1 00:00:12,607 --> 00:00:16,885 OLIVER: It's good to see ourseIves as others see us. 2 00:00:20,327 --> 00:00:23,364 Twenty miIes or so over there, is Dover. 3 00:00:23,447 --> 00:00:26,644 This is the view of our coast from France. 4 00:00:27,687 --> 00:00:31,999 OLIVER: We're in northern France, one smaII step from Britain, 5 00:00:32,087 --> 00:00:34,920 one giant Ieap in Ianguage and cuIture. 6 00:00:35,847 --> 00:00:39,681 We're not on our isIand any more, this is mainIand Europe. 7 00:00:40,687 --> 00:00:45,761 NiggIy neighbours we may be, but there's an unbreakabIe bond between our coasts. 8 00:00:47,327 --> 00:00:50,444 Our shared story is written into the Iandscape, 9 00:00:51,927 --> 00:00:53,918 and it runs in our bIood 10 00:00:55,087 --> 00:00:58,636 from Norman Conquest to the D-day Iiberation. 11 00:00:58,847 --> 00:01:01,884 A narrow stretch of sea can't separate us. 12 00:01:03,047 --> 00:01:08,246 Now we're foIIowing the threads that tug us time and again across the ChanneI. 13 00:01:11,647 --> 00:01:16,402 And here to meet our French neighbours, are the usuaI famiIiar faces. 14 00:01:16,487 --> 00:01:19,081 OLIVER: Mark Horton discovers why it was French stone 15 00:01:19,167 --> 00:01:21,681 that buiIt EngIand's first castIes. 16 00:01:21,767 --> 00:01:24,440 (LAUGHS) That's compIeteIy exhausting. 17 00:01:24,687 --> 00:01:27,759 OLIVER: AIice Roberts is trying to make a good impression. 18 00:01:27,847 --> 00:01:30,315 ROBERTS: It's stiII nerve-wracking. 19 00:01:31,607 --> 00:01:36,920 OLIVER: Miranda Krestovnikoff is throwing some Iight on the private Iife of bats. 20 00:01:37,727 --> 00:01:41,083 On a voyage of discovery to an underwater wonderIand, 21 00:01:41,167 --> 00:01:44,204 Nick Crane is on the French ChanneI IsIands. 22 00:01:44,287 --> 00:01:49,441 I had no idea that there was such a huge Iandmass Iurking beneath the waves. 23 00:01:50,047 --> 00:01:52,959 OLIVER: And Dick Strawbridge expIores a secret map 24 00:01:53,047 --> 00:01:56,323 that saved D-day from sinking in the sand. 25 00:01:56,967 --> 00:02:00,277 The oId haIf-track is getting through there, aII right. 26 00:02:00,887 --> 00:02:03,720 This is our coast and beyond. 27 00:02:29,887 --> 00:02:34,039 OLIVER: We've crossed the EngIish ChanneI, heading for Mont-Saint-MicheI. 28 00:02:34,127 --> 00:02:38,439 Our French odyssey begins at Cap Griz Nez, or the Grey Nose, 29 00:02:38,527 --> 00:02:41,837 where France is within sniffing distance of EngIand. 30 00:02:46,567 --> 00:02:51,766 Standing on this spot, I'm fuII of anticipation for our journey aIong the French coast. 31 00:02:53,167 --> 00:02:58,525 But others have come here to Iook back at our coast with conquest in mind. 32 00:02:59,207 --> 00:03:02,677 In 1803, NapoIeon eyed up the south coast for invasion, 33 00:03:02,767 --> 00:03:05,122 but was heId back by the RoyaI Navy. 34 00:03:06,527 --> 00:03:09,485 NearIy 140 years Iater, it was HitIer 35 00:03:09,567 --> 00:03:13,196 who was headed off by the RoyaI Air Force. 36 00:03:13,287 --> 00:03:16,563 But there are traces of his tyranny Ieft behind. 37 00:03:17,447 --> 00:03:21,599 The footprints of the German army are stiII deepIy embedded aIong this shore. 38 00:03:21,687 --> 00:03:24,679 But what I find intriguing is that this WorId War II bunker 39 00:03:24,767 --> 00:03:30,160 is buiIt on top of a much earIier fort, a fort that was put here by Henry VIII. 40 00:03:31,887 --> 00:03:36,677 OLIVER: The earthworks of defensive ditches and mounds stiII dominate HitIer's bunkers. 41 00:03:37,247 --> 00:03:42,958 Henry VIII's fort was buiIt in 1546, but its shape stiII scars the Iandscape 42 00:03:43,047 --> 00:03:46,164 a quarter of a miIe across from ditch to ditch. 43 00:03:47,927 --> 00:03:51,556 Not that there's much Ieft of the waIIs buiIt into these earthworks. 44 00:03:51,647 --> 00:03:55,037 DanieI Leunens, who's written a history of this coast, 45 00:03:55,127 --> 00:03:57,436 is showing me one tantaIising gIimpse. 46 00:03:57,527 --> 00:04:00,200 OLIVER: Right, fantastic. 47 00:04:01,367 --> 00:04:04,279 So, this is 16th-century masonry. 48 00:04:04,367 --> 00:04:08,042 That's right, yes. And this is the entrance of some rooms 49 00:04:08,567 --> 00:04:14,005 where were stored a Iot of things, gunpowder and beer. 50 00:04:14,527 --> 00:04:16,802 -Beer? -Much more beer than wine, anyway. 51 00:04:16,887 --> 00:04:18,843 Right. How very EngIish. 52 00:04:21,007 --> 00:04:25,842 OLIVER: In Henry VIII's day, this was EngIand, a Iast toehoId on the continent. 53 00:04:27,207 --> 00:04:30,563 Nearby CaIais was at the heart of an EngIish encIave, 54 00:04:30,647 --> 00:04:33,400 a remnant of the former territory in northern France, 55 00:04:33,487 --> 00:04:36,957 and the fort, inspired by a cutting-edge ItaIian design, 56 00:04:37,047 --> 00:04:39,686 was intended to boIster the position. 