0:00:06 > 0:00:09The northwest coast of France,
0:00:09 > 0:00:13and a fortified city that repelled the British for centuries.
0:00:14 > 0:00:19But the city walls represent a mere bad-tempered blip
0:00:19 > 0:00:23in a cosy cross-Channel relationship that spanned millennia.
0:00:23 > 0:00:28After all, settlers from the British Isles gave this land its name.
0:00:29 > 0:00:34In French, Great Britain is "Grande Bretagne",
0:00:34 > 0:00:36but they call this place just "Bretagne".
0:00:36 > 0:00:40You could say that, to the French, this is Little Britain.
0:00:40 > 0:00:42We've crossed the Channel
0:00:42 > 0:00:46to Brittany, like so many Britons before us.
0:00:49 > 0:00:53A continual migration that shaped the landscape and language.
0:00:57 > 0:00:59This is a coast of wild winds,
0:00:59 > 0:01:02a home to free-spirited, seafaring folk.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11Nick is peeling back the layers of the French onion men.
0:01:11 > 0:01:13- You wear the berets. - Of course.- And have the bike.
0:01:13 > 0:01:17But all the English people ask me where is my striped T-shirt?
0:01:19 > 0:01:23While Miranda gets to grips with a rare local seafood.
0:01:23 > 0:01:28- It's an abalone back flip. - At the standing stones of Carnac,
0:01:28 > 0:01:30Mark discovers their irresistible pull.
0:01:31 > 0:01:35This is a stupid way of moving a stone, you know!
0:01:35 > 0:01:38And I'm off to the end of the Earth.
0:01:38 > 0:01:42In Europe's darkest hour it gave us a shining light,
0:01:42 > 0:01:45an island of unassuming heroes.
0:01:47 > 0:01:51There's no heroes, we don't want that title.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54We only did our duties.
0:01:58 > 0:02:00This is Coast and beyond.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30Look closely at this shoreline
0:02:30 > 0:02:33and the name Brittany really begins to make sense.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38The Celts of Cornwall and Wales
0:02:38 > 0:02:41felt at home on these rugged rocks.
0:02:42 > 0:02:46It's even got its own version of Lands End.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51We followed age-old connections across the Channel.
0:02:54 > 0:03:00We're heading for southern Brittany and the salt marshes of Guerande.
0:03:00 > 0:03:04But we begin our Breton adventure 400 miles up the coast at St Malo.
0:03:07 > 0:03:11Even this grand fortress, once a thorn in Britain's side,
0:03:11 > 0:03:13has Celtic origins.
0:03:17 > 0:03:21This city is named after a Welsh saint, Malo, or Maclou,
0:03:21 > 0:03:24who washed up here sometime in the sixth century
0:03:24 > 0:03:25in search of a fresh start.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31He was escaping the chaos in Britain after the Romans left.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37But Malo wasn't alone in seeking safe haven in Brittany.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42Migrants had been making the short hop across the Channel
0:03:42 > 0:03:45for centuries,
0:03:45 > 0:03:48and the stories of those Britons are written along this coast.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54Just offshore, the island of d'Aval.
0:03:55 > 0:03:59Local legend say it's the site of Avalon,
0:03:59 > 0:04:04where Excalibur was forged, the last resting place of King Arthur.
0:04:06 > 0:04:12On this coast of Celtic myth, ancient tales submerged by the sea
0:04:12 > 0:04:14are revealed at low tide.
0:04:18 > 0:04:23A memorial to another saint, this time from Ireland,
0:04:23 > 0:04:24Saint Efflam.
0:04:24 > 0:04:28It's said he was guided to this spot by the hand of God.
0:04:30 > 0:04:34It's a leap of faith many cross-Channel mariners have made.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38Celtic cousins bonded by the sea.
0:04:46 > 0:04:50Brittany may be mainland France but the Bretons have,
0:04:50 > 0:04:54at times, felt more at home with us.
0:05:01 > 0:05:05On the road to Roscoff, Nick is following a cultural crossover
0:05:05 > 0:05:07which left a lasting impression.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15It's an enduring image of the French -
0:05:15 > 0:05:18bicycle-riding, stripy-topped.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21All I need now is a string of onions!
0:05:23 > 0:05:26Like a lot of people, I assumed this image was a myth.
0:05:27 > 0:05:32But there may be something in it, just look at this photograph.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35It was taken in the 1950s and it shows onion-sellers
0:05:35 > 0:05:38from this part of Brittany. They look every inch,
0:05:38 > 0:05:40or rather centimetre, the Frenchman,
0:05:40 > 0:05:44I'm in search of what are known as the "onion Johnnies".
0:05:44 > 0:05:48I'm told there's a new generation of Johnnies and I'm going to meet one.
0:05:48 > 0:05:52If I'm looking for the classic image of a Frenchman,
0:05:52 > 0:05:54Emmanuel Le Noac'h doesn't disappoint.
0:05:54 > 0:05:55Hello, Emmanuel.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57- Hello.- A great pleasure to meet you.
