British film festival at Dinard (France)
Posted by LN, Tuesday 15 September 2009 at 14:20 - Expositions and festivals - Tags
Normandy has its American Film Festival in Deauville at the end of summer .... Britain too!!! An international film festival ... the British Film Festival.
And where can it be ??? A place for the Franco-British friendship… Dinard.
Why Dinard ? Because in the mid 19 th century this small city used to be crowded with British people enjoying the sea. And the success was so impressive that nowadays Dinard has more than 400 villas listed.
In short, the British Film Festival could not find a better ally : and it goes on with the ferry that connects Saint Malo (just in front of Dinard) with United Kingdom.
Back to cinema. The festival takes place in early autumn for a few days. And the last ones were successfull…
Shallow Grave Friends (1994), The Full Monty (1997) Billy Elliot (2000), Bloody Sunday (2002) or The Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003). What a great reward and a great opportunity to discover original works.
Not bad for a young festival ! Here is the program for the 20th edition.
The festival has many awards but the ultimate prize is the Golden Hitchcock .... Some sessions are free, screenings are held in the prison of Saint Malo.
In september, enjoy the very pleasant open-air screening .. .
The festival is really nice, far from the summer crowds, you discover the charms of Dinard and its cinemas... And improve your French .... by reading the subtitles...
Read it in French : Festival du film britannique à Dinard
And where can it be ??? A place for the Franco-British friendship… Dinard.
Why Dinard ? Because in the mid 19 th century this small city used to be crowded with British people enjoying the sea. And the success was so impressive that nowadays Dinard has more than 400 villas listed.
In short, the British Film Festival could not find a better ally : and it goes on with the ferry that connects Saint Malo (just in front of Dinard) with United Kingdom.
Back to cinema. The festival takes place in early autumn for a few days. And the last ones were successfull…
Shallow Grave Friends (1994), The Full Monty (1997) Billy Elliot (2000), Bloody Sunday (2002) or The Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003). What a great reward and a great opportunity to discover original works.
Not bad for a young festival ! Here is the program for the 20th edition.
The festival has many awards but the ultimate prize is the Golden Hitchcock .... Some sessions are free, screenings are held in the prison of Saint Malo.
In september, enjoy the very pleasant open-air screening .. .
The festival is really nice, far from the summer crowds, you discover the charms of Dinard and its cinemas... And improve your French .... by reading the subtitles...
Read it in French : Festival du film britannique à Dinard
Read also :
The exhibition of Yann Arthus Bertrand: 6 billion others
Posted by LN - Tags
I don’t know if Yann Arthus Bertrand is known abroad. If not, let me introduce him. He is an ecologist or an environmentalist. It is almost the French Al Gore, but as a photographer and not as a politician…
He has made several ecologist events : books about the state of the earth (Earth from above), films also and exhibitions. And he is also interested in mankind and the show 6 billion others is one of them.
This exhibition was first presented in Grand Palais in Paris and, then a smaller city but still the capital of Brittany Rennes and then far away New York… It presents mankind… 5000 interviews in 75 countries and 40 answers to 40 questions.
It is trite to say but sometimes it is very surprising to compare people's responses to issues such as violence, love, belief, happiness ...
Everyone gives his feeling : a man explains that the birth of his son is the Event of his life, another hopes that the trial of Pol Pot will happen sson, for a third one, happiness is easy … Another does not support people repeating again and again. Or when his wife makes bad cooking.… A survivor of a plane crash who loves life ... You can also leave your testimony, in order to reach .... 6 billion others ...
What I did like ?
It is nice to see mankind speaking… The expo in Rennes was presented in a smaller room than Paris – No wonder it is a smaller city ! – So it had to be adapted to this new space. The solution was to change the themes exposed in the 3 yurts every 10 days.
In short, the show is renewed quite often and you can go several times as long you wait 10 days between the visits ...
What I do not like ?
No where you find explanations to understand how they dedided the themes of the 40 questions… Or how they found the people they interviewed… I know everyone can leave its message but I would have liked to know how they began… Is it spontaneous or sorted? And for what? It's a bit embarrassing to see an exhibition and this lack of transparency ... I know it is not a sociologist work but it tries to look like one…
It is also expensive : 10 euros in Paris, 4 in Rennes, I don’t know how much it will be in New York but …I thought the philosophy of Yann Arthus Bertrand was to permit to everyone to see its works…
Specially when you know that lots of sponsors (cities too) give him money to realize his pictures and films, it would be understandable to get a free entrance…
Open every day except Monday and Sunday until the end of August.
Read it in French : L'expo de Yann Arthus Bertrand : 6 milliards d'autres
He has made several ecologist events : books about the state of the earth (Earth from above), films also and exhibitions. And he is also interested in mankind and the show 6 billion others is one of them.
This exhibition was first presented in Grand Palais in Paris and, then a smaller city but still the capital of Brittany Rennes and then far away New York… It presents mankind… 5000 interviews in 75 countries and 40 answers to 40 questions.
It is trite to say but sometimes it is very surprising to compare people's responses to issues such as violence, love, belief, happiness ...
Everyone gives his feeling : a man explains that the birth of his son is the Event of his life, another hopes that the trial of Pol Pot will happen sson, for a third one, happiness is easy … Another does not support people repeating again and again. Or when his wife makes bad cooking.… A survivor of a plane crash who loves life ... You can also leave your testimony, in order to reach .... 6 billion others ...
What I did like ?
It is nice to see mankind speaking… The expo in Rennes was presented in a smaller room than Paris – No wonder it is a smaller city ! – So it had to be adapted to this new space. The solution was to change the themes exposed in the 3 yurts every 10 days.
In short, the show is renewed quite often and you can go several times as long you wait 10 days between the visits ...
What I do not like ?
No where you find explanations to understand how they dedided the themes of the 40 questions… Or how they found the people they interviewed… I know everyone can leave its message but I would have liked to know how they began… Is it spontaneous or sorted? And for what? It's a bit embarrassing to see an exhibition and this lack of transparency ... I know it is not a sociologist work but it tries to look like one…
It is also expensive : 10 euros in Paris, 4 in Rennes, I don’t know how much it will be in New York but …I thought the philosophy of Yann Arthus Bertrand was to permit to everyone to see its works…
Specially when you know that lots of sponsors (cities too) give him money to realize his pictures and films, it would be understandable to get a free entrance…
Open every day except Monday and Sunday until the end of August.
