What are the tides for? To grind the flour !

- Why were there so many tidal mills in Brittany?
- Do they exist somewhere else?
- Since when do they work ?
- How does it work, a tidal mill ?
- Where can you see them ?
- Why were there so many tidal mills in Brittany?

- Why were there so many tidal mills in Brittany?

Brittany is a land of abers ... And these estuaries (aber) are very valuable for mills. At each tide, the sea invaded the estuaries and then abandoned them. This tidal movement is at the origin of energy mills.



- Do they exist somewhere else?
In Portugal, Spain, UK, Ireland, the Netherlands and the United States.

- Since when do they work ?
In Britain, the first ones were done in the Middle Ages. There were up to a hundred in the region.

- How does it work, a tidal mill ?
The tides are used as energy. It is quite simple: they let the tides fill in a basin closed by a dam.
Once the low tide, the miller had to open the door and let escape the water that will move a wheel. This type of mill needed an investment : a dam.



Then, the miller was living at the time of the tides and could work at night… and sleep during the day. He had therefore a bad reputation…

Disadvantages of this system : because of the energy source, the production of the mill is like variable. With periods of deep-water (high tidal amplitude) and dead-water ... Important tide, good work, small tidal coefficient, low movement ...

Advantages : It is a renewable energy ... … The tide comes every 6 hours ... This is not the same with the wind ...
Those flour mills could be supplied with grain by land and by boats. Carriages and ships left loaded with flour ... The use of tidal mills ends with the Second World War.




If you want to understand this phenomenon, la maison de la Rance in Dinan explains, using a model, operations of the mill. The river Rance had lots of mills because the tidal amplitude is particularly important.

- Where can you see them?
In Britain, some mills have been restored : in the South of Bretagne, the mill Pen Castel in Rhuys peninsula. North Brittany, on the island of Brehat the mill of Birlot (moulin de Birlot) and of the mill of Prat (le moulin du Prat). You can visit it every day in season and on Sundays and public holidays off season ....



Read it in French : Moulins à marées en Bretagne

5 good reasons to go on this island!

Getting away
One day walk and break
It can be visisted most of the year (late March to All)
Enjoy flowers and sea spray !
And finally, greet a seal!

After 15 minutes of ferry through currents and reefs, you arrive on Kernoc’h harbor.
As 600 inhabitants live on the island, there are ferries quite often to get there : out of season several times a day and in season every 30 minutes. Whenever you want to go there… it is possible… till 7 PM.



The island measures just over 3 kms long at high tide. Because at low tide ...the island is much bigger… One day walk, you have plenty of time to discover Batz.



And as each side is different, it is very pleasant to walk around it. One side, you’ll discover Roscoff and the mainland, opposite the ocean.

And the shore of the island itself is very various : rocks, dunes, shingle or sandy beaches of extremely fine almost white ... It's not all, depending on the tides, the landscape changes again and again.



And despite all, the island does not live only on tourism ... With its nearly 600 inhabitants, it also lives on agriculture ... And therefore has a real life ... It is the island of flowers, they grow everywhere thanks to the mild climate : flowers of the fields (wild cloves, wild gorse, poppies, camomile ...),



dunes flowers (eryngium…), or common garden flowers (hydrangeas, geraniums, ...) or even exotic flowers that have spread out from the exotic garden.
At the end of last century, Georges Delaselle installed a colonial garden on the east of the island. He grew tropical plants (the climate is very mild in Batz) ... After decolonization, the garden changed its name for the name of its founder.

The park has been abandoned for several years but since 1986 it has been rehabilitated, hosts tropical plants and trees. Cedar, eucalyptus and dracena (palms of New Zealand), agave (cactus from Mexico used to make Mezcal) echium are all around the island.



If you walk to the ocean side, you will find beautiful white sandy beaches ... you’ll disturb birds or even sometimes … seals ... Further, on the far west there is a chaos of stones called : Toul ar Sarpant, the hole of the snake. That side hosts also a swamp with its fauna and flora.



The last facet of the island is the sheltered side, which faces Roscoff. And there anjoy a crepe or a drink after your nice walk…

On your bike, with your foot, enjoy the island.

Read it in French : Randonnée sur une des îles du Ponant : l'île de Batz

Welcome to a short walk of discovery: prehistory, chapel, windmill, caves ... The ascent of Mont Dol is a great adventure.
First of all : This site provides a practical course of history of relief: tens of thousands of years ago, when it was really cold, the sea was closer ... And the Mont Dol was an island.