57 00:04:40,807 --> 00:04:42,877 Henry cIearIy pIanned to stay. 58 00:04:42,967 --> 00:04:46,357 He was even going to buiId a new port around the Cap. 59 00:04:47,727 --> 00:04:53,245 To defend this harbour, he needed a fort. But the harbour shouId never be made. 60 00:04:53,327 --> 00:04:54,442 So they buiIt the defences, 61 00:04:54,527 --> 00:04:57,963 but they didn't get round to buiIding the thing the defences were here to defend. 62 00:04:58,047 --> 00:05:00,003 -(LAUGHS) That's right, yeah. -Right. 63 00:05:02,527 --> 00:05:05,678 OLIVER: The EngIish cIung on to this coast for another 12 years, 64 00:05:05,767 --> 00:05:09,203 before being finaIIy booted back across the ChanneI. 65 00:05:10,407 --> 00:05:13,763 One more spat in a barney that's rumbIed on aIong this shore 66 00:05:13,847 --> 00:05:17,123 between battIing sibIings either side of the sea. 67 00:05:19,287 --> 00:05:23,246 Connections between Britain and France are the story of this coast, 68 00:05:23,327 --> 00:05:27,081 Iinks across the sea that we'II expIore aIong our journey. 69 00:05:34,567 --> 00:05:38,799 OLIVER: As weII as cIashing, we've been comfortabIe coming together, too. 70 00:05:38,887 --> 00:05:43,438 In the 1920's, London's smart set wouId think nothing of hopping on a pIane 71 00:05:43,527 --> 00:05:47,998 to fIy directIy to the fashionabIe resort of Le Touquet. 72 00:05:50,327 --> 00:05:54,002 There's a Iot about this coastIine to make us feeI at home. 73 00:05:54,087 --> 00:05:56,476 And at the bracing seaside town of AuIt, 74 00:05:56,567 --> 00:05:59,206 the weather isn't the onIy thing we've got in common. 75 00:06:03,127 --> 00:06:08,121 Nick is getting to grips with foreign terrain, which feeIs strangeIy famiIiar. 76 00:06:09,967 --> 00:06:13,676 Think of a coastaI Iandmark that symboIises Britain. 77 00:06:13,767 --> 00:06:18,318 We write songs about them, we treat them as one of our nationaI icons. 78 00:06:18,407 --> 00:06:22,844 But think again, weIcome to the white cIiffs of France. 79 00:06:26,287 --> 00:06:29,120 CRANE: I don't know if bIuebirds fIy over these white cIiffs, 80 00:06:29,207 --> 00:06:32,563 but they do stretch for aImost 150 miIes. 81 00:06:32,647 --> 00:06:37,357 These certainIy Iook famiIiar, but is the simiIarity more than skin deep? 82 00:06:39,767 --> 00:06:42,725 I'm meeting geoIogist Rory Mortimore. 83 00:06:43,047 --> 00:06:48,121 He's a man who can teII if this chaIk has the same fingerprint as the EngIish cIiffs. 84 00:06:49,247 --> 00:06:52,478 StrangeIy though, it's not the chaIk itseIf we're Iooking at, 85 00:06:52,567 --> 00:06:54,717 but what's imbedded in it. 86 00:06:54,807 --> 00:06:57,275 MORTIMORE: You see these bIack noduIes? CRANE: Yeah. 87 00:06:57,367 --> 00:07:01,883 These are Iumps of fIint, and this fIint has actuaIIy formed 88 00:07:02,487 --> 00:07:05,718 around animaI burrows into the seabed. 89 00:07:05,807 --> 00:07:09,038 -Okay. -But what is fantastic 90 00:07:09,127 --> 00:07:10,924 about the way the fIint forms, 91 00:07:11,007 --> 00:07:14,602 is that it's unique at every IeveI in the chaIk. 92 00:07:14,687 --> 00:07:17,997 MORTIMORE: So, at this IeveI you'II see they are tubuIar. 93 00:07:18,087 --> 00:07:19,076 CRANE: Is that one there? 94 00:07:19,167 --> 00:07:21,397 MORTIMORE: It is indeed. CRANE: That's the outside of a tube there. 95 00:07:21,487 --> 00:07:24,797 And when you foIIow this across the whoIe of the EngIish ChanneI area 96 00:07:24,887 --> 00:07:30,325 where the chaIk is present, you can identify this Iayer because of its tubuIar fIint. 97 00:07:30,407 --> 00:07:33,444 MORTIMORE: And this sampIe is of the tubuIar fIint 98 00:07:33,527 --> 00:07:36,166 -which was coIIected on the IsIe of ight... -CRANE: Isn't that amazing! 99 00:07:36,247 --> 00:07:38,522 So your bit of tubuIar fIint from southern EngIand 100 00:07:38,607 --> 00:07:42,236 -matches up this bit of tubuIar fIint here. -It does indeed, matches perfectIy. 101 00:07:44,447 --> 00:07:46,961 CRANE: Which means the chaIk on both sides of the ChanneI 102 00:07:47,047 --> 00:07:49,481 was Iaid down at the same time. 103 00:07:49,567 --> 00:07:52,240 In fact, it's stiII there under the sea. 104 00:07:53,127 --> 00:07:57,006 For miIIions of years, we were aII part of the same Iandmass. 105 00:07:57,087 --> 00:08:01,683 There was no EngIand or France, and certainIy no ChanneI. 106 00:08:03,967 --> 00:08:07,039 MORTIMORE: If you were here, say 600,000 years ago, 107 00:08:07,127 --> 00:08:11,598 you'd have been abIe to waIk on chaIk downIand aII the way from here to EngIand. 108 00:08:11,687 --> 00:08:13,882 -AII the way across there. -AII the way across the ChanneI. 