Read it in French : L'expo de Yann Arthus Bertrand : 6 milliards d'autres
The Gillian Bradshaw historical novel : the wolf hunt
Posted by LN - Tags
I ‘ve read the novel THE WOLF HUNT from Gillian Bradshaw. She wrote this historical novel in 2001.
The book takes place in France and specially in Brittany in 1098. The heroin Marie de Chalandrey, 19 years old, is waiting for the return of his father and brother from the Crusade. But soon with no family (her father and brother died), she is taken to the Duchy of Brittany. She learns the life of the breton court and meets a strange man Tiarnan de Talensac who has a double life at night…
Gillian Bradshaw is an American writter (1956 Virginia) and has lived in different countries : youth in Chile, America of course, France, United kingdom and Chile. She is quite famous, as she wrote plenty of historical novels, books for children or science fiction books.
The novel is interesting because it takes place in Brittany, beetween Rennes, Fougères, Talensac… during the Middle Age. And you feel what were the superstitions of the time… Gillian Bradshaw always tries to be informed about the historical period she writes about and it is quite nice…
Some of her books are translated in French, German or Spanish.
The book takes place in France and specially in Brittany in 1098. The heroin Marie de Chalandrey, 19 years old, is waiting for the return of his father and brother from the Crusade. But soon with no family (her father and brother died), she is taken to the Duchy of Brittany. She learns the life of the breton court and meets a strange man Tiarnan de Talensac who has a double life at night…
Gillian Bradshaw is an American writter (1956 Virginia) and has lived in different countries : youth in Chile, America of course, France, United kingdom and Chile. She is quite famous, as she wrote plenty of historical novels, books for children or science fiction books.
The novel is interesting because it takes place in Brittany, beetween Rennes, Fougères, Talensac… during the Middle Age. And you feel what were the superstitions of the time… Gillian Bradshaw always tries to be informed about the historical period she writes about and it is quite nice…
Some of her books are translated in French, German or Spanish.
Gillian Bradshaw historical novelist, a novel in Brittany during the late Middle Age, Historical novel in Brittany France, Books in Brittany France, Gillian Bradshaw novel writter in France, Historical romance in Brittany France, historical fiction in brittany France, Wolf and historical books in brittany France, A wolf story in Brittany france, Wolf book in the Middle Age
Visit a war cemetery in La Baule Escoublac, France
Posted by LN - Tags
When I was walking on the seafront at La Baule, I saw a sign that attracts my attention : war cemetery. War cemeteries are quite usual in Normandy or at Verdun but here in La Baule, a place of watersports and leisure…
So I went to see it. And it is not an American but a British cemetery from the second World War.
It is hidden in a housing estate close to La Baule aerodrom. But it is part of another town la Baule Escoublac.
You may not know that we are no more in Brittany (administrative region) . In fact we are in the historical Brittany, that means the one that used to be the Duchy of Brittany. Loire Atlantique (which is the name of the department where La Baule is) does not belong anymore to Brittany but Pays de Loire. Explanation : During WWII, in 1941, Pétain (the leader of the occupied France at that time) decided to reorganise French regions for economic and strategic reasons. He wanted the department Loire Atlantique to be part of the Pays de Loire. The Loire flows to Nantes (capital of Loire Atlantique), but Nantes has been capital of the Duchy of Brittany… Anyway, the decision took effect in 1955, much later. But till now some Bretonese want it back...
Let’s go back to our cemetery. British people take care of it. More than 300 soldiers are buried there, most of them quite young. They died in 1940 and 1942 and a sign explains both in French and in English what happened to those combatants.
Why 1940 ? France lost the war and British troops are hurrying to Saint Nazaire, a port on the French Atlantic coast for the evacuation. Several ships are there, one of them is The Lancastria.
The requisitionned cruise liner is overloaded (survivors talk about 6 to 9000 passengers) and is sunk by the Luftwaffe (German Airforce). Probably between 4 to 7000 people died. It occured the day of the French capitulation (17th of june 1940) and Winston Churchill decided not to talk about it, he didn’t want to demoralize more his citizens. It is probably the worst British maritime disaster of all time.
In 1942, Saint Nazaire is a German naval base for submarines. The British wanted to destroy the only dry lock capable of repairing battleships. The soldiers, who rendered unusable the lock till the end of the war, were Commandos from UK, but also New Zealand,
Australia, from occupied countries such as Poland…
Operation Chariot was successful.
All the pictures of the graves.
Read it in French : Cimetières de guerre de la seconde guerre mondiale en Bretagne
So I went to see it. And it is not an American but a British cemetery from the second World War.
You may not know that we are no more in Brittany (administrative region) . In fact we are in the historical Brittany, that means the one that used to be the Duchy of Brittany. Loire Atlantique (which is the name of the department where La Baule is) does not belong anymore to Brittany but Pays de Loire. Explanation : During WWII, in 1941, Pétain (the leader of the occupied France at that time) decided to reorganise French regions for economic and strategic reasons. He wanted the department Loire Atlantique to be part of the Pays de Loire. The Loire flows to Nantes (capital of Loire Atlantique), but Nantes has been capital of the Duchy of Brittany… Anyway, the decision took effect in 1955, much later. But till now some Bretonese want it back...
Let’s go back to our cemetery. British people take care of it. More than 300 soldiers are buried there, most of them quite young. They died in 1940 and 1942 and a sign explains both in French and in English what happened to those combatants.
Why 1940 ? France lost the war and British troops are hurrying to Saint Nazaire, a port on the French Atlantic coast for the evacuation. Several ships are there, one of them is The Lancastria.
The requisitionned cruise liner is overloaded (survivors talk about 6 to 9000 passengers) and is sunk by the Luftwaffe (German Airforce). Probably between 4 to 7000 people died. It occured the day of the French capitulation (17th of june 1940) and Winston Churchill decided not to talk about it, he didn’t want to demoralize more his citizens. It is probably the worst British maritime disaster of all time.
In 1942, Saint Nazaire is a German naval base for submarines. The British wanted to destroy the only dry lock capable of repairing battleships. The soldiers, who rendered unusable the lock till the end of the war, were Commandos from UK, but also New Zealand,
Australia, from occupied countries such as Poland…
Operation Chariot was successful.
All the pictures of the graves.