From the summit, one can guess the terrain of the ice ages and the limit where the ocean stopped! Today the sea has receded, it was even more distant during the prehistoric times ... In short, sea is going back and forth!

Mont Dol welcomed men, prehistoric men, in caves, north of the hill. Neanderthals, lovers of big elephants, have left the remains of their feasts. At that time, people were watching the mammoths'arrival from the summit and were driving them into the swamps ... where the animals got stuck ... The hunters just had to finish their work : cut in small pieces the beast ... to preserve and enjoy it during the following months ...

You can learn more by visiting the church at the foot of Mount Dol : an exhibit explains the history of the place ... you can also admire beautiful restaured murals... polychrome ... It's unusual in churches in Brittany, the walls were whitewashed ... to disinfect after epidemics !

Today, at the top of the site, there is a tiny religious building, a monumental statue set on a tower, ancient trees, a mill ...



The site has seen many religious occupations. There is this little chapel with a stained glass window dedicated to the war 14-18. And the tower of Notre Dame de l'Espérance (1857) which dominates the landscape.



Weather permitting, you have the best panoramic view of the coast, the Mont Saint Michel, Cancale and the bay. And in very clear weather, you can even notice the Channel Islands, Jersey and Guernsey. It is not that far away...

There is also the legend ... the devil has worked here!

Once completing his Wonder of Mont-Saint-Michel, he challenged St. Michael asking him to make another perfect masterpiece ...
The Saint chose the second hill of the bay of Mont Saint Michel and in just one night, he realized a huge and beautiful crystal palace.
The devil furious wanted to destroy it, but the Archangel Michael offered to exchange monuments. The Devil agreed. Once in front of the palace of Mont Dol, he realized the mistake... The palace was not crystal but ice... And it was a nice warm day!
Really upset, the devil tried to kill the Saint. Mickael managed to send him in a crack he had opened with his sword. And he jumped back to the Mont Saint-Michel ... And he left his impression in a granit rock on the Mont Dol. Look for traces of claws among the rocks!

The mill dates from 1843 and ran until the 50s. It is open in the summer and can be visited on weekends (from Easter to September).



There is a crêperie at the top of the site open during the warm seasons. To continue the walk you can go down the other side and go around the mountain before to reach the parking lot. Choose the right side to see the caves!



Read it in French : Rando en Bretagne : les dénivelés du Mont Dol

April 30 is the day of Saint Guirec, he could be the patron saint of singles! ...
And so what ? You're looking for a nice holiday, an idea for week ends (April 30 is the eve of May 1st!), a great place for a short break in a beautiful area ... But the problem is : you're alone ... single ... and therefore, time off and vacations have become a nightmare ...
Except, except if you want to try something else... a day off, a little trip to the coast of pink granite, in France, in the village of Ploumanach, on the northern coast of Brittany...



Yes, this village is part of Perros Guirec, named after a Welsh monk, who arrived in Ploumanach in a stone bark in the 5th C to evangelise Small Britain. What made him special is that he had a magic nose ...

Returning to the purpose of this trip ... go away single on a nice holiday!

The village is on the pink granite coast (the granite is pink because it is a mixture of three minerals : feldspar (pink), mica (black) and quartz ...) and you'll come across strange rocks eroded by the climate. A footpath leads you around the 30 kilometers of this pink wonder.

If you are vigilant, you'll soon be facing an island where sailors used to dry their fish ... (In fact, the only remain of this fishery is the name of the castle built on the island) : the famous château de Costaeres (in Breton language it means place to dry fish). The manor is a celebrity here in Brittany as it stands on every brochure and postcard showing the coastline of Côtes d'Armor ...



The bay that faces this mythical construction of the Brittany coast, hosts a small monument accessible at low tide ... the oratory of Saint-Guirec (12th C).



Yes, for years, sailors wifes came here to pray for the safe return of their men during fishing seasons. Girls looking for an husband visited it too... And it is still used today by single tourists (or anyone who is seeking wife, husband ... or soul mate!).
The legend says that if ladies were able to stick a needle in the nose of Saint Guirec, (and especially if the needle remained there until the next tide) they would find a lover in the year ...
The wood statue of Saint Guirec was used so much that the spikes had completely damaged the nose of Saint Guirec. It was replaced with a granite copy... The original is in the chapel overlooking the bay.

Gentlemen, don't be desesperate, I did not forget you... Even if the heroes of the story are women, the 20th Century brought gender equality..., go and try !

If unfortunatly the needle did not stay in the nose of Saint Guirec during a tide, console yourself...