0:05:57 > 0:06:02- Good afternoon. - You're already stringing onions. - Yeah, yeah, I'm starting my season.
0:06:02 > 0:06:06Can you tell me what an onion Johnnie is?
0:06:06 > 0:06:10It's only a onion seller who goes to England,
0:06:10 > 0:06:14and me particularly I'm going to London, but we really started
0:06:14 > 0:06:19in Wales because of the language, because the Breton language
0:06:19 > 0:06:22is nearly the same as the Welsh one.
0:06:22 > 0:06:26- Celtic language.- Celtic. - You're putting these onto the string
0:06:26 > 0:06:29because this is how you have to show your...
0:06:29 > 0:06:32It's not only to show, it's to keep it all the winter.
0:06:32 > 0:06:34So you take your raffia,
0:06:34 > 0:06:39you tie there with the neck, the air can't go through.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41You can keep it 10-12 months.
0:06:41 > 0:06:43So this is organic preservation?
0:06:43 > 0:06:46It's organic preservation, exactly, yeah.
0:06:46 > 0:06:48Now do tell me because some of these onion-sellers
0:06:48 > 0:06:52in the 1950s photograph are wearing berets.
0:06:52 > 0:06:56How important is it to have an onion-seller's costume to look French?
0:06:56 > 0:06:59Yeah, it's like a costume, it's a bit like a business thing,
0:06:59 > 0:07:02so with the beret against the rain is very good.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06During the winter, I know they used to put newspaper in it.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09- Keep your head warm. - Yes, but normally
0:07:09 > 0:07:12you wear it like that, on one side.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14Have you ever worn a stripy...?
0:07:14 > 0:07:18I haven't got, but all the English people ask me where is my striped T-shirt!
0:07:20 > 0:07:25Onion Johnnies have been coming to Britain for nearly 200 years,
0:07:25 > 0:07:28sort of informal ambassadors,
0:07:28 > 0:07:31toting a taste of France door-to-door.
0:07:33 > 0:07:38It began in the 1820s as a bit of market research.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41Local farmers crossed the Channel to see if the British
0:07:41 > 0:07:43had an appetite for Roscoff onions.
0:07:44 > 0:07:48We liked them so much, they've been coming back ever since.
0:07:53 > 0:07:57In their heyday, around 1,500 onion Johnnies left their loved ones
0:07:57 > 0:08:01behind at the end of each summer to spend up to six months in Britain.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06Straight from Brittany, madam, feel the weight.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10Roscoff is proud of its cross-Channel connections
0:08:10 > 0:08:12and its onion-growing tradition.
0:08:13 > 0:08:17At the local museum, the Maison des Johnnies,
0:08:17 > 0:08:20they organise regular tastings,
0:08:20 > 0:08:23with lashings of local cider, of course.
0:08:24 > 0:08:29I'm surprised to find that the guests here are all French,
0:08:29 > 0:08:32as curious as I am about the onion Johnnies.
0:08:32 > 0:08:37If you go to Rennes, it's not far, it's only 200km from here,
0:08:37 > 0:08:40people don't know the onion men, none at all.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44We're more well-known in Birmingham than in Rennes!
0:08:46 > 0:08:49The guest of honour tonight is former onion-seller Pierre.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53- So this is you here?- That's me.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56Was it necessary to wear an onion-seller's uniform?
0:08:56 > 0:09:00You should wear a beret, you always have a beret to do
0:09:00 > 0:09:02door-to-door Frenchie.
0:09:14 > 0:09:19It seems that from one small place in Brittany, we created our stereotype
0:09:19 > 0:09:20of the French nation.
0:09:20 > 0:09:24From Exeter to Glasgow, from Swansea to Newcastle,
0:09:24 > 0:09:27they zigzag across Great Britain
0:09:27 > 0:09:30with a little piece of France on a string.
0:09:30 > 0:09:34It's certainly a romantic image, but what about the realities of life
0:09:34 > 0:09:38on the road, away from your family for a large part of the year?
0:09:38 > 0:09:40Sans glace, ni rien...
0:09:40 > 0:09:44Olivier Seite and his wife Anne must have seen more tears than most.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47Hello, very nice to meet you.
0:09:47 > 0:09:51'They were in the onion business for more than 40 years.
0:09:51 > 0:09:55'Olivier started selling at 14 with his dad,
0:09:55 > 0:09:58'and here he is in the 1960s.'
0:09:58 > 0:10:01- Want some onions?- Yes, we'll buy some please, how much are they?
0:10:01 > 0:10:05- Same price, four and six a bunch. - How do you manage the English language?
0:10:05 > 0:10:08Well, I know enough to sell my onions.
0:10:08 > 0:10:10You don't find the Geordie accent baffling?
0:10:10 > 0:10:13Oh, a little, but I'm used to it.
0:10:13 > 0:10:18We travelled by boat, but after we were in England
0:10:18 > 0:10:22we stayed six months and we find a place to storage the onions.