Read it in French : Cimetières de guerre de la seconde guerre mondiale en Bretagne
Australian troops in brittany during WWII in France, Allied troops at saint nazaire in france during the second World War, Operation Chariot in france and the second world war, Commonwealth soldiers in brittany France, Visit burial places of the commonwealth soldiers in France, Winston Churchill and the sinking of the Lancastria at Saint Nazaire in France, Visit war cemeteries on the atlantic coast in Brittany France, Visit war cemeteries from the second world war in France, Wreck of the Lancastria at saint nazaire in France in 1940, Why Nantes capital of the duchy of brittany is no more part of the region Brittany in France, Understanding french regions, Why were polish people in the british army during WWII, Graves of Canadians soldiers in brittany france, Royal Airforce RAF in Brittany france, New zealand and war cemeteries in brittany in france, What means historical brittany in France, Why the allied forces bombed saint nazaire france, Visit saint Nazaire in France during the second World War, Visit cemetery of la baule escoublac France, Visit British war cemeteries from the second world war in britanny france
Episode of the Hundred Years War with the Knight Du Guesclin
Posted by LN - Tags
... Once upon a time ... there was a time ... an usual war ... a war of succession between members of one family ... for a ducal crown ... and that, some time ago ... Middle Ages, back in the 14th century ... in Brittany
The Duke of small Britain dies without having choosen a successor ... The pretenders to the throne are two: the husband of his daughter (Charles de Blois, a nephew of the king of France) or his younger brother (Jean de Montfort) supported by the British ...
It will take more than 20 years ... 2 long decades of succession wars between Bretons ... but also between French and English to find a way out.
This Breton War of Succession (1341-1364) took place during the Hundred Years War (the war between the French and English, and ending with the death of Joan of Arc). Brittany is therefore the land of Franco-British confrontation ...
In short, many adventures will punctuate this period of struggles in Brittany in medieval times... And this tower is an episode of the story: the main protagonist is a star of the Middle Ages: the Lord Duguesclin.
Who is Duguesclin?
A Breton born near Dinan in 1380 ... He took an active part in the Franco-British confrontation, the Hundred Years War, which lasted so long... (1337-1453).
He delivered several battles and was imprisoned many times ... This Breton Lord, known to be a contemporary of Joan of Arc but unloved in Britain for supporting the French camp ...
That may be why the legend says he was short and not very beautiful (not to say ugly), greedy, pretentious ... But courageous, he was.
Duguesclin, no, Duguesclin wanted to reconquer the castle that the English had conquered ... The actual tower, we see today, is the remains of a 12th century fortress in the village of Grand Fougeray. This village is in a region called the Marches de Bretagne (literally the doors of Britanny), the border area between France and Britain, land of many battles ...
The castle is in the hands of the English troops... In 1354 Sir Du Guesclin will reconquer it thanks to a good trick. With some soldiers, having learned that a shipment of firewood would be provided, they disguised themselves as loggers and are allowed to enter the castle (the Trojan horse is back). The English did loose their conquest ....
You understand now why the constable Bertrand Duguesclin gave its name to the dungeon ... where he played an abominable trick to the hereditary enemies of the time ... our English friends ...
The castle will be razed during the 18th century, only the tower will be kept ... It has been listed in 1913. The Grand Tour Fougeray now houses a restaurant and is surrounded by a park of several hectares.
... For fans of cycling, a tour is proposed linking several villages in the area ... Green tourism !!!
Read this article in French : Le chevalier Du Guesclin et la guerre épisode de la tour du Grand Fougeray
The Duke of small Britain dies without having choosen a successor ... The pretenders to the throne are two: the husband of his daughter (Charles de Blois, a nephew of the king of France) or his younger brother (Jean de Montfort) supported by the British ...
It will take more than 20 years ... 2 long decades of succession wars between Bretons ... but also between French and English to find a way out.
This Breton War of Succession (1341-1364) took place during the Hundred Years War (the war between the French and English, and ending with the death of Joan of Arc). Brittany is therefore the land of Franco-British confrontation ...
In short, many adventures will punctuate this period of struggles in Brittany in medieval times... And this tower is an episode of the story: the main protagonist is a star of the Middle Ages: the Lord Duguesclin.
Who is Duguesclin?
A Breton born near Dinan in 1380 ... He took an active part in the Franco-British confrontation, the Hundred Years War, which lasted so long... (1337-1453).
He delivered several battles and was imprisoned many times ... This Breton Lord, known to be a contemporary of Joan of Arc but unloved in Britain for supporting the French camp ...
That may be why the legend says he was short and not very beautiful (not to say ugly), greedy, pretentious ... But courageous, he was.
Duguesclin, no, Duguesclin wanted to reconquer the castle that the English had conquered ... The actual tower, we see today, is the remains of a 12th century fortress in the village of Grand Fougeray. This village is in a region called the Marches de Bretagne (literally the doors of Britanny), the border area between France and Britain, land of many battles ...
The castle is in the hands of the English troops... In 1354 Sir Du Guesclin will reconquer it thanks to a good trick. With some soldiers, having learned that a shipment of firewood would be provided, they disguised themselves as loggers and are allowed to enter the castle (the Trojan horse is back). The English did loose their conquest ....
You understand now why the constable Bertrand Duguesclin gave its name to the dungeon ... where he played an abominable trick to the hereditary enemies of the time ... our English friends ...
The castle will be razed during the 18th century, only the tower will be kept ... It has been listed in 1913. The Grand Tour Fougeray now houses a restaurant and is surrounded by a park of several hectares.
... For fans of cycling, a tour is proposed linking several villages in the area ... Green tourism !!!
Read this article in French : Le chevalier Du Guesclin et la guerre épisode de la tour du Grand Fougeray
Old pictures from Britain at the Albert Kahn Museum in Paris (France)
Posted by LN - Tags
For nostalgic people, Parisians in love with Britain, for lovers of the past, the exhibition Bretagne, voyager en couleurs (1907-1929), (Britain, travel colors) presents 140 colour photographies (autochromes) and several films on the region at the beginning of the century.
It begins with an explanation of what is an autochrome (invented by the Lumiere brothers,it is an industrial process to realize colour photograph),... and how the Parisians of the time went practice their autochromes'art in small Britain. The tourist guides then depicted the region as "authentic", photographers did visit it for its "folk", as if it were a foreign country... and it was a hobby for the photographers to achieve good "snapshots" of a folk Brittany ...
The autochromes in the museum represent the picturesque side of the Bretons: men in costume, women in traditional headdress, traditional villages with children in wooden shoes, mythical landscapes, sunsets, religious ceremonies... Good pictures of small Britain ... that are even used today … as clichés... There are also videos.The works presented include collections of the Albert Kahn Museum or the Musée de Bretagne.