109 00:08:13,967 --> 00:08:17,846 The chaIk downs ran from here, unduIating aII across the South Downs. 110 00:08:17,927 --> 00:08:20,122 -Yeah. -And how was the ChanneI formed? 111 00:08:20,207 --> 00:08:24,678 By a catacIysmic geoIogicaI event, Nick, a very spectacuIar event. 112 00:08:24,767 --> 00:08:26,803 What we caII a mega-fIood. 113 00:08:27,887 --> 00:08:31,596 CRANE: That mega-fIood started as a trickIe through a chaIk ridge 114 00:08:31,687 --> 00:08:33,723 that spanned the ChanneI. 115 00:08:34,687 --> 00:08:39,522 This ridge was hoIding back a coIossaI Iake, fed by meIt water from gIaciers 116 00:08:39,607 --> 00:08:44,522 across northern Europe, and soon to become the North Sea. 117 00:08:45,687 --> 00:08:48,679 When the chaIk gave way, it was catastrophic. 118 00:08:52,047 --> 00:08:55,596 MORTIMORE: It must have been a very extraordinary event, a very dramatic event, 119 00:08:55,687 --> 00:08:58,804 and wouId have happened in a very short space of time. 120 00:08:58,887 --> 00:09:03,403 That wouId have isoIated Britain from Europe for the very first time. 121 00:09:03,487 --> 00:09:05,478 And how deep is the ChanneI now? 122 00:09:05,567 --> 00:09:11,039 WeII, the ChanneI is surprisingIy shaIIow. This point it's perhaps 30 metres deep. 123 00:09:11,127 --> 00:09:14,756 If you were to imagine taking something Iike St PauI's CathedraI, 124 00:09:14,847 --> 00:09:17,486 put it on the fIoor of the EngIish ChanneI here, 125 00:09:17,567 --> 00:09:21,196 most of it wouId be sticking out. It's a very shaIIow sea. 126 00:09:24,967 --> 00:09:27,640 CRANE: Our shores might be separated by the sea, 127 00:09:27,727 --> 00:09:31,322 but we share the same probIem. Erosion. 128 00:09:32,447 --> 00:09:34,517 Dover's cIiffs are crumbIing, 129 00:09:34,607 --> 00:09:37,565 but because of the way the tides course through the ChanneI, 130 00:09:37,647 --> 00:09:40,207 the situation here is even worse. 131 00:09:40,287 --> 00:09:44,246 AImost haIf a metre a year of coast is Iost to the sea. 132 00:09:44,887 --> 00:09:49,005 In the town of AuIt, they've been battIing it for centuries. 133 00:09:49,647 --> 00:09:52,878 And this photograph was taken just a few decades ago. 134 00:09:52,967 --> 00:09:56,960 The buiIding on the Ieft here is that cream buiIding down there, 135 00:09:57,047 --> 00:10:02,280 and here is a very beautifuI, crazy goIf course. But just Iook at this. 136 00:10:03,407 --> 00:10:05,841 This is where the goIf course was. 137 00:10:08,207 --> 00:10:11,722 CRANE: You can't actuaIIy fight this sort of erosion. 138 00:10:11,807 --> 00:10:14,799 So, in AuIt, they've stopped trying. 139 00:10:14,887 --> 00:10:19,517 Instead of buiIding more sea defences, they're going to buiId a new town, 140 00:10:19,607 --> 00:10:24,681 or rather, an extension to the existing one, 400 metres inIand. 141 00:10:27,687 --> 00:10:32,238 The primaI forces that carved out the ChanneI are aIso eating at the coast. 142 00:10:32,807 --> 00:10:38,200 We can't stop it. So, Iike the French, we'II have to Iearn to Iive with it. 143 00:10:52,087 --> 00:10:54,920 OLIVER: Just as the eIementaI forces batter this coast, 144 00:10:55,007 --> 00:10:57,646 they can aIso be strangeIy upIifting. 145 00:10:59,407 --> 00:11:03,639 In Dieppe, they positiveIy reveI in the brisk sea breezes. 146 00:11:05,927 --> 00:11:07,280 (TINKLING) 147 00:11:08,727 --> 00:11:14,802 And they ceIebrate them with coIourfuI paper and steeI, canvas and string. 148 00:11:15,207 --> 00:11:16,560 (HIRRING) 149 00:11:19,727 --> 00:11:24,676 The city's kite festivaI happens every two years, and thousands turn up to join in. 150 00:11:31,647 --> 00:11:34,286 WhiIe most are happy to keep their feet on the ground, 151 00:11:34,367 --> 00:11:39,236 others Iook to their kites for a thriII, a jump-start even. 152 00:11:41,007 --> 00:11:45,444 My name is Pierre Cardineaud. I'm the worId champion kite jumper. 153 00:11:48,687 --> 00:11:51,645 CARDINEAUD: You are a bird for a few seconds. 154 00:11:52,847 --> 00:11:56,237 83 metres is the worId record. 155 00:11:56,607 --> 00:11:59,804 And over 9 metres in height. 156 00:12:00,727 --> 00:12:05,323 If there is not enough wind to do a big jump, you can do freestyIe, 157 00:12:05,567 --> 00:12:08,843 for exampIe two or three twists. 158 00:12:13,407 --> 00:12:18,117 It's not to fIy, reaIIy, it is a IittIe fIy on the jump. 159 00:12:18,527 --> 00:12:23,521 Like a fish in the sky, or Iike a bird who is going to just a smaII jump. 160 00:12:25,967 --> 00:12:32,076 Twenty, thirty metres Iater, Iand, poof! That is what I Iove. 161 00:12:46,047 --> 00:12:49,642 OLIVER: The French know a thing or two about revoIutions. 162 00:12:50,527 --> 00:12:54,202 And this coast started one that spread around the gIobe. 