0:10:22 > 0:10:24I mean, Olivier had a very hard life before,
0:10:24 > 0:10:27they used to sleep on the onions with a sale cloth on over them.
0:10:27 > 0:10:31Now, Anne, you're not speaking with a very French accent,
0:10:31 > 0:10:34- you sound as if you come from the north of England.- Ah, yes, well...
0:10:34 > 0:10:37raised in Newcastle upon Tyne.
0:10:37 > 0:10:38Two bunches, please.
0:10:38 > 0:10:42'For most onion Johnnies, their job took them away
0:10:42 > 0:10:45'from their nearest and dearest, but for Olivier it led him to his.
0:10:45 > 0:10:49'He met and fell in love with Anne while on a night out in Newcastle.'
0:10:49 > 0:10:53You fell for a blond-haired, blue-eyed boy to dance.
0:10:53 > 0:10:57- Oh, I did, I did!- Did you know that your dancer was an onion-seller?
0:10:57 > 0:11:00I did not. I thought it was a myth - French onion men.
0:11:00 > 0:11:04To my friends in the office, I said, "I've just met this French onion man
0:11:04 > 0:11:08"and I think this is the one," and they said, "A French onion man!
0:11:08 > 0:11:12"Oh, trust you!" Cos I've always been different.
0:11:12 > 0:11:16What's the most important quality an onion-seller needs?
0:11:18 > 0:11:20Persistence.
0:11:22 > 0:11:26Just what is it about those onions that made it worth the Johnnies
0:11:26 > 0:11:31travelling such eye-watering distances, some as far as Shetland?
0:11:31 > 0:11:35And why would Brits prefer them to homegrown varieties?
0:11:36 > 0:11:38On his farm overlooking Roscoff harbour,
0:11:38 > 0:11:42I'm hoping veteran onion Johnnie Andre Quemener can tell me.
0:11:43 > 0:11:45'Or better still, show me.'
0:11:47 > 0:11:48See?
0:11:48 > 0:11:50Are they good raw?
0:11:50 > 0:11:51Yes, see?
0:11:54 > 0:11:57- Very sweet.- Yes, it's sweet.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00They are, delicious. They're not bitter or sharp.
0:12:00 > 0:12:01No, no.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04- You can eat them like an apple.- Yes.
0:12:04 > 0:12:09What is special about the soil? I mean, it's very fine and rich.
0:12:09 > 0:12:11Oh, yes, a lot of seaweed on it.
0:12:11 > 0:12:13- You put seaweed on it? - Yes, every year.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16- And does the seaweed fertilise the soil?- Yes, yes.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19That's why they're so nice, you see.
0:12:19 > 0:12:23Is there a future for onion Johnnies selling onions in Britain?
0:12:23 > 0:12:26Oh, yes, oh, yes, it'll be a few years yet to go.
0:12:26 > 0:12:30- What about you, though?- Ah, well, it depends on my health now.
0:12:30 > 0:12:34- You look pretty fit. - Oh, yes, but I'm 73 now!- Yeah?
0:12:34 > 0:12:36- Do you still enjoy it?- Yes, oh, yes.
0:12:36 > 0:12:40- What do you call it? Like a drug. - You're addicted to onions?!
0:12:40 > 0:12:41Yes, yes!
0:12:43 > 0:12:45All right, so we go for our cup of tea now?
0:12:45 > 0:12:47Good, suits me just fine, Andre!
0:12:47 > 0:12:51'Andre's farmed and sold his own crops since 1951,
0:12:51 > 0:12:54'but when he hangs up his onion knife,
0:12:54 > 0:12:56'there'll only be 20 or so onion Johnnies left.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01'While it seems the beret-wearing image is mostly
0:13:01 > 0:13:04'for the benefit of customers across the Channel,
0:13:04 > 0:13:07'it's that relationship with the British
0:13:07 > 0:13:10'that keeps the tradition alive.'
0:13:10 > 0:13:12Last string of onions on the handlebars.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15I'm told by the Johnnies that, with all this weight
0:13:15 > 0:13:20on the handlebars, you can't take the bike around corners.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23And it's so heavy, it's like trying to pedal a Sherman tank!
0:13:28 > 0:13:31Merci. Would you like some onions?
0:13:35 > 0:13:39The French gave us the idea that you are what you eat,
0:13:39 > 0:13:41or at least what you grow.
0:13:43 > 0:13:47They created "Appellation Controlle", a certificate of authenticity
0:13:47 > 0:13:50to protect regional foods from cut-price imitators.
0:13:52 > 0:13:56So whether it's Brittany onions or even Jersey potatoes,
0:13:56 > 0:14:00we know our food is rooted in a sense of place.
0:14:04 > 0:14:08In Plouguerneau, Miranda's looking for a local delicacy.
0:14:16 > 0:14:18Brittany is famed for its produce
0:14:18 > 0:14:22and a weekly market at Plouguerneau is packed with fresh fruit,
0:14:22 > 0:14:26vegetables, and my particular favourite, cheese.