The museum is named after the banker and philanthropist pacifist Albert Kahn (1860-1940) and has the largest collection in the world of autochromes (over 72000).
Who was Albert Kahn ?
A singular man, a visionary: he had understood that the world was changing and that the traditional ways of life would disappear. For twenty years (1909 to 1931), he recruited photographers to go capture the world's memory in about fifty countries, the future foundation of the Archives de la planète. Most of the museum's collection is the work of these witnesses ...
The museum has also beautiful gardens... Albert Kahn was also an idealist and an utopian. He created those gardens to reconcile people and to bring in one place an English garden, a French garden and a Japanese garden (he is familiar with Japan), a Vosges forest, a forest with "blue trees", a meadow ... All the gardens are open to the public.
The museum (www.albert-kahn.fr/) is in Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine (Metro Boulogne Pont de Saint-Cloud (line 10). And the exhibition runs until July 4, 2010. 11 am to 6 pm.
Read this article in French : Clichés de la Bretagne à Paris au musée Albert Kahn
It begins with an explanation of what is an autochrome (invented by the Lumiere brothers,it is an industrial process to realize colour photograph),... and how the Parisians of the time went practice their autochromes'art in small Britain. The tourist guides then depicted the region as "authentic", photographers did visit it for its "folk", as if it were a foreign country... and it was a hobby for the photographers to achieve good "snapshots" of a folk Brittany ...
The autochromes in the museum represent the picturesque side of the Bretons: men in costume, women in traditional headdress, traditional villages with children in wooden shoes, mythical landscapes, sunsets, religious ceremonies... Good pictures of small Britain ... that are even used today … as clichés... There are also videos.The works presented include collections of the Albert Kahn Museum or the Musée de Bretagne.
The museum is named after the banker and philanthropist pacifist Albert Kahn (1860-1940) and has the largest collection in the world of autochromes (over 72000).
Who was Albert Kahn ?
A singular man, a visionary: he had understood that the world was changing and that the traditional ways of life would disappear. For twenty years (1909 to 1931), he recruited photographers to go capture the world's memory in about fifty countries, the future foundation of the Archives de la planète. Most of the museum's collection is the work of these witnesses ...
The museum has also beautiful gardens... Albert Kahn was also an idealist and an utopian. He created those gardens to reconcile people and to bring in one place an English garden, a French garden and a Japanese garden (he is familiar with Japan), a Vosges forest, a forest with "blue trees", a meadow ... All the gardens are open to the public.
The museum (www.albert-kahn.fr/) is in Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine (Metro Boulogne Pont de Saint-Cloud (line 10). And the exhibition runs until July 4, 2010. 11 am to 6 pm.
Read this article in French : Clichés de la Bretagne à Paris au musée Albert Kahn
Celtic name and meaning in France : Corentin
Posted by LN - Tags
... Follow the guide ... and discover the history of the names of the holy founders in the valley of huge granite statues in France (Brittany).
These preachers of Armorica are not many for the moment in Carnoët (where the sculptures are) but they're the most prestigious ... The area has been evangelized between the 5th and 6th C. Most of them are "British" as they came from Wales and founded Dol, Quimper, Saint Brieuc, Saint Malo, Saint Pol de Leon, Tréguier and Vannes.
These seven cities were and are the main stops of Tro Breizh (walking tour of Brittany in Breton language), a very important pilgrimage of the Middle Ages that everyone had to do once in his life. If you like walking, cross the sea and do your pilgrimage, it is really nice to do.
Corentin (in Breton Kaourantin) died December 12. His Day is the day of his death (like many other saints). As a girl's name, it is Corentine.
Corentin has a remarkable originality because, among those 7 emblematic saints , he is the only one to be born in Brittany, France in 375. All other holy founders came from across the Channel.
Very pious, he did many miracles near his hermitage. He was best known because he had a fish that did wonders: as soon as he did cut a slice, it grew again ... No wonder that the sculptors of the Valley represented him with a fish ... almost as big as him ...
Legend explains that one day the king Gradlon (the hero of the city of Ys) went hunting and got lost with his court ... He arrived at the hermitage of Corentin who feeded them with the miracle fish ...
Later, when Gradlon wanted someone for the Diocese of Quimper, he remembered the hermit and asked him to become the first bishop of the city. He died in 401 at age 26. Corentin, the patron saint of Quimper, is buried in the cathedral.
And Corentine has other feminine names : Cora , Coralie ou Coralise.
Read this article in French : Histoire d'un prénom celte Corentin
These preachers of Armorica are not many for the moment in Carnoët (where the sculptures are) but they're the most prestigious ... The area has been evangelized between the 5th and 6th C. Most of them are "British" as they came from Wales and founded Dol, Quimper, Saint Brieuc, Saint Malo, Saint Pol de Leon, Tréguier and Vannes.
These seven cities were and are the main stops of Tro Breizh (walking tour of Brittany in Breton language), a very important pilgrimage of the Middle Ages that everyone had to do once in his life. If you like walking, cross the sea and do your pilgrimage, it is really nice to do.
Corentin (in Breton Kaourantin) died December 12. His Day is the day of his death (like many other saints). As a girl's name, it is Corentine.
Corentin has a remarkable originality because, among those 7 emblematic saints , he is the only one to be born in Brittany, France in 375. All other holy founders came from across the Channel.
Very pious, he did many miracles near his hermitage. He was best known because he had a fish that did wonders: as soon as he did cut a slice, it grew again ... No wonder that the sculptors of the Valley represented him with a fish ... almost as big as him ...
Legend explains that one day the king Gradlon (the hero of the city of Ys) went hunting and got lost with his court ... He arrived at the hermitage of Corentin who feeded them with the miracle fish ...
Later, when Gradlon wanted someone for the Diocese of Quimper, he remembered the hermit and asked him to become the first bishop of the city. He died in 401 at age 26. Corentin, the patron saint of Quimper, is buried in the cathedral.
And Corentine has other feminine names : Cora , Coralie ou Coralise.
Read this article in French : Histoire d'un prénom celte Corentin
Celtic names and meanings Corentin, Celtic names Corentin, Celtic names for boys Corentin, Celtic names for girls Corentine, Celtic names for girls Cora, Celtic names and meanings for girls Coralie, Celtic names for girls in France, Celtic names for boys in France, Celtic names male and meanings, Celtic names girl and meanings
French cliches about French, France, Britain, Brittany and Bretons
Posted by LN - Tags
On the French side of my blog, I wrote a post about what it meant to be Breton in Brittany... But it is not really interesting for non French people...