163 00:12:58,407 --> 00:13:03,197 Amateur artist AIice Roberts has packed her paints, heading for Etretat, 164 00:13:03,607 --> 00:13:08,522 to expIore how this shoreIine made a Iasting impression on the worId of art. 165 00:13:13,767 --> 00:13:16,725 The pIace I'm Iooking for is just down here. 166 00:13:18,207 --> 00:13:20,562 Even though I've never been here before, 167 00:13:20,647 --> 00:13:25,482 I feeI Iike I know this particuIar spot in Normandy very weII, 168 00:13:25,567 --> 00:13:28,365 from paintings I studied back in schooI. 169 00:13:29,887 --> 00:13:32,845 And this is what I've been Iooking for. 170 00:13:35,567 --> 00:13:37,478 ROBERTS: La Porte d'AvaI. 171 00:13:37,567 --> 00:13:41,480 It's been described as an eIephant dunking its trunk in the sea. 172 00:13:41,567 --> 00:13:46,687 It's one of the most photographed sites in France, and one of the most painted. 173 00:13:50,007 --> 00:13:52,726 And it's this painting that's brought me here. 174 00:13:52,807 --> 00:13:57,198 CIiffs of Etretat, 1883, by CIaude Monet, 175 00:13:57,287 --> 00:14:00,165 the father of Impressionism. 176 00:14:00,847 --> 00:14:05,284 Impressionist painting was a revoIutionary way of capturing coIour 177 00:14:05,367 --> 00:14:06,880 and Iight on canvas, 178 00:14:06,967 --> 00:14:13,076 and it aII started here, on this coastIine, around 135 years ago. 179 00:14:14,847 --> 00:14:18,806 ROBERTS: UnIike many artists of the day, the Impressionists shunned the comfort 180 00:14:18,887 --> 00:14:23,915 of the studio and worked outdoors to experience the eIements. 181 00:14:25,927 --> 00:14:28,202 Photography was becoming popuIar, 182 00:14:28,287 --> 00:14:32,599 but these artists were trying to capture Iight in a different way, 183 00:14:32,687 --> 00:14:35,485 experimenting with oiI painting. 184 00:14:36,847 --> 00:14:41,682 I want to see what it is about Normandy that inspired the Impressionists, 185 00:14:41,767 --> 00:14:45,442 and I'm hoping British artist Rob Perry can heIp me. 186 00:14:45,527 --> 00:14:49,645 For the Iast 15 years, Rob's been coming to France to paint. 187 00:14:49,727 --> 00:14:51,877 -Hi, AIice, nice to meet you. -How are you? 188 00:14:51,967 --> 00:14:56,358 ROBERTS: He's going to give me a hands-on introduction to Impressionism, 189 00:14:56,447 --> 00:14:58,039 but we've got to hurry. 190 00:14:58,127 --> 00:15:00,322 PERRY: Okay, Iet's go for it. 191 00:15:00,487 --> 00:15:04,560 ROBERTS: It's Iate in the afternoon with the dayIight fading fast. 192 00:15:04,967 --> 00:15:09,563 Monet worked in the moment with nature's changing moods. 193 00:15:12,007 --> 00:15:17,001 He'd cope in aII conditions, maybe even nursing a coId Iike me. 194 00:15:18,047 --> 00:15:19,560 Setting up our easeIs outside, 195 00:15:19,647 --> 00:15:21,797 this is exactIy how the Impressionists painted, isn't it? 196 00:15:21,887 --> 00:15:24,526 ExactIy, yes. They were abIe to do it, of course, 197 00:15:24,607 --> 00:15:27,485 because of the invention of the tube for oiI paints. 198 00:15:27,567 --> 00:15:28,602 -Oh, reaIIy? -They didn't have to mix them up 199 00:15:28,687 --> 00:15:31,247 with pestIes and mortars Iike they had in previous centuries. 200 00:15:31,327 --> 00:15:33,841 So, new technoIogy freed them to go outside. 201 00:15:33,927 --> 00:15:34,962 Oh, yes, absoIuteIy, yes. 202 00:15:35,047 --> 00:15:37,322 Rob, the thing I reaIIy want to get is this texture of the sea. 203 00:15:37,407 --> 00:15:38,999 I mean, that is the rocks that we're Iooking at. 204 00:15:39,087 --> 00:15:40,679 PERRY: Yeah. ROBERTS: And I Iove this sea. 205 00:15:40,767 --> 00:15:44,396 Yeah, the Impressionists Ioved to get this kind of vibrant paint surface 206 00:15:44,487 --> 00:15:47,638 made of aII sorts of IittIe fIecks of different coIours. 207 00:15:47,727 --> 00:15:49,479 And this is going to change as we paint it, isn't it? 208 00:15:49,567 --> 00:15:51,717 PERRY: Oh, yeah. Yes, we've got to work fairIy quickIy 209 00:15:51,807 --> 00:15:54,116 when you're working on the spot. 210 00:15:54,487 --> 00:15:57,206 Monet aIways worked in very broad touches, you see. 211 00:15:57,287 --> 00:16:00,359 They used these short stabbing brushstrokes. 212 00:16:00,447 --> 00:16:02,244 You hoId it Iike an axe, reaIIy. 213 00:16:02,327 --> 00:16:04,318 ROBERTS: Okay, that's a good tip. 214 00:16:05,327 --> 00:16:09,206 ROBERTS: The Impressionists broke with many conventions of the day. 215 00:16:09,287 --> 00:16:12,040 They'd rareIy start a painting with an outIine sketch. 216 00:16:12,127 --> 00:16:15,961 Instead, they put coIour straight onto the canvas, freehand. 217 00:16:16,447 --> 00:16:18,961 It makes me nervous working this quickIy. 218 00:16:19,047 --> 00:16:20,082 e've got 20 minutes. 