- Perros (as the locals say here) is a touristic place... its population is multiplied by 8 in summer ( 7500 by 8 = 59,000 persons) ... Among this crowd, all lovers of pink granite coast, there is surely someone who is looking for you !

- Smile again, (only if you're speaking well French) a master of humor, Thierry Le Luron (cheerleader), is from Ploumanac'h and is buried here in the cemetery of the village of Clarity. Go give him a quick hello, he will lift your spirits! -

Or finally, if you love race sailing la course en solitaire du Figaro, the town of Perros may be a step for you ... and among thousands of visitors...

- Finally don't forget that the pink granite coast was worth it, anyway.... (There are only 3 pink shores in the world, one here, one in Corsica and one in China ...).
But the other two have no saint for singles, no ... Saint Guirec



Read this article in French : Comment rencontrer l'âme soeur en Bretagne sur la côte de granite rose

Blackberries, you know ... that’s the nicest fruit to pick on hedges and other deserted places…But it is quite nice to savour then…



Blackberry jam is easy... The most annoying is the harvesting… Don’t forget your gloves because the best ones are always difficult to reach.

Recipe and ingredients

Blackberries
Sugar (half of the fruits)

Burst the blackberries in little water (10 minutes on low heat). Then 2 possibilities :
1 –Use the food mill to collect the pulp.
2 – Or put the fruits in a cheese cloth (cloth linen), hang the "bag" and let drain in a saucepan. Finish to squash with hands.You ‘ll get more pulp, but it's longer and more messy ...

Weight the pulp. Add half of sugar : for 600g of flesh use 300g of sugar. Cook on low heat 1 hour to 1 ½ hours.

Put in hot pot, close the jar and let cool and store upside down.

Read it in French : Recette maison de la confiture de mures

Some weeks ago, I did some nice elder flowers fritters, and now that the berries are being eaten by birds, I ‘m hurrying to make a nice jelly. As it is my first elderberry jelly, I tried to find on internet the best recipe. Well, none appealed to me… So after some tries, I’ll tell you what for me is the best.

Ingredients :
berries, (for 3 pots of 300 g of jam, you need a full bag of berries)
sugar,
an orange if you have one (recipes usually use lemon but orange is good)
and some water.

Harvest your wild berries in the countryside, you’ll find them everywhere. Choose the ripest ones, full of water and not the one already tasted by birds that are no more watery. Because the secret for a good jam is liquid.



Pick berries off the stalks, keep the black ones, and weight them before doing anything else. Because thanks to its weight, you ‘ll have to add one third of sugar later one.
Once you weighted them, put the orange juice into a pan with the water and let it boil for some minutes. It smells really strange and not nice but go on. Crush them. Then use a food mill to remove the seeds. I first tried with the berries and seeds, it is inedible.

Once you have the sauce, put it into a saucepan, add sugar (one third because once you removed the seeds and skin, you have not a lot left) and mix.
The best is to wait the next day to cook it. Boil it then for some minutes. Your jam is ready when using a teaspoon, the jelly is covering your teaspoon and dropping very slowly. The drop must almost stay on your teaspoon.
Pour the boiling jam into pots and seal them and let them cool down upside down. And again store them upside down till eating. The pots can be kept for a long time (a year or so).



Be careful with the berries : never eat them raw, they are toxic, as are the leaves, the roots and the bark.

Read it in French : Recette de confiture aux baies de sureau

Buckwheat is not what it’s name suggests : it’s not wheat neither a cereal or a grain. It is a Polygonaceae, a sister of rheum, docks or sorrels.

In French and even in Breton, its name is blé noir (black wheat, the flour is dark) and it is used to make the famous galettes de blé noir (sarrasin).

Archeologists found it in Brittany in prehistorical pollen. But it is a common plant in Britain since the 15 th C, probably because it was reintroduced at that time in the region. And soon it became the basis of the food of the breton farmers.

Because it was so easy to grow it in Brittany : first of all, buckwheat is a crop that loves acidic or low fertility soils, it needs lots of water too. And Brittany was the place… we have “bad” soils and lots of rain.



As it grows quickly, farmers used to cultivate it beetween the winter crop and the summer one. It was also used to cover the fields and then as fertilizer.
Farmers could use hand mills to obtain flour, they did not have to use the mill which one must pay for!!!
During the 19th C, Brittany was producing 50% of the French buckwheat.