So, I'll do it on my English side more worldwide : What does it mean to you being French? Lots of clichés, for sure... Same things about French manners ! How French man or lady act in society ?
Wide question !
Are you intested in learning more about the real way of life of a French or of a Breton... If you travel by car, you must cross Brittany, our small Britain. And you want to understand more about this wonderful place for sure...
By the way, as you probably know, Bretagne in French is either Britain or Brittany. Britain is for us the Great one (Grande Bretagne, Great Britain) and Brittany (Bretagne) is the French one. And Breton can be used for British and for Breton.
So, while travelling around, investigate the French way of life and the one of Brittany's people ! and compare ! French clichés for beginners ! !!!
About French table manners
French people like to remain at table for hours
If you don't sauce your dish with bread, you're out !
One hamburger is eaten while 9 baguette sandwich are tasted
365 cheeses on the French territory, one a day... with green salad !
They speak loud
They criticize their administration
They strike all the time
The national sport : to steal tax
- They wear wooden clogs
- They have discovered the frigde in the 2000's
- They're narrow minded,backward.... in short stubborn like a Breton
- Brittany, it is "province", there's nothing to do there...
I could go on (LOL) .... !!!! but I leave the pen! For Your opinion! About French manners, acting, speaking, eating...
And don't act wrongly now !
So, I'll do it on my English side more worldwide : What does it mean to you being French? Lots of clichés, for sure... Same things about French manners ! How French man or lady act in society ?
Wide question !
Are you intested in learning more about the real way of life of a French or of a Breton... If you travel by car, you must cross Brittany, our small Britain. And you want to understand more about this wonderful place for sure...
By the way, as you probably know, Bretagne in French is either Britain or Brittany. Britain is for us the Great one (Grande Bretagne, Great Britain) and Brittany (Bretagne) is the French one. And Breton can be used for British and for Breton.
So, while travelling around, investigate the French way of life and the one of Brittany's people ! and compare ! French clichés for beginners ! !!!
About French table manners
French people like to remain at table for hours
If you don't sauce your dish with bread, you're out !
One hamburger is eaten while 9 baguette sandwich are tasted
365 cheeses on the French territory, one a day... with green salad !
The French way of life in the Breton cuisineFrench feel French when
- Bretons feast in a creperie
- They buy only cauliflower "Prince of Brittany" (and produced in Brittany , not in Britain!)
- They enjoy oysters on the port of Cancale (and during good months ...)
- They only eat Plougastel strawberries ... (Plougastel is a city in the west of Brittany)
They speak loud
They criticize their administration
They strike all the time
The national sport : to steal tax
Bretons feel Breton when they ...How French Parisians look at Bretons
- dance in the Fest Noz! (fest noz is a breton word meaning night party where you dance to Breton music).
- swear that their grandmother wore a cap in the last century!
- punctuate every sentence with a Kenavo (thank you in breton language)!
- wear a sticker "A l'aise Breizh" on the car (means be confortable, man)
- They wear wooden clogs
- They have discovered the frigde in the 2000's
- They're narrow minded,backward.... in short stubborn like a Breton
- Brittany, it is "province", there's nothing to do there...
How Breton look at ParisiansSee how the love story goes ! French unions are perfect !
- Look how slow he is driving... Must be a Parisian on holydays...
- Look at those Parisians with their yellow raincoat and boots... Ah, Ah, Ah !
- Don't know how to eat pancakes : just two ingredients, more you won't taste the galette, ignorant !
- I do love Parisians ! No, no way, they're too arrogant and do not know anything about anything ...
I could go on (LOL) .... !!!! but I leave the pen! For Your opinion! About French manners, acting, speaking, eating...
And don't act wrongly now !
French manners by a French, French way of life and manners, When in Brittany do as the French do, When in France do as the breton do, How to act like a French people, Acting like a French in France, French table manners and cliches, French way of life in Paris, French way of life and manners for beginners, Table manners and French cliche
Roscoff: gateway to Britain and Ireland
Posted by LN - Tags
You love questions! With no easy answers… And you’ve been to Roscoff ? Do you know why there is an expressway that runs from Roscoff, a small village of a bit more than 3000 habitants to Morlaix?
If you are regular customer of the ferry, you have already taken the fast lane along the Bay of Morlaix. Ok, Roscoff is the port to Plymouth and Cork. But is it the only reason why there is this highway ? Why Roscoff rather than another port on the coast of Brittany?
… Well for economic reasons ... due to climatic reasons ... : The whole area around Roscoff has two major advantages: - A very regular climate with a low difference between the highest temperatures and the lowest due to the Gulf Stream (warm water current that goes in front of Roscoff).
- And a really good land for agriculture.
Yes, and then ... it creates unique conditions for an exceptional agriculture.
If you take a walk on the coastal paths, you will see the agricultural wealth. Every parcel is cultivated.
And this production has to be sold. As the old port is depending on tides that empties it and impede commercial traffic, Roscoff had to find another way to sell its vegies.
The city needed a deep water port and the energy of a man, Alexis Gourvennec who, thanks to the capital of local farmers (and the help of the State that wanted to help economically this part of Brittany), created a ferry line to England to sell vegetables (1972). And then to develop tourism.... This is how the Brittany Ferries began cross-links.
2 - Or because Johnny Halliday the famous French singer is behind the Anglo-French friendship!
This connection with England is not new, and is not due to the fame of Johnny, the singer.
It is much more trivial…
Roscoff onions had already created the path. Yes, in 1828, one of the first Johnnie exported onions to England. They were called Johnnies because at the time they took with them their young children. And everybody knows (specially the British !!!) that all the Bretons sons then were called Yann (Jean in French).You nicknamed the youngs Johnnie…
Those Johnnies and fathers used to leave mid July, for 5 to 9 months with their bicycles covered of onions and were selling them across the sea. More than 1200 Johnnies made the crossing before the 2nd World War.
This breed of onion has been brought from Portugal by a monk (mid XVIth century) and was gradually introduced in the region. Indeed, it was a good product for the sailors fighting against scurvy (a disease caused by a lack of vitamins). Easy to preserve, the onion was useful for vessels, it could be taken on board and kept delaying the effects of the disease on the crews. Trade stopped after the war. A small museum in Roscoff commemorates this episode.