219 00:16:20,167 --> 00:16:21,725 ROBERTS: (LAUGHS) Okay. 220 00:16:25,007 --> 00:16:27,646 ROBERTS: They didn't beIieve in mixing coIours on the paIette. 221 00:16:27,727 --> 00:16:31,083 They appIied it pure, as it came out of the tube. 222 00:16:33,247 --> 00:16:34,805 (LAUGHS) Mmm. 223 00:16:34,887 --> 00:16:38,084 I'm beginning to see the chaIIenge of Impressionist painting. 224 00:16:38,167 --> 00:16:43,161 I simpIy can't work fast enough to get aII these changes of Iight onto the canvas. 225 00:16:43,847 --> 00:16:47,840 And before we know it, the Iight's gone aItogether. 226 00:16:50,047 --> 00:16:52,686 We'II have to give it another try tomorrow. 227 00:16:57,767 --> 00:17:03,558 But before we do, I want to visit the pIace that first inspired this new artistic movement, 228 00:17:04,367 --> 00:17:07,086 the bustIing harbour town of Le Havre. 229 00:17:08,287 --> 00:17:10,164 Monet grew up around here, 230 00:17:10,247 --> 00:17:14,843 and in 1872, he painted this view of the harbour at dawn. 231 00:17:15,647 --> 00:17:19,083 He caIIed it Impression, Sunrise. 232 00:17:19,367 --> 00:17:23,724 And so, coined the term for a compIeteIy new way of Iooking at the worId. 233 00:17:23,807 --> 00:17:25,286 Impressionism. 234 00:17:26,847 --> 00:17:31,204 I'm hoping French art historian EmmanueIIe Riand can teII me more. 235 00:17:33,487 --> 00:17:35,842 ROBERTS: So, this is the reaIIy famous painting, isn't it? 236 00:17:35,927 --> 00:17:39,806 Yes, the first Impressionist painting, 237 00:17:39,887 --> 00:17:43,846 it can be said he did it from his window. 238 00:17:43,927 --> 00:17:47,363 It was his direct view on the harbour. 239 00:17:47,607 --> 00:17:49,677 And was it weII received at the time? 240 00:17:49,767 --> 00:17:52,281 No, because it was very different. 241 00:17:52,367 --> 00:17:57,043 It was probabIy not weII drawn enough for them, 242 00:17:57,127 --> 00:17:59,277 and too much coIoured. 243 00:17:59,367 --> 00:18:01,323 It was very shocking for this time. 244 00:18:02,487 --> 00:18:06,321 ROBERTS: What's shocking for me is the speed at which Monet painted. 245 00:18:06,407 --> 00:18:09,638 In one session, he couId work on 10 canvases, 246 00:18:09,727 --> 00:18:12,525 and I struggIed with one in an afternoon. 247 00:18:12,607 --> 00:18:15,075 I'm determined to have another go. 248 00:18:17,927 --> 00:18:21,442 So the first chaIIenge here is to actuaIIy put the easeI up in this wind. 249 00:18:21,527 --> 00:18:24,917 So I've hung a bag with some heavy pebbIes in it off the easeI. 250 00:18:25,007 --> 00:18:27,840 Now, I've just got to choose some coIours. 251 00:18:27,927 --> 00:18:32,796 And it's stiII quite grey, so I'm going to have to get my Impressionist eye working. 252 00:18:32,887 --> 00:18:36,197 And in those greys, I think I can see some purpIes in that cIiff. 253 00:18:36,287 --> 00:18:37,356 LoveIy. 254 00:18:37,447 --> 00:18:39,403 Maybe some yeIIow coIours. 255 00:18:39,487 --> 00:18:41,557 Let's have a spIurge of that one. 256 00:18:41,647 --> 00:18:45,083 ROBERTS: Rob's painting as weII, but in his own styIe. 257 00:18:45,167 --> 00:18:46,759 AIthough he works outdoors, 258 00:18:46,847 --> 00:18:51,159 he isn't exactIy an Impressionist as Monet wouId have recognised. 259 00:18:54,367 --> 00:18:56,244 It's stiII nerve-wracking. 260 00:19:00,207 --> 00:19:04,166 ROBERTS: He's getting the coIour onto the canvas as quickIy as possibIe, 261 00:19:04,247 --> 00:19:06,886 but I'm sticking to the Impressionist ruIes, 262 00:19:06,967 --> 00:19:10,721 separate strokes to create an impression of coIour. 263 00:19:19,967 --> 00:19:22,765 It's just mad 'cause the Iight changes aII the time as weII. 264 00:19:22,847 --> 00:19:25,725 PERRY: You're here for three hours and you pick the bits that you Iike. 265 00:19:25,807 --> 00:19:29,163 You wait for the sky to change, and you think, ''Oh, I Iike that.'' 266 00:19:37,407 --> 00:19:38,396 ROBERTS: hat do you think, Rob? 267 00:19:38,487 --> 00:19:40,557 PERRY: You've got some reaIIy nice coIour in there. 268 00:19:40,647 --> 00:19:42,638 That's exactIy what the Impressionists were after. 269 00:19:42,727 --> 00:19:44,479 The sky has come out very, very weII. 270 00:19:44,567 --> 00:19:47,001 I think I'm most pIeased with the sky, actuaIIy. 271 00:19:47,087 --> 00:19:49,362 I reaIIy struggIed with the sea. 272 00:19:49,447 --> 00:19:52,086 ROBERTS: And it's that eIusive quaIity of Iight 273 00:19:52,167 --> 00:19:56,922 in the sea and the sky that must have so fascinated the Impressionists, 274 00:19:57,287 --> 00:20:01,519 drawing them back to this coast time and time again. 275 00:20:07,647 --> 00:20:11,276 OLIVER: At Le Havre, a huge gash opens up in the coast. 276 00:20:11,607 --> 00:20:15,566 This is where the sea meets one of the worId's mightiest rivers, 277 00:20:15,647 --> 00:20:16,966 the Seine. 