0:14:31 > 0:14:35But I'm looking for one rather rare local foodstuff
0:14:35 > 0:14:40which Sylvain Huchette has promised to show me, only we won't find it here.
0:14:43 > 0:14:47We're looking for Abalone, a shellfish that would set you back
0:14:47 > 0:14:50about £70 a plate in some of the world's top restaurants.
0:14:54 > 0:14:58Brittany is one of the few places in the world
0:14:58 > 0:15:00where you'll find Abalone in the wild.
0:15:05 > 0:15:09Sylvain tells me it's the cool water that make the conditions ideal.
0:15:09 > 0:15:13The seaweed provides an abundant source of food for the Abalone,
0:15:13 > 0:15:16but it also makes it rather hard to spot them.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20It's like swimming through a rainforest, lovely.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26Abalone are in fact a form of mollusc
0:15:26 > 0:15:31and I've been told to look for something that's a cross between
0:15:31 > 0:15:34a large snail and a limpet, clinging to the underside of a rock.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45Wow, look at that!
0:15:45 > 0:15:47Oh, beautiful!
0:15:47 > 0:15:48Well done.
0:15:50 > 0:15:55There you have a juvenile Abalone there, and a big, big Abalone adult.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59This is a really speedy little one, isn't it?
0:15:59 > 0:16:02It's just not what I really expected.
0:16:02 > 0:16:06I think I suppose something that didn't move around very much.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10This is about two years old.
0:16:11 > 0:16:15Look at that one go! I can't believe it, it's moving really fast.
0:16:17 > 0:16:19This is a much bigger one.
0:16:21 > 0:16:23It's an Abalone zoo down here.
0:16:23 > 0:16:27Yeah, look at that muscular foot
0:16:27 > 0:16:32curling it's way around, getting a purchase on my hand. Look at that!
0:16:32 > 0:16:35Superb, that's an Abalone back flip.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38I'd say now it's time to put them back where we found them.
0:16:42 > 0:16:47Abalone are also found in South Africa, New Zealand and Australia,
0:16:47 > 0:16:50but they're rare in European waters.
0:16:50 > 0:16:54so the French government has placed strict limits
0:16:54 > 0:16:56on fishing them out of the wild.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00That's why Sylvain has set up
0:17:00 > 0:17:04Europe's first advanced Abalone hatchery and farm.
0:17:05 > 0:17:07It all starts, you know,
0:17:07 > 0:17:11with the larger animals like the one we saw in our diving.
0:17:11 > 0:17:16We get them to spawn in the hatchery and produce small
0:17:16 > 0:17:21spats and it takes about a year to bring a spat to your small juvenile.
0:17:21 > 0:17:24Once they're big enough they come in this cage and these ones are
0:17:24 > 0:17:28already three years old, and we basically try to replicate their
0:17:28 > 0:17:32natural habitat. We keep the density quite low because abalone
0:17:32 > 0:17:35are not happy at high density.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38And they have to be happy for up to five years
0:17:38 > 0:17:41to grow to sufficient size to be served in a restaurant.
0:17:45 > 0:17:47I'm told they taste somewhere
0:17:47 > 0:17:50between fine steak and wild mushrooms.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56So let's see if it's been worth that wait.
0:17:59 > 0:18:01- Bon appetit.- Merci beaucoup.
0:18:01 > 0:18:03It's precious, what you're eating.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09It's very, very mild, it's almost not seafoody.
0:18:11 > 0:18:13How would you describe the taste?
0:18:13 > 0:18:17Maybe a bit mushroomy, but only a hint of mushroom.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20- That's difficult to describe.- Yeah.
0:18:20 > 0:18:22Absolutely gorgeous, though.
0:18:31 > 0:18:35As Cornwall is to England so Brittany is to France.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41The people have their own coastal culture,
0:18:41 > 0:18:43a fiercely independent lot,
0:18:43 > 0:18:48and this stretch of shore does suddenly become awfully fearsome.
0:18:50 > 0:18:52At the very tip of Brittany,
0:18:52 > 0:18:55like a defiant finger pointing out at the Atlantic,
0:18:55 > 0:18:58this is the district of Finistere.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05With a smattering of schoolboy French,
0:19:05 > 0:19:07you understand the meaning of the name.
0:19:07 > 0:19:11"Finis" is the French word for the end,
0:19:11 > 0:19:14and "terre" is earth, so Finistere -
0:19:14 > 0:19:16the end of the Earth.
0:19:21 > 0:19:26The full fury of the Bay of Biscay unleashes itself here,
0:19:26 > 0:19:28whipped up by the Atlantic airstream.
0:19:30 > 0:19:32These aren't freak storms.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36Often in the winter months, these waters boil.
0:19:38 > 0:19:42Here, the mouth of the English Channel has swallowed many ships.
0:19:44 > 0:19:491967, the Torrey Canyon wrecked off the coast of Cornwall,
0:19:49 > 0:19:51the world's first oil tanker disaster.