3 - Or is it due to a love story between a Queen of Scotland and a French king?
The connections with England existed long before this onion story ... Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland ... You know her… The legend said she resided here.
The future wife of François II landed at Roscoff in 1548 to join the Court of France, where she had to continue her education before marrying the king 10 years later.
But it is a legend, because the houses where she lived did not exist at the time! The chapel of Saint Ninien or rather what remains of it
(close to the watchtower, a remnant of the old city walls) commemorates the Scottish episode.
4 – Or is it rather due to an history of shipowners, privateers and pirates!
The relations with the British have not always been as peaceful as they are today. In the Middle Ages and beyond, Roscoff was repeatedly attacked and destroyed by the English troops. The honor of both side is safe because the reverse is also true.
It is a hole for buccaneers and an old nest for privateers, the Breton poet Tristan Corbière described it in the 19th century.
It is also a port that trade with Flanders, Spain or Portugal (linen, cloth, salt ...). During the French Revolution period it became a place for smuggling brandy, tea and gin with English ... The Wines and Beers are the worthy successors of that time!
This wealth is still encarved in the walls of the houses : sculptures still decorate the granite.
Read it in French : Roscoff : porte vers l'Angleterre et l'Irlande
1 – This highway has been constructed because ferrys to England or Ireland leave from Roscoff ?1 – This highway has been constructed because ferrys to England or Ireland leave from Roscoff ?
2 - Or because Johnny Halliday the famous French singer is behind the Anglo-French friendship!
3 - Or is it due to a love story between a Queen of Scotland and a French king?
4 - Or rather a history of shipowners, privateers and pirates!
If you are regular customer of the ferry, you have already taken the fast lane along the Bay of Morlaix. Ok, Roscoff is the port to Plymouth and Cork. But is it the only reason why there is this highway ? Why Roscoff rather than another port on the coast of Brittany?
… Well for economic reasons ... due to climatic reasons ... : The whole area around Roscoff has two major advantages: - A very regular climate with a low difference between the highest temperatures and the lowest due to the Gulf Stream (warm water current that goes in front of Roscoff).
- And a really good land for agriculture.
Yes, and then ... it creates unique conditions for an exceptional agriculture.
We harvest almost uninterrupted even in winter ... Agricultural products are shipped from Roscoff to Paris, Brest, in the ports of Holland and England, and particularly on the English coast of Cornwal l: in 187,5 7 803 055 tons of potatoes were sent, 2 million kg of artichokes ... the pier of the port is full of carts that provide vegetables for vessels. (Joanne Guide 1884)It is not surprising that this stretch of coastline is known as the Golden Belt (ceinture dorée). Vegetables grow quicker than the rest of the Bay (3 weeks in advance) and the mildness of the weather allows a rapid succession of crops.More than 70% of French couliflower and artichokes are produced here.
If you take a walk on the coastal paths, you will see the agricultural wealth. Every parcel is cultivated.
And this production has to be sold. As the old port is depending on tides that empties it and impede commercial traffic, Roscoff had to find another way to sell its vegies.
The city needed a deep water port and the energy of a man, Alexis Gourvennec who, thanks to the capital of local farmers (and the help of the State that wanted to help economically this part of Brittany), created a ferry line to England to sell vegetables (1972). And then to develop tourism.... This is how the Brittany Ferries began cross-links.
2 - Or because Johnny Halliday the famous French singer is behind the Anglo-French friendship!
This connection with England is not new, and is not due to the fame of Johnny, the singer.
It is much more trivial…
Roscoff onions had already created the path. Yes, in 1828, one of the first Johnnie exported onions to England. They were called Johnnies because at the time they took with them their young children. And everybody knows (specially the British !!!) that all the Bretons sons then were called Yann (Jean in French).You nicknamed the youngs Johnnie…
Those Johnnies and fathers used to leave mid July, for 5 to 9 months with their bicycles covered of onions and were selling them across the sea. More than 1200 Johnnies made the crossing before the 2nd World War.
This breed of onion has been brought from Portugal by a monk (mid XVIth century) and was gradually introduced in the region. Indeed, it was a good product for the sailors fighting against scurvy (a disease caused by a lack of vitamins). Easy to preserve, the onion was useful for vessels, it could be taken on board and kept delaying the effects of the disease on the crews. Trade stopped after the war. A small museum in Roscoff commemorates this episode.
3 - Or is it due to a love story between a Queen of Scotland and a French king?
The connections with England existed long before this onion story ... Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland ... You know her… The legend said she resided here.
The future wife of François II landed at Roscoff in 1548 to join the Court of France, where she had to continue her education before marrying the king 10 years later.
But it is a legend, because the houses where she lived did not exist at the time! The chapel of Saint Ninien or rather what remains of it
(close to the watchtower, a remnant of the old city walls) commemorates the Scottish episode.
4 – Or is it rather due to an history of shipowners, privateers and pirates!
The relations with the British have not always been as peaceful as they are today. In the Middle Ages and beyond, Roscoff was repeatedly attacked and destroyed by the English troops. The honor of both side is safe because the reverse is also true.
It is a hole for buccaneers and an old nest for privateers, the Breton poet Tristan Corbière described it in the 19th century.
It is also a port that trade with Flanders, Spain or Portugal (linen, cloth, salt ...). During the French Revolution period it became a place for smuggling brandy, tea and gin with English ... The Wines and Beers are the worthy successors of that time!
This wealth is still encarved in the walls of the houses : sculptures still decorate the granite.
Read it in French : Roscoff : porte vers l'Angleterre et l'Irlande
Breton speciality : crakers from Saint Malo (Brittany, France)
Posted by LN - Tags
If you are visiting Saint Malo, you should stop at the shop producing and selling the breton speciality called “craquelin de Saint Malo”. Arriving from the highway, take Saint Malo centre and at the first round about, take a right, you’re on the factory (Z.A.C. de la moinerie, 35400 Saint-Malo, Tél : 02 99 81 92 89). You can no more visit it but you can still taste their different specialities.
What is a craquelin ?
Is it a brioche with sugar or a light craker eaten at breakfast time ? Well, craquelins are both ; they are european specialities. The first one is made in Belgium and the second is a breton product.
In Brittany, according to their website craquelins de Saint Malo, it is an old traditional product (almost 400 years). As in 1663 the Saint Malo hospital already mentions it.
Why do we find them in Saint Malo region ?