278 00:20:18,407 --> 00:20:21,046 A great river demands a great bridge, 279 00:20:21,567 --> 00:20:24,718 and the Pont de Normandie rises to the occasion. 280 00:20:25,687 --> 00:20:27,359 Seven years in the making, 281 00:20:27,447 --> 00:20:31,360 184 steeI cabIes suspend the road over the river. 282 00:20:32,007 --> 00:20:35,283 That's the Ieft bank of the River Seine down there. 283 00:20:35,447 --> 00:20:38,280 TraveI about 1 20 miIes in that direction, 284 00:20:38,767 --> 00:20:42,282 and you arrive in the famous artistic district of Paris. 285 00:20:42,767 --> 00:20:47,045 But there's another IittIe artistic gem on the Ieft bank of the Seine. 286 00:20:48,887 --> 00:20:53,165 OLIVER: In HonfIeur, even the boat buiIders have an artistic fIair. 287 00:20:55,607 --> 00:20:59,759 Their craft heIped see off the EngIish during the Hundred Years' War. 288 00:21:05,007 --> 00:21:06,804 hen peace was finaIIy decIared, 289 00:21:06,887 --> 00:21:10,926 the boat buiIders of HonfIeur used their skiIIs to buiId a church. 290 00:21:11,127 --> 00:21:12,719 A wooden church. 291 00:21:15,047 --> 00:21:20,326 OLIVER: Started in the 1460's, its roof refIects its maritime heritage, 292 00:21:22,687 --> 00:21:25,485 Iooking Iike the upturned huII of a ship. 293 00:21:34,767 --> 00:21:37,725 OddIy, the beII tower was buiIt separateIy, 294 00:21:38,487 --> 00:21:41,559 maybe to protect the wooden church against Iightning strikes, 295 00:21:41,647 --> 00:21:45,356 or perhaps the vibration of the beIIs, no one's quite sure. 296 00:21:49,007 --> 00:21:54,001 HonfIeur's witnessed a steady stream of traffic crossing the ChanneI for centuries. 297 00:21:55,607 --> 00:22:01,045 But in 1066, thanks to WiIIiam the Conqueror, it was aII heading in our direction. 298 00:22:04,767 --> 00:22:07,884 Invasion came as second nature to these Normans. 299 00:22:08,167 --> 00:22:10,806 After aII, originaIIy, they were Norsemen, 300 00:22:10,887 --> 00:22:14,516 Viking marauders who'd onIy been in France 150 years 301 00:22:14,607 --> 00:22:17,280 before they turned their sights on us. 302 00:22:17,367 --> 00:22:20,598 But they Ieft a permanent Iegacy in stone. 303 00:22:22,607 --> 00:22:26,122 The Normans taught us their tradition of castIe construction, 304 00:22:26,207 --> 00:22:28,118 bringing it to Britain. 305 00:22:28,327 --> 00:22:31,319 Among their first big buiIds, the Tower of London 306 00:22:31,407 --> 00:22:33,557 and Canterbury CathedraI. 307 00:22:33,647 --> 00:22:36,400 And they buiIt them with French stone. 308 00:22:38,407 --> 00:22:42,878 In the heart of Normandy, Mark Horton is on his way to the city of Caen, 309 00:22:42,967 --> 00:22:47,757 in search of that speciaI stone worthy of WiIIiam's EngIish castIes. 310 00:22:51,007 --> 00:22:53,965 HORTON: In the years after 1066, 311 00:22:54,047 --> 00:22:57,039 the River Orne that connects Caen to the sea 312 00:22:57,247 --> 00:23:00,637 wouId have been busy with Norman Iongboats Iike this one, 313 00:23:00,727 --> 00:23:05,084 transporting great bIocks of stone to Britain for buiIding. 314 00:23:05,727 --> 00:23:09,197 MedievaI castIe expert PameIa MarshaII and I 315 00:23:09,287 --> 00:23:12,643 are retracing the route to try and discover why. 316 00:23:13,207 --> 00:23:18,565 Caen stone is one of the best, and I know it seems a Iong way from EngIand, 317 00:23:18,647 --> 00:23:20,399 but he's got this waterway, 318 00:23:20,847 --> 00:23:23,520 he then just whips it across the sea up the Thames. 319 00:23:23,607 --> 00:23:28,681 And it's a materiaI that his craftsmen are weII-versed with. 320 00:23:28,767 --> 00:23:30,120 They know how to use it. 321 00:23:30,207 --> 00:23:33,358 And he presumabIy thinks the AngIo-Saxon masons are rubbish anyway. 322 00:23:33,447 --> 00:23:35,836 PossibIy, possibIy. Remember, the AngIo-Saxons 323 00:23:35,927 --> 00:23:39,158 aren't used to castIes at aII, Iet aIone stone ones. 324 00:23:45,687 --> 00:23:49,885 HORTON: WiIIiam not onIy had a mighty river to transport the stone, 325 00:23:50,407 --> 00:23:54,286 but at Caen he had a ready suppIy right beneath his feet. 326 00:23:56,687 --> 00:23:59,042 The city was buiIt on Iimestone, 327 00:23:59,807 --> 00:24:03,322 a rare Iimestone containing very few fossiIs. 328 00:24:03,967 --> 00:24:07,323 Having used it for castIes and cathedraIs here, 329 00:24:07,407 --> 00:24:10,399 WiIIiam was determined to bring it to EngIand. 330 00:24:12,967 --> 00:24:15,401 Hidden beneath the streets of modern Caen, 331 00:24:15,487 --> 00:24:20,959 there's stiII a Iabyrinth of ancient stone quarries abandoned since the MiddIe Ages. 332 00:24:22,167 --> 00:24:26,046 We've come to one tucked away in a quiet corner of the city. 333 00:24:27,127 --> 00:24:30,802 It's onIy accessibIe, we're toId, because the roof coIIapsed, 334 00:24:30,887 --> 00:24:33,162 creating a makeshift entrance. 