At a busy creperie amid the cobbled medieval streets of Quimper in Brittany, northern France, a lunchtime crowd is enjoying hearty galettes packed with combinations of meats, cheeses and eggs.
The crepe has become a staple of French cuisine, but another aspect of Brittany's culture -- the region's unique language -- is in danger of dying with an aging generation of Breton speakers.
Almost two million people spoke Breton at the beginning of the 20th century, according to Ofis ar Brezhoneg, the Breton Language Office. That number has now declined to around 250,000 according to UNESCO, which lists the language as severely endangered.
But the latest figures may already be out of date. Most Breton speakers are now in their 70s or older and the language is estimated to be losing around 10,000 speakers a year.
"The Breton language is the main aspect of our culture, our identity," Fulup Jakez, head of Ofis ar Brezhoneg, told CNN. "If we lose our language we lose everything."
Brittany -- or Breizh in Breton -- has always had a seperate identity to the rest of France. The northwestern peninsula was settled by Celtic migrants who arrived from Britain in the fifth and sixth centuries AD. The region remains proud of its heritage with a rich tradition of Celtic music and culture that shares more in common with Cornwall, Wales or Ireland than France.
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Bretons fight to save language from extinction - CNN.com