The first explanation is that Saint Malo has a long trade tradition and in particular with Flanders. And so ? The word craquelin is a Dutch word crakelinc, that means crispy biscuit.
The second one is that there use to be lots of forests on the Rance estuary. To bake the craquelins, you need lots of fagots…
Why is it so successful ?
A craker is dry and therefore easy to preserve and so easy to transport and sell. They were sold on the markets, and women used to carry them (2000 pieces) in big baskets on their backs and sell them on farms. At Dinard, the first seaside resort of the end of the XIXth century, British customers used to love them.
Why is it so special ?
It doesn’t come from its recipe, which is quite simple : flour, eggs, milk. It comes from the way it is baked. The dough is first quickly boiled, then cooled in cold water and then put in the oven. That makes it so special !!!
12 pieces bags are sold for 2,20 euros.
And if you buy 10, you get a discount as local customers do. Hotels are big buyers, and they make it known… Lots of tourists come to that shop to buy them before going home.
The traditional product has now other varieties : smaller ones for salty toasts, chocolate ones that taste like pyms but in much lighter… you can find them salt free.
If you never went to Saint Servan, go for a walk in that nice district of Saint Malo, it is worth it…
Read it in French : Les craquelins de Saint Malo, une spécialité bretonne de l'estuaire de la rance (France)
What is a craquelin ?
Is it a brioche with sugar or a light craker eaten at breakfast time ? Well, craquelins are both ; they are european specialities. The first one is made in Belgium and the second is a breton product.
In Brittany, according to their website craquelins de Saint Malo, it is an old traditional product (almost 400 years). As in 1663 the Saint Malo hospital already mentions it.
Why do we find them in Saint Malo region ?
The first explanation is that Saint Malo has a long trade tradition and in particular with Flanders. And so ? The word craquelin is a Dutch word crakelinc, that means crispy biscuit.
The second one is that there use to be lots of forests on the Rance estuary. To bake the craquelins, you need lots of fagots…
Why is it so successful ?
A craker is dry and therefore easy to preserve and so easy to transport and sell. They were sold on the markets, and women used to carry them (2000 pieces) in big baskets on their backs and sell them on farms. At Dinard, the first seaside resort of the end of the XIXth century, British customers used to love them.
Why is it so special ?
It doesn’t come from its recipe, which is quite simple : flour, eggs, milk. It comes from the way it is baked. The dough is first quickly boiled, then cooled in cold water and then put in the oven. That makes it so special !!!
12 pieces bags are sold for 2,20 euros.
And if you buy 10, you get a discount as local customers do. Hotels are big buyers, and they make it known… Lots of tourists come to that shop to buy them before going home.
The traditional product has now other varieties : smaller ones for salty toasts, chocolate ones that taste like pyms but in much lighter… you can find them salt free.
If you never went to Saint Servan, go for a walk in that nice district of Saint Malo, it is worth it…
Read it in French : Les craquelins de Saint Malo, une spécialité bretonne de l'estuaire de la rance (France)
traditional breton speciality : crakers of Saint Malo (brittany, France), light breton craker to eat with jam or butter, is the craquelin de Saint Malo a breton craker, history of the craker of Saint Malo (France), craquelin de saint Malo a local breton product (France), taste a lighter pym’s a chocolate craquelin de Saint Malo, local product of the rance estuary (saint Malo France), a more than 300 years old french speciality : craquelins de Saint Malo, french light craker speciality with very low calories, traditional product of Brittany (France), traditional speciality of Brittany (france)
History of the island of Batz : pretext for a walk
Posted by LN - Tags
TRUE OU FALSE
The island of Batz was connected to the mainland during the Iron Age (8th to 6th BC) ?
Yes, you could walk there at low tide. Last century, thirty neolithic graves (4000 years old) were discovered by Georges Delaselle, the founder of the colonial garden. He dug a hole, protected by a hedge of cypress and pine trees, on the east end of the island (where the garden is now) to house his exotic plants.
A village is buried in the east of the island.
Yes, the present village (where the ferry arrives) is recent.
Until the 17th century, the village was located on the east side of the island, where are the prehistoric tombs. This place may have been continuously inhabited since the Iron Age, as other traces of human presence were found. In any case, the village is covered by 6 feet of dunes.
You’ll understand better if you go to the chapel of St. Anne. This Romanesque church is half hidden in the dunes.
Its square pillars replaced the monastery built by Pol Aurelian, a Welsh arrived in the 5th century to convert Britain. Towards 530, he created a monastery then destroyed by the Vikings in 878.
At the end of the 11th century, when calm has returned the monks rebuilt a church.
When the sands were threatening, it has been gradually abandoned for the Kernoc’h bay. The ruins of the church have been used as an artillery warehouse shortly before and after the French Revolution. Today a mass in the open air is celebrated for Sainte Anne (Holy Ann) end of July The chapel and the cemetery are listed since 1980.
The island has never sent a soldier to the Army.
That is how the tourist guide Joanne (1884) presents the island. On this island, all men are sailors. The soil is grown exclusively by women. And some of them let their name in the history of Batz.
A native Yves Trémintin began to serve the State as a pilot. Soon, he fought with courage against pirates and lost a leg. He finished his life on his island limping ...
There is also a Portuguese privateer ... Balidar, who hated the English and therefore helped the French during the Revolution ... With his vessel, he was hidden in the channel and awaited the enemy ... The Batziens (inhabitants of Batz) prevented him when ships were in sign and he attacked.
The lighthouse of Batz has 500 steps.
It was built between 1836 and 1852. But you have to deserve it… 210 steps to climb…
Enez Vaz means Dragon Island
No, Bazh means in Breton language stick. And it has no link with the legend of the island…
There once was a dragon ... who was terrible.
In the early centuries of the Christian era, Pol Aurelian arrived in Batz to convert the island. The governor of the island begged the saint to set the island free from the monster ...
With the help of another gentleman, he went dressed in his priestly vestments, to the lair of the beast. There, without being intimidated by the wrath of the animal, he surrounded the neck of the dragon with a stole*. And led him to the sea where it disappeared.
On the north of the island, the place known as "Toul ar sarpent", the Trou du Serpent, still has the claw of the dragon printed in the stone.
The two heroes were rewarded. The gentleman was given the privilege to go to church with the sword to the side. As for Pol, he received many presents : a palace that he turned into a monastery. He also made some more miracles : a spring gushed out and healed 3 blind men, two mutes and a paralyzed.