At the end of the 19th C, buckwheat was abandoned for new cereals and potatoes. And its cultivation began to decrease. During the 80's, 90's, crêperies had to import the flour from Russia or China as it was no more cultivated in France. And with the green movement, hardy plants have a new life : farmers in Center Brittany began to produce it again. Now you find organic buckwheat produced here, in the region.

Today buckwheat has other nice advantages : gluten free, it is also a good provider of vitamins, proteins, minerals such as iron… it is nice for food allergy.

Beer is also done with buckwheat in Brittany.



And all over the world, buckwheat has its specialities. Specially in its original region South East Asia : in Japan, people eat it as pasta. Or the grains are used to make special pillows to relax…

Read it in French : Blé noir ou sarrasin en bretagne : une farine miracle

Les Roches du Diable (rocks of the devil) are:

- A natural site where the devil is locked?
- A place for international competitions of canoe-kayak?
- A site where fishing trout and salmon is easy ?
- A place where the picnic is better than bathing?
- A beautiful site for walking?

Yes, les Roches du Diable is all that! ... A huge pile of stones laid along the river Elle.

The legend of the site, because there is a legend is:
Saint Guénolé (the monk who created Landévennec monastery at the origin of the evangelization of Britain in the 5th century) increased conversions in the region. And Paolic (the devil in Breton) did not like it at all. He threw stones on him when the monk was walking along the Elle. But Saint Guénolé with a sign of the cross avoided them. Weary, he decided to fight the devil. The struggle was so wild that the devil left his claws on a block of stone.



Saint Guénolé was finally the winner as he was able to precipitate Satan in a bottomless hole where he still is...

It is surely when the Devil broke that the river is the place for international canoe-kayak. They take place in winter when the river and the devil are celebrating ! The site is free for canoes ... or for kayaking in the summer.

You can also fish trouts and salmons. These two fishes were rare in the rivers of Brittany a few years ago, they are back. The influence of the tide goes till the site of the rocks of devil.



If you are neither kayaking or fishing, you should know that is not good to be around to swim. Too dangerous. Instead you can walk along the Ellé and enjoy the nature and the huge stones.

Read it in French : Les roches du diable canoe kayak et pêche sur l'Ellé

Looking for an original and unusual getaway in Northern France ... Off season, of course, because you want it to be nice and quiet ... Try the Mont Saint Michel !
Like stones, hiking and local specialities ... Go to the Mont Saint Michel
You are a follower of marathons and want to do one in France... the Mont Saint Michel !
Or looking to retire in an outstanding place... The Mont Saint Michel!



That place is located between Brittany and Normandy ... Easy to reach from the UK... Take a Ryanair flight to Dinard and then rent a car or take the ferry to Saint Malo and drive…

Do you want to begin with the gourmet side of the place ? Or the walks in the bay or want to know everything about that marathon…

I’ll deal first with the French gastronomy… and the culinary specialties… Just to make you drool ... We can say that there are four good reasons to stop and eat in the corner.
The bay is famous for its mussel farm… and its seafood dishes…
If you scan the bay, you'll see lots of oak piles driven into the sand, covered with ropes where mussels cling. The posts are covered by the tides. Wild mussels also grow naturally on rocks. The bay provides nearly one quarter of the French production.

To stay in the molluscs'field, you can also make a stop in Cancale for its fresh oysters. This aquaculture practice is an old tradition as the oysters from Cancale were already known in Versailles, the Royal Palace during the 18th C.
You can taste and enjoy the shellfish at the port of Cancale (stands outdoor offer to try different types of oysters). You eat, seated on the front, facing the sea and smelling the spray… It’s really nice.

The lamb (agneau de pré-salé literally a lamb raised in a salted meadow) is a specialty of the bay. The young lamb tastes very special: it grazes in the field that are covered by the tides and where the vegetation is, therefore, salty... The meat has a very special flavor and is very sought because they are just to be found here in the bay ...

I can finish this gastronomical journey by a legend, that of Madame Poulard and her famous omelet ... A taste of the Mont ...
This lady was famous for her restaurant during the 19th C, with an original omelet cooked over a wood fire. Even then, the pilgrims liked to stop there and now the famous preparation is always a specialty of the rock Mont Saint Michel. Quite expensive too !

And walks

There are great walks to do in Mont Saint Michel... or rather in the bay of Mont Saint Michel ...
A nice way to discover both Normandy and Brittany as the bay homes the two regions... But be very careful and never, ever do it alone and by yourself…...

