coastal locations—the waves pounding on the rocks, the seagulls crying out. It’s set on a fictional island off Brittany, but is mostly filmed on the Quiberon Peninsula, which would be an island except for a sandspit connecting it to the mainland.
The coast runs eight kilometres from Château Turpault to Pointe du Percho. The sandy one-kilometre-long beach at the bottom is called La Grande Plage and is perfect for thinking about that hot thing back at the castle and what to do about her.
The community of Quiberon itself, which has a population of fewer than 5,000 people, is a popular mainstream seaside resort—there are traditional restaurants and quaint cafés to check out. Local treats include niniches (lollipops), salidou (salted butter caramel), Quiberon biscuits, smoked fish and tinned sardines. Le Base restaurant (12 rue d’Olibarte, Quiberon) has seafood-inspired cuisine that looks like it could impress even Héloïse.
Don’t expect chain hotels in this quiet corner of France, but there are LGBTQ+-friendly rentals available.
If you want a taste of LGBTQ2S+ nightlife, the nearest spot is an hour inland, the cozy Dans un Autre Monde (6 Rue de l’Étang, Vannes).
The capital of Brittany, Rennes, is about a two-hour drive away. A city of about 215,000 people, Rennes has a couple of gay bars and a couple of saunas, as well as a very active LGBTQ+ sports group and a Pride that happens this year on June 17.
The Francophiles among you might have winced at the mention of Rennes as the capital of Brittany. Nantes, which is also about a two-hour drive away from Quiberon, is traditionally thought of as part of Brittany, culturally, at least, but it’s actually the capital of the neighbouring region, Pays de la Loire. With a population of more than 300,000, Nantes may be a bit gayer than Rennes; they host their Pride this year on June 10.
Nantes is also the home to Gays Randonneurs Nantais, an LGBTQ+ social club that offers many indoor and outdoor activities. If Portrait of a Lady on Fire’s Marianne had been born 250 later, she could have signed up for some of their group hikes along the coast and discovered the beaches without having to wrangle the likes of Héloïse.