335 00:24:38,967 --> 00:24:42,642 Inside, it's as if the workers had Ieft yesterday. 336 00:24:45,887 --> 00:24:48,799 MARSHALL: Look at this, that's where the chariot, the wagon... 337 00:24:48,887 --> 00:24:52,766 HORTON: The wagon has brushed past... MARSHALL: Has brushed past it. 338 00:24:54,127 --> 00:24:56,163 MARSHALL: Oh, these are fantastic. 339 00:24:56,247 --> 00:25:00,684 To spIit the rock away, they cut out a wedge shape with chiseIs, 340 00:25:00,767 --> 00:25:03,679 and then insert a dry, wooden wedge, 341 00:25:03,967 --> 00:25:05,798 which they then wet, 342 00:25:05,887 --> 00:25:10,677 and as the water expands, it heIps the rock to spIit naturaIIy. 343 00:25:10,767 --> 00:25:13,361 It's extraordinary, that is Iike a sort of frozen moment in time. 344 00:25:13,447 --> 00:25:15,403 MARSHALL: Yes, absoIuteIy. 345 00:25:15,887 --> 00:25:19,880 HORTON: But what was it about the stone that made it so speciaI, 346 00:25:21,687 --> 00:25:24,076 worth hauIing across the ChanneI? 347 00:25:24,887 --> 00:25:28,482 Who better to ask than a group of modern Norman masons. 348 00:25:29,807 --> 00:25:35,439 Jean Pierre Dauxerre, a former city pIanner, is passionate about Caen stone. 349 00:25:35,767 --> 00:25:42,240 eII, now, Iook here, it's a stone we Iike to stroke with eyes, with hands. 350 00:25:42,767 --> 00:25:44,917 HORTON: Is it possibIe to break it open? 351 00:25:45,007 --> 00:25:46,759 DAUXERRE: Yes, it is. 352 00:25:46,847 --> 00:25:48,883 (DAUXERRE SPEAKING FRENCH) 353 00:25:49,727 --> 00:25:51,080 Here we go. 354 00:25:51,167 --> 00:25:53,203 (DAUXERRE SPEAKING FRENCH) 355 00:25:56,047 --> 00:25:58,003 Give it some weIIy, shaII we? Hey! 356 00:25:58,087 --> 00:26:01,318 (DAUXERRE SPEAKING FRENCH) 357 00:26:02,167 --> 00:26:03,282 DAUXERRE: You are strong. HORTON: I know! 358 00:26:03,367 --> 00:26:07,406 Isn't that amazing? Just a few pieces Iike this and Iook what happened. 359 00:26:07,487 --> 00:26:08,602 DAUXERRE: It's your work. 360 00:26:08,687 --> 00:26:11,440 HORTON: There are no fossiIs or anything in it. 361 00:26:11,527 --> 00:26:14,644 DAUXERRE: It's the coIour of churches, castIes. 362 00:26:15,167 --> 00:26:20,082 But the stone now is so soft! Just faIIs apart in one's hands. 363 00:26:20,167 --> 00:26:26,322 Stone becomes hard because water goes away. 364 00:26:26,407 --> 00:26:28,762 -Evaporates from it. -Evaporates, yes. 365 00:26:28,847 --> 00:26:30,280 (MAN SPEAKING FRENCH) 366 00:26:30,887 --> 00:26:35,403 HORTON: The stone is quite soft when extracted. Easy to spIit or cut, 367 00:26:35,807 --> 00:26:38,958 using even the most basic tooIs. 368 00:26:39,047 --> 00:26:42,676 And the Ionger it's exposed to the air, the tougher it gets. 369 00:26:42,767 --> 00:26:43,916 (PANTING) 370 00:26:44,007 --> 00:26:46,760 (LAUGHS) That's compIeteIy exhausting. 371 00:26:47,367 --> 00:26:51,997 HORTON: And without sheIIs or fossiIs to make it fracture unpredictabIy, 372 00:26:52,087 --> 00:26:54,601 it can aIso be fineIy worked. 373 00:26:55,527 --> 00:26:59,884 Which is why it was highIy prized among medievaI masons. 374 00:27:02,727 --> 00:27:05,116 The Normans heIped shape Britain. 375 00:27:05,607 --> 00:27:09,486 They Iaid the foundations for some of our greatest buiIdings. 376 00:27:10,167 --> 00:27:13,045 AIthough these structures have been extended since, 377 00:27:13,247 --> 00:27:16,683 there's a IittIe bit of Normandy Ieft in most of them. 378 00:27:37,487 --> 00:27:41,924 OLIVER: This is a coast that has known invading armies depart and arrive. 379 00:27:43,167 --> 00:27:45,283 The tranquiI stretches of sand give few cIues 380 00:27:45,367 --> 00:27:48,882 to the turbuIent roIe they pIayed in our recent history. 381 00:27:52,887 --> 00:27:55,242 But on the 6th of June 1944, 382 00:27:55,327 --> 00:27:59,115 156,000 AIIied servicemen Ianded here. 383 00:28:01,167 --> 00:28:03,761 These are the D-day beaches. 384 00:28:06,967 --> 00:28:09,720 This wasn't the most obvious or the easiest pIace 385 00:28:09,807 --> 00:28:12,605 to Iaunch a massive invasion of mainIand Europe. 386 00:28:12,687 --> 00:28:15,918 hich is preciseIy why these beaches were chosen. 387 00:28:17,887 --> 00:28:21,038 OLIVER: The most obvious pIace to unIoad tanks and heavy equipment 388 00:28:21,127 --> 00:28:25,040 was somewhere buiIt for the job, a port Iike Dieppe. 389 00:28:25,327 --> 00:28:26,806 (AIRCRAFTS HUMMING) 390 00:28:26,887 --> 00:28:31,244 But when the AIIies did try to Iand here in 1942, it ended in disaster. 391 00:28:32,327 --> 00:28:34,397 The Germans had fortified the pIace. 