The bay of Mont Saint Michel is really dangerous and that for various reasons:
The tides have a very large amplitude. The bay is extremely flat, the sea comes in quickly on the sand and surprises the visitor. Especially since the sand is treacherous: it consists on a sediment of limestone, silt and clay (that was used as fertilizer before) ... that is solidified at low tide and which "becomes quicksand" when it is again waterlogged (my explanation is not very scientific but the danger is real). You can cross the bay at low tide but always well guided. It's really worth it. The experience is unforgettable.

Nearby, the grass meadows are also a wintering site for waders and are a classified site of national interest since 1982.

The legend says that the bay was long ago (2000 years), covered with a wood forest called Scissy ... I stopped there because it is a myth ... But I can add a bit of geophysics. The bay is over 500 m2 and there are two large rocks: Mont Saint Michel and Tombelaine. The first, granite, is a 900 meter diameter by 80 meters in height.
It houses the Marvel. Its bell tower, made by Fremiet in 1897 and renovated in 1987, represents St. Michael slaying the dragon and gave the Mount its 157 meters high.
The second, Tombelaine, was occupied and fortified by the British in the 15th C, and is today just a rock with no remains.

For those who like to run…the marathon du Mont Saint Michel is a good excuse and a great way to explore the region ... It is a tough race but that brings together thousands of joggers every year since 1997 during a weekend (May 8th). They say it is hard because you see the arrival for miles ...

Finally for those who want the rest and the contemplation, Mont Saint Michel organizes retreats in the abbey. A magnificent site to discover from the inside.

Read it in French : Gastronomie et randonnée dans la baie du Mont Saint Michel : un vrai marathon

In Brittany, south, you have a nice little sea called le golfe du Morbihan (Gulf of Morbihan) where it is really nice to cruise.
And if you like old stones and megaliths, you'll be amazed by the island of Gavrinis and its cairns.
Back a few centuries ago, when the cairn was erected, the landscape was quite different : the gulf and its 42 islands did not exist. No cruise in the sun... no 10 minutes boattrip from Larmor-Baden ... to reach the island of Gavrinis … Land replaced the sea. There was just a beautiful hill.

The island is today divided into two : one part is a private property (Council of Morbihan would have liked to purchased it but they had no money) ... Stars from Paris bought it : the farm and the dozen hectares of the island became the property of a ... Parisian .... The other tiny part is the cairn !



Back to the huge cairn ...
... It was probably part of a more important megalithic site ... Leaving the island, you will notice that the island in front of the cairn has standing stones (discovered when low tide). They are still standing! Even after billions of tides ! The builders of the Neolithic time were working really well !!!



The monument was built around 3500 BC: it is composed of a dolmen (stone table) covered by a mound of dry stone ... ie a long corridor with stone slabs that leads to a room ... it seems that the corridor is the longest in Brittany and the room is the smallest ...
And as always, my answers/questions are assumptions : no paper trail, no skeletons (Breton soil is too acidic), only ideas and imagination to understand those prehistoric people. We still can not explain these singularities ...
By cons, it seems that the corridor has been intentionally filled with stones at a time ... (the spirits did not want curious minds to destroy the place, they wanted to wait until humanity will be mature enough and concerned to "discover" this awesome vestige) ...

How did those heavy stones get there?
The assumptions are : a river had to pass near the hill Gavrinis ... stones weighing several tons have been brought by reverse flotation (the guide will explain) near the site and then rolled on logs. One of the stones of the dolmen, which is the "roof" ... corresponds to one of the broken menhir in Locmariaquer ...a huge stone over twenty meters broken into three parts ... (do not miss it !)



How do we know that our ancestors did use it as it is recovered ?
As the slab is turned towards the sky, we would never have known it... but fortunatly the cairn has been damaged... a crater at the summit was showing a part of this carved menhir … Therefore no seek of the missing piece of the table des marchants!

Another interesting detail : each stone is decorated with geometric patterns or designs ... A true team of professionnal sculptors and engravers have worked for hours to get this result: perfect lines, without corrections, with regular spaces between curves, precision work on a very hard stone (try to carve granite, you'll see!).
Presumably, the community that built the monument had artists among them !

In short, the history of the monument is exciting ... The site guides will reveal more secrets about the cairn.
You need to pay for the visit and it is only possible from April to November. Book before you go, it is often full... (same thing for accommodation, we had to drive far inland to find a place to sleep !).
For once, if crowds are passionate, there is nothing to complain about!



Read this article in French : Croisière dans le golfe et les îles : Gavrinis

TRUE OU FALSE

The island of Batz was connected to the mainland during the Iron Age (8th to 6th BC)
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

By bike or on foot, go and get the answers ...



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