Around the year 600, he was buried in Saint-Pol-de-Léon.
*The stole is retained in the new church of Batz.
Sometimes in Brittany, in legends, snakes replace dragons (because dragons were frequently linked with fairies and fairies are not working all over). The serpent is also more familiar and therefore more credible. These legendary figures are in any case often a symbol of the pagan religions that have to disappear...
Algae have replaced the trees on the island ...
There were very few trees on the island ... Islanders used algae and cow pats dried in the sun as combustible to cook or heat the houses (Tourist guide Joanne, 1884).
The more difficult was to harvest them… at low tide or in water up to the knee, women pulled wrack out of the sea ... Not always easy ... being a woman in Batz!
Today the harvest is done by tractors
or with scoubidous these strange boats, with long arms that gather laminars on the seabed.
British people settled fortifications on Batz
Yes, there are many vestiges of fortification against the English…
4 batteries (18th C) used to defend the Bay of Morlaix : the Penn Ar C'hleguer one is after the exotic garden, the battery Bilvidic, on the opposite edge and the other two on the remaining points.
There are also remnants of the Atlantic Wall (German defensive system of the Second World War) with bunkers .... But the vegetation today hides them well ....
The island is a paradise for early vegetables and organic farmers
The parcels are sheltered by small walls or hedges and fertilized by seaweed. Potatoes, fennel, rhubarb grow ... with a few weeks ahead… early agriculture. 3 harvests a year, sometimes the collection is done by hand.
Half of the island is grown in organic agriculture.
The island deserves its label…
Read it in french : Les histoires de l'ile de Batz : prétexte à une balade
The island of Batz was connected to the mainland during the Iron Age (8th to 6th BC)By bike or on foot, go and get the answers ...
A village is buried in the east of the island
The island has never sent a soldier to the Army
The lighthouse of Batz has 500 steps
Enez Vaz means Dragon Island
Algae have replaced the trees on the island
British people settled fortifications on Batz
The island is a paradise for early vegetables and organic farmers
The island of Batz was connected to the mainland during the Iron Age (8th to 6th BC) ?
Yes, you could walk there at low tide. Last century, thirty neolithic graves (4000 years old) were discovered by Georges Delaselle, the founder of the colonial garden. He dug a hole, protected by a hedge of cypress and pine trees, on the east end of the island (where the garden is now) to house his exotic plants.
A village is buried in the east of the island.
Yes, the present village (where the ferry arrives) is recent.
Until the 17th century, the village was located on the east side of the island, where are the prehistoric tombs. This place may have been continuously inhabited since the Iron Age, as other traces of human presence were found. In any case, the village is covered by 6 feet of dunes.
You’ll understand better if you go to the chapel of St. Anne. This Romanesque church is half hidden in the dunes.
Its square pillars replaced the monastery built by Pol Aurelian, a Welsh arrived in the 5th century to convert Britain. Towards 530, he created a monastery then destroyed by the Vikings in 878.
At the end of the 11th century, when calm has returned the monks rebuilt a church.
When the sands were threatening, it has been gradually abandoned for the Kernoc’h bay. The ruins of the church have been used as an artillery warehouse shortly before and after the French Revolution. Today a mass in the open air is celebrated for Sainte Anne (Holy Ann) end of July The chapel and the cemetery are listed since 1980.
The island has never sent a soldier to the Army.
That is how the tourist guide Joanne (1884) presents the island. On this island, all men are sailors. The soil is grown exclusively by women. And some of them let their name in the history of Batz.
A native Yves Trémintin began to serve the State as a pilot. Soon, he fought with courage against pirates and lost a leg. He finished his life on his island limping ...
There is also a Portuguese privateer ... Balidar, who hated the English and therefore helped the French during the Revolution ... With his vessel, he was hidden in the channel and awaited the enemy ... The Batziens (inhabitants of Batz) prevented him when ships were in sign and he attacked.
The lighthouse of Batz has 500 steps.
It was built between 1836 and 1852. But you have to deserve it… 210 steps to climb…
Enez Vaz means Dragon Island
No, Bazh means in Breton language stick. And it has no link with the legend of the island…
There once was a dragon ... who was terrible.
In the early centuries of the Christian era, Pol Aurelian arrived in Batz to convert the island. The governor of the island begged the saint to set the island free from the monster ...
With the help of another gentleman, he went dressed in his priestly vestments, to the lair of the beast. There, without being intimidated by the wrath of the animal, he surrounded the neck of the dragon with a stole*. And led him to the sea where it disappeared.
On the north of the island, the place known as "Toul ar sarpent", the Trou du Serpent, still has the claw of the dragon printed in the stone.
The two heroes were rewarded. The gentleman was given the privilege to go to church with the sword to the side. As for Pol, he received many presents : a palace that he turned into a monastery. He also made some more miracles : a spring gushed out and healed 3 blind men, two mutes and a paralyzed.
Around the year 600, he was buried in Saint-Pol-de-Léon.
*The stole is retained in the new church of Batz.
Sometimes in Brittany, in legends, snakes replace dragons (because dragons were frequently linked with fairies and fairies are not working all over). The serpent is also more familiar and therefore more credible. These legendary figures are in any case often a symbol of the pagan religions that have to disappear...
Algae have replaced the trees on the island ...
There were very few trees on the island ... Islanders used algae and cow pats dried in the sun as combustible to cook or heat the houses (Tourist guide Joanne, 1884).
The more difficult was to harvest them… at low tide or in water up to the knee, women pulled wrack out of the sea ... Not always easy ... being a woman in Batz!
Today the harvest is done by tractors
or with scoubidous these strange boats, with long arms that gather laminars on the seabed.
British people settled fortifications on Batz
Yes, there are many vestiges of fortification against the English…
4 batteries (18th C) used to defend the Bay of Morlaix : the Penn Ar C'hleguer one is after the exotic garden, the battery Bilvidic, on the opposite edge and the other two on the remaining points.
There are also remnants of the Atlantic Wall (German defensive system of the Second World War) with bunkers .... But the vegetation today hides them well ....
The island is a paradise for early vegetables and organic farmers
The parcels are sheltered by small walls or hedges and fertilized by seaweed. Potatoes, fennel, rhubarb grow ... with a few weeks ahead… early agriculture. 3 harvests a year, sometimes the collection is done by hand.
Half of the island is grown in organic agriculture.
The island deserves its label…
Read it in french : Les histoires de l'ile de Batz : prétexte à une balade
French