0:19:55 > 0:19:5911 years later, the Amoco Cadiz lost control during a violent storm,
0:19:59 > 0:20:04ran aground and was ripped in two all within sight of the Brittany coast.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10And the whole world watched the aftermath on television.
0:20:12 > 0:20:16Guillaume Le Ru lived 12 miles away,
0:20:16 > 0:20:19but it wasn't the TV that alerted him to the disaster.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39zAt the time, it was the worst oil spill in history.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42220,000 tonnes of crude
0:20:42 > 0:20:48spread over 200 miles of coast, covering beaches in a thick emulsion.
0:20:48 > 0:20:52Its impact on the local environment lasted years.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09This devilish sea has spawned an awful lot of lighthouses.
0:21:19 > 0:21:23There was a time when I wanted to be a lighthouse keeper and people
0:21:23 > 0:21:27used to say, "What a boring job," but I beg to differ.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30Look at that lighthouse keeper, what can possibly be boring
0:21:30 > 0:21:32about a life like that?
0:21:32 > 0:21:37This photograph of La Jument lighthouse was taken in 1989.
0:21:37 > 0:21:41It became one of the world's most reproduced images
0:21:41 > 0:21:45and made a reluctant star out of the man at the eye of the storm.
0:21:47 > 0:21:52A lot of people thought that he must have died just a few seconds after the photograph,
0:21:52 > 0:21:57swamped by that wave, but he survived and I'm going to find out how.
0:21:57 > 0:22:01Apparently, that lighthouse man has always wanted a signed copy
0:22:01 > 0:22:04of the photo, so we're taking him one.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07I'm hitching a lift with the man who made him famous,
0:22:07 > 0:22:09photographer Jean Guichard.
0:22:09 > 0:22:11- How are you?- Very well.
0:22:15 > 0:22:20In 1989, Jean set out to capture the end of an era.
0:22:22 > 0:22:24La Jument was about to be automated,
0:22:24 > 0:22:27as were all the lighthouses on both sides of the Channel.
0:22:31 > 0:22:35This was a tough posting, so it was particularly poignant
0:22:35 > 0:22:38to capture an image of its keeper for posterity.
0:22:45 > 0:22:50On duty that day was Theadore Malgorn.
0:22:50 > 0:22:53He now lives on a nearby island, having never really cashed in
0:22:53 > 0:22:55on his fame.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00I don't think you sign up to be a lighthouse keeper
0:23:00 > 0:23:02so you can be famous.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06But we've got a photo to deliver -
0:23:06 > 0:23:08it's only taken 20 years!
0:23:11 > 0:23:15I'm told Bretons are not known for great displays of emotion.
0:23:20 > 0:23:23But I think he likes it. Time to try out that schoolboy French.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02Signed and delivered.
0:24:03 > 0:24:06Tres bien. Ca va suffire, tres bien.
0:24:06 > 0:24:08But I'm curious to know what it feels like
0:24:08 > 0:24:11to be possibly the most famous lighthouse keeper in the world.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22How does it feel for you, Jean, to have created that image?
0:24:22 > 0:24:26You know I feel to have the lucky photographer
0:24:26 > 0:24:29who did a great picture and after that,
0:24:29 > 0:24:32this is something which is not really my picture,
0:24:32 > 0:24:36it's a picture of the lighthouse keeper and the lighthouse story in the world.
0:24:36 > 0:24:38Now that way of life is gone.
0:24:38 > 0:24:42And now all the keepers have gone from the lighthouse
0:24:42 > 0:24:46and that's the end of a... of a story, you know.
0:24:55 > 0:24:59Like the southwest of England, this is a coast out on a limb.
0:24:59 > 0:25:03The name for this area of Brittany,
0:25:03 > 0:25:06Cornouaille, translates as Cornwall.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10Out here, it would be easy to turn a blind eye
0:25:10 > 0:25:13to the problems of the mainland,
0:25:13 > 0:25:17but the Bretons pride themselves in helping those in distress,
0:25:17 > 0:25:19answering a rescue call,
0:25:19 > 0:25:23even if it comes from the other side of the Channel.
0:25:24 > 0:25:26It's a heroic streak that runs deep
0:25:26 > 0:25:29on the smallest of Brittany's outposts.
0:25:29 > 0:25:34Five miles off the Pointe du Raz is the tiny Ile de Sein.
0:25:37 > 0:25:39I'm on my way to a reunion
0:25:39 > 0:25:42with two islanders who share a remarkable bond.
0:25:44 > 0:25:48Both in their 80s, Louis Fuquet lives on mainland France,
0:25:48 > 0:25:52while Francois Tanguy has travelled here from his home in Cardiff.
0:25:53 > 0:25:56As teenagers, they took part
0:25:56 > 0:26:02in an incredible act of self-sacrifice, one made by the entire island.
0:26:03 > 0:26:04There it is, just clinging on
0:26:04 > 0:26:07to the edge of the world, thin line on the horizon.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10Apparently, there's not one part of the island
0:26:10 > 0:26:12that's more than six metres above sea level.
0:26:14 > 0:26:20In June 1940, this sliver of an island stood alone.
0:26:20 > 0:26:23Hitler had launched his lightning war against western Europe.
0:26:25 > 0:26:30In little over six weeks, his troops overwhelmed the Lowlands and France.
0:26:30 > 0:26:32The French government surrendered,
0:26:32 > 0:26:34German forces lined the coast of Brittany.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40The inhabitants of the tiny Ile de Sein could only look on,
0:26:40 > 0:26:44wondering when the Nazis would come.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48- So can we go up this one here?- Yes, I think it's the best way to go.
0:26:48 > 0:26:51'Francois was just 17,
0:26:51 > 0:26:54'he'd just returned to the island after exams on the mainland.'
0:26:55 > 0:27:01'Everybody was looking forward for a good summer.
0:27:01 > 0:27:06'The news from the Front was very, very good.'
0:27:06 > 0:27:12And then, suddenly, there was Dunkirk,
0:27:12 > 0:27:17who came along absolutely like a bombshell.
0:27:17 > 0:27:21Charles de Gaulle had been a minister in the French government.
0:27:21 > 0:27:25Just before the surrender, he'd flown to London.
0:27:25 > 0:27:30He went on the BBC to rally his countrymen to join him in England
0:27:30 > 0:27:36to fight in a free French force, but almost no-one heard de Gaulle.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39There had been no trail of his broadcast.
0:27:39 > 0:27:43A few days later, he tried again,
0:27:43 > 0:27:46but this time the people of Isle de Sein had got wind of it.
0:27:46 > 0:27:48The entire population gathered here,
0:27:48 > 0:27:52on the quayside, to listen to the radio.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57'On the very spot that de Gaulle's call to action was heard,
0:27:57 > 0:28:01'Francois and Louis meet another veteran, Noel Meneux,
0:28:01 > 0:28:03'who still lives on the island.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08'It's been almost 70 years since de Gaulle's rallying call
0:28:08 > 0:28:09'first rang out on this quayside.
0:28:52 > 0:28:55It became known as L'Appel -
0:28:55 > 0:28:58The Call. It was a defining moment for everyone.
0:29:00 > 0:29:05Their message was heard,
0:29:05 > 0:29:07what to do.
0:29:09 > 0:29:11And the first person to speak...
0:29:17 > 0:29:21Yes, he said, was the curate,
0:29:21 > 0:29:26and it said that we must follow, but he said...
0:29:30 > 0:29:35..and it was necessary to take measure locally immediately,
0:29:35 > 0:29:39because the Germans were crossing the Channel.
0:29:39 > 0:29:42Over three nights, almost every man
0:29:42 > 0:29:45on the island between 16 and 55 boarded fishing boats
0:29:45 > 0:29:49and small ferries to join de Gaulle's Free French in England.
0:29:51 > 0:29:56Leaving here about nine o'clock at night,
0:29:56 > 0:30:01and we all arrived in UK, near Penzance, I think.
0:30:01 > 0:30:06At just 14 years old, Louis was too young to go,
0:30:06 > 0:30:09but he persuaded his dad to smuggle him off the island.
0:30:27 > 0:30:32Our first place was the Olympia Hall in London. Yes, there.
0:30:32 > 0:30:38And started our training practically within the week.
0:30:38 > 0:30:42I joined the Navy, so I was sent to...
0:30:42 > 0:30:48on board a French ship that had come from Cherbourg
0:30:48 > 0:30:51in France to Portsmouth.
0:30:53 > 0:30:59This tiny island sent 128 men, a quarter of all those who made
0:30:59 > 0:31:03it to England in response to de Gaulle's initial call to action.
0:31:06 > 0:31:11Francois was photographed with shipmates from the Free French Navy
0:31:11 > 0:31:14out on the town in London, but serving on a warship
0:31:14 > 0:31:17in the Atlantic was far removed from this breezy image.
0:31:19 > 0:31:23Life in the Navy was inhuman,
0:31:23 > 0:31:26the ship was looked after by the crew
0:31:26 > 0:31:31and you had to be on there practically 24 hours a day awake.
0:31:31 > 0:31:35And after two or three years, most of the people
0:31:35 > 0:31:37couldn't do it any more.
0:31:39 > 0:31:43'He was invalided out in 1942,'
0:31:43 > 0:31:45and finally returned to Ile de Sein in 1945.
0:31:47 > 0:31:48So, you three are heroes.
0:31:49 > 0:31:55Er, only... It's not heroes, we don't want that title.
0:31:55 > 0:31:58We only did our duties.
0:32:02 > 0:32:07Of the 128 islanders, 18 where never to return, killed in action.
0:32:07 > 0:32:09After the war, President de Gaulle
0:32:09 > 0:32:14awarded the entire island The Cross of the Liberation, one of
0:32:14 > 0:32:18just five districts in France to receive this high military honour.
0:32:20 > 0:32:23Francois' career in the French diplomatic service
0:32:23 > 0:32:24took him around the world.
0:32:26 > 0:32:29But he returns to remember fallen friends
0:32:29 > 0:32:32and reflect on their struggle.
0:32:34 > 0:32:37It is difficult to analyse into words what it all means.
0:32:37 > 0:32:41One feels satisfied to be on the right side.
0:32:41 > 0:32:47Because one cannot contemplate the other side.
0:33:02 > 0:33:05We use concrete for our monumental building projects,
0:33:05 > 0:33:08and the early people who colonised this coast
0:33:08 > 0:33:11used the most resilient resource they could find...
0:33:14 > 0:33:16..granite.
0:33:16 > 0:33:22These enigmatic lines of stones were positioned around 2,000 years
0:33:22 > 0:33:24before Stonehenge was even assembled.
0:33:26 > 0:33:30They point to a link between Brittany and Britain.
0:33:36 > 0:33:40At Carnac, Mark Horton is following an ancient thread.
0:33:46 > 0:33:51They have an almost magnetic pull - standing stones
0:33:51 > 0:33:55that mark a presence of a mysterious people.
0:33:57 > 0:34:00We may not understand why the monuments are here
0:34:00 > 0:34:04but they keep drawing us back for another look.
0:34:07 > 0:34:11It's amazing to think that these stones
0:34:11 > 0:34:15were being erected some 2,500 years
0:34:15 > 0:34:16before the great pyramids of Egypt.
0:34:17 > 0:34:22That makes this site around 7,000 years old.
0:34:24 > 0:34:27Curious regimented lines
0:34:27 > 0:34:30that attract visitors from around the world.
0:34:33 > 0:34:37Today, it's like a megalithic theme park,
0:34:39 > 0:34:43but at its heart, the big attraction -
0:34:43 > 0:34:45a man-made hill, the Tumulus.
0:34:47 > 0:34:53Howard Crowhurst has spent 20 years building up a picture of Carnac.
0:34:53 > 0:34:58He believes the landscape here was once completely covered
0:34:58 > 0:35:00with stone monuments.
0:35:00 > 0:35:04And this used to be the vantage point on the site.
0:35:05 > 0:35:09- So, here we are.- Ah, what a view!
0:35:09 > 0:35:12Was it, was it like this 7,000 years ago?
0:35:12 > 0:35:16No, it was very different. The sea was much lower, seven metres lower,
0:35:16 > 0:35:19the trees were much further inland.
0:35:19 > 0:35:24So, in fact, you had a perfect view here of the landscape and all
0:35:24 > 0:35:28- the stones going right along it.- And how many stones are there in total?
0:35:28 > 0:35:33In the Carnac alignments, there are 3,000, over 3,000, 3,100 stones.
0:35:35 > 0:35:40Megalith means very big stone, and what we can see today
0:35:40 > 0:35:45represents around a tenth of what was originally erected.
0:35:45 > 0:35:48But why here, pointing out at the coast?
0:35:52 > 0:35:56I don't think it's a coincidence that these monuments are right by the sea.
0:35:56 > 0:35:59I mean, to build these monuments would have needed a lot of people
0:35:59 > 0:36:05and travelling was much easier along the coastline than through the land.
0:36:05 > 0:36:11And the sea is a massive larder where people could eat, you know.
0:36:11 > 0:36:14It's full of food, so it's a perfect spot
0:36:14 > 0:36:16for grouping large amounts of people, really.
0:36:18 > 0:36:21In fact, the coast seems to have been crucial
0:36:21 > 0:36:23to the location of these monuments.
0:36:24 > 0:36:30Similar sites of Stone Age structures are dotted all the way up
0:36:30 > 0:36:31Europe's Atlantic shores,
0:36:33 > 0:36:36from Portugal to France,
0:36:37 > 0:36:39Ireland to Wales,
0:36:39 > 0:36:41up to northern Scotland.
0:36:43 > 0:36:48But hundreds of years, and as many miles, separate the Carnac monuments
0:36:48 > 0:36:54from the sites on the British Isles, such as this one on Orkney.
0:36:56 > 0:37:02So were the builders communicating ideas along the Atlantic coast?
0:37:04 > 0:37:07I'm hoping French archaeologist Guillaume Robin
0:37:07 > 0:37:10can show me clues carved into stone.
0:37:13 > 0:37:19On the island of Gavrinis, there is an ancient tomb
0:37:19 > 0:37:21with artistic connections to North Wales.
0:37:21 > 0:37:28Here we go. Wow! There's circles, spirals
0:37:28 > 0:37:30and then these semi-circular arcs coming up.
0:37:30 > 0:37:34- Yes, that's mostly nested arcs. - Right.
0:37:34 > 0:37:40- It's a technique to make the carving is called the pecking...- Right.
0:37:40 > 0:37:43..and it was probably done with a quartz chisel, with a hammer,
0:37:43 > 0:37:46- tac-tac-tac, like this. - All the way down?- Yes.
0:37:46 > 0:37:48And look, I've brought you some
0:37:48 > 0:37:53illustrations of megalithic art from Wales, they're both from Anglesey.
0:37:53 > 0:37:55Look, you see, we've got the chevrons.
0:37:55 > 0:37:57- Yes.- We've seen chevrons.
0:37:57 > 0:38:01And here, look, we've got the sort of serpenty things.
0:38:01 > 0:38:05Yes, that's amazing, because here in Gavrinis, you have a lot of symbols
0:38:05 > 0:38:09- that also exist in Wales or in Ireland.- Right.
0:38:11 > 0:38:13What's even more amazing is that
0:38:13 > 0:38:19Gavrinis was built hundreds of years before the Welsh monuments and yet
0:38:19 > 0:38:24the art they contain could have been chipped away by the very same hand.
0:38:29 > 0:38:35Unfortunately, we don't have a clear picture of what the stones were for.
0:38:37 > 0:38:40As to how they were moved here,
0:38:40 > 0:38:42well, French archaeologists
0:38:42 > 0:38:47have turned it into a fun puzzle for all the family to work out.
0:38:49 > 0:38:53Using the tools of the time and a bit of public grunt...
0:38:53 > 0:38:57Un, deux, trois!
0:38:57 > 0:38:59..they've taken a very
0:38:59 > 0:39:02Breton approach to history - getting their hands dirty.
0:39:05 > 0:39:09After all, there must have been a great gathering here
0:39:09 > 0:39:15some 7,000 years ago, to create these remarkable monuments.
0:39:16 > 0:39:19It is a stupid way of moving a stone, you know!
0:39:33 > 0:39:37Since the stones of Carnac were aligned, empires have come and gone,
0:39:37 > 0:39:41and the fabric of the coast has been re-fashioned.
0:39:45 > 0:39:51Here, they channel seawater into shallow pools so that evaporation
0:39:51 > 0:39:56by sun and wind leaves the smallest of commodities, once so precious
0:39:56 > 0:39:57it was used as currency.
0:40:02 > 0:40:06As we near the end of our Breton adventure at Guerande,
0:40:06 > 0:40:10they marshal the forces of nature to farm salt.
0:40:14 > 0:40:20Sophie and fellow salt farmer Emmanuel represent a new generation,
0:40:20 > 0:40:22but the techniques they use are age-old.
0:40:26 > 0:40:29This is quite a bizarre landscape to my eye.
0:40:29 > 0:40:33Is this natural in any way, or is this all tampered with?
0:40:33 > 0:40:37It's not a natural landscape, all those pans were made by,
0:40:37 > 0:40:39by hand centuries ago.
0:40:39 > 0:40:43So, the water comes in from the sea and human beings trap it.
0:40:43 > 0:40:45Yes, that's right, we can say that.
0:40:47 > 0:40:51But don't be deceived, the elements are definitely in charge here.
0:40:54 > 0:40:59- There's the harvest. - There you see at last the salt.
0:40:59 > 0:41:03- So this is the stuff.- Yeah. This one is produced in those pans.
0:41:03 > 0:41:07- So the ones out in the middle. - On the bottom, so it
0:41:07 > 0:41:10touches clay, so that's why it's a little bit grey.
0:41:10 > 0:41:15- And will we be able to collect some of this now?- No, not today.
0:41:15 > 0:41:19Unfortunately, it has rained three days ago, and we have to wait
0:41:19 > 0:41:23that the water evaporates again, that the salt concentrates again,
0:41:23 > 0:41:27to crystallise, so it's quite frustrating that we have to wait,
0:41:27 > 0:41:28but it's part of the job.
0:41:30 > 0:41:33Just as it was for the monks who first created these salt pans
0:41:33 > 0:41:37in the tenth century, it's a waiting game.
0:41:45 > 0:41:48I'm all muddy, nobody else is muddy.
0:41:48 > 0:41:51But patience brings its rewards.
0:41:51 > 0:41:53Before the day is out, the sun breaks through,
0:41:53 > 0:41:59evaporating away enough water to produce the cream of the crop.
0:42:01 > 0:42:04So it's that simple? You just scoop it off the top?
0:42:04 > 0:42:06Yeah, exactly.
0:42:06 > 0:42:09- It's like snow.- Yeah.
0:42:09 > 0:42:11So white compared to the grey salt.
0:42:11 > 0:42:15So that one is a Fleur de Sel.
0:42:15 > 0:42:18It is an incredibly strong flavour.
0:42:23 > 0:42:25A thousand years of change,
0:42:25 > 0:42:29and yet a way of working that has remained the same.
0:42:32 > 0:42:37This coast, on the edge of Europe, feels timeless. It's steeped
0:42:37 > 0:42:41in the spirits of the ancestors that we in Britain share with the Bretons.
0:42:41 > 0:42:44Myth and reality merge, until it's difficult
0:42:44 > 0:42:46to tell Brittany from Britain.
0:42:50 > 0:42:52Next time, we're following
0:42:52 > 0:42:56those ancient Celtic connections back across the water to Wales.
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