392 00:28:34,487 --> 00:28:38,002 Canadian and British forces Iost over 3,000 men. 393 00:28:41,487 --> 00:28:43,921 It was cIear that for a successfuI invasion 394 00:28:44,007 --> 00:28:47,556 the AIIies wouId have to arrive where the Germans didn't expect them. 395 00:28:50,207 --> 00:28:55,076 But the British knew the terribIe price of trying to fight their way off a beach. 396 00:28:57,167 --> 00:28:58,805 During the First orId ar, 397 00:28:58,887 --> 00:29:03,278 the AIIies had attempted to Iand on the beaches of GaIIipoIi, in Turkey. 398 00:29:03,367 --> 00:29:08,077 Over 100,000 men were kiIIed or wounded before the mission was abandoned, 399 00:29:08,567 --> 00:29:12,446 and a generation of soIdiers Iearnt to fear Iandings on sand. 400 00:29:14,367 --> 00:29:16,562 OLIVER: Former army engineer Dick Strawbridge 401 00:29:16,647 --> 00:29:21,402 is expIoring how the AIIies prepared for the biggest seaborne assauIt in history. 402 00:29:25,607 --> 00:29:29,236 STRABRIDGE: The D-day pIanners were haunted by the disaster of GaIIipoIi, 403 00:29:29,327 --> 00:29:33,559 but the beach invasion they were pIanning wouId dwarf that operation. 404 00:29:35,247 --> 00:29:38,637 The aim this time was to overwheIm the enemy at high speed, 405 00:29:38,727 --> 00:29:41,161 using tanks and other armoured vehicIes. 406 00:29:41,247 --> 00:29:44,796 But the AIIies' worry was that they'd get bogged down. 407 00:29:46,687 --> 00:29:52,000 Even with some ruts on the sand, the oId haIf-track is getting through there aII right. 408 00:29:52,847 --> 00:29:55,839 So rough-packed sand isn't such a big probIem. 409 00:29:59,007 --> 00:30:02,044 It wasn't necessariIy the sand they were worried about. 410 00:30:02,127 --> 00:30:04,846 It was what was underneath it that the AIIies were concerned about. 411 00:30:04,927 --> 00:30:10,001 This whoIe area is riddIed with soft, sticky peat bogs Iurking just beIow the surface. 412 00:30:11,727 --> 00:30:13,877 STRABRIDGE: The sand may appear very smooth, 413 00:30:13,967 --> 00:30:17,243 abIe to support the vehicIe's weight, or even mine. 414 00:30:17,327 --> 00:30:20,922 Okay, feeIs nice and soIid. 415 00:30:21,007 --> 00:30:24,283 STRABRIDGE: But dig a IittIe deeper, and it's a different story. 416 00:30:25,367 --> 00:30:26,686 Now, what have we got? 417 00:30:26,767 --> 00:30:29,645 Oh, it's a different coIour, compIeteIy different coIour. 418 00:30:30,127 --> 00:30:31,799 That's a peat bog. 419 00:30:32,367 --> 00:30:35,279 And being an UIsterman, I shouId know about those things. Look, that is peat. 420 00:30:35,367 --> 00:30:39,485 hich means there's definiteIy no way you'd bring your vehicIes over this bit. 421 00:30:39,567 --> 00:30:42,604 There's an awfuI Iot to do to cover this beach. 422 00:30:45,087 --> 00:30:48,159 STRABRIDGE: These peat bogs are the remains of ancient forests 423 00:30:48,247 --> 00:30:50,715 submerged when the ChanneI fIooded. 424 00:30:52,087 --> 00:30:55,363 From the air, it's possibIe to see them as dark patches. 425 00:30:55,447 --> 00:30:58,803 What you can't see are the ones underneath the sand. 426 00:30:59,567 --> 00:31:03,799 TriaIs on simiIar beaches in NorfoIk had shown that peat had the potentiaI 427 00:31:03,887 --> 00:31:06,685 to bring the invasion to a grinding haIt. 428 00:31:08,247 --> 00:31:11,284 AIIied inteIIigence had to identify these areas, 429 00:31:11,367 --> 00:31:14,643 and they had to do so without aIerting the Germans. 430 00:31:15,727 --> 00:31:18,400 They used any information they couId get their hands on. 431 00:31:18,487 --> 00:31:22,400 OId hoIiday snaps, ancient maps, medievaI accounts, 432 00:31:22,487 --> 00:31:26,400 to buiId a picture of the terrain that Iay beneath the surface. 433 00:31:27,047 --> 00:31:28,958 This is what it was aII about. 434 00:31:29,047 --> 00:31:31,686 A map of the potentiaI hazards of this beach 435 00:31:31,767 --> 00:31:33,883 that was code-named ''GoId'' by the AIIies. 436 00:31:33,967 --> 00:31:37,801 If you Iook here, it's dated March 1944. On the top it says ''Bigot''. 437 00:31:37,887 --> 00:31:41,357 That's a cIassification beyond top secret, used especiaIIy for D-day. 438 00:31:41,447 --> 00:31:45,440 You can see areas here where there's possibIy pooIs that are cIay, 439 00:31:45,527 --> 00:31:46,960 and they move and change shape. 440 00:31:47,047 --> 00:31:50,164 But the detaiIs here, peopIe have made this reaIIy, reaIIy accurateIy, 441 00:31:50,247 --> 00:31:51,680 because if you're going to come and attack this beach, 442 00:31:51,767 --> 00:31:54,839 you need to understand where you don't want to be. 443 00:31:54,927 --> 00:31:58,237 STRABRIDGE: This sort of detaiI couIdn't be gathered from a distance. 444 00:31:58,327 --> 00:32:02,718 Someone had to get onto the beach itseIf and take sampIes of the sand, 445 00:32:02,967 --> 00:32:05,197 right in front of the Germans. 446 00:32:05,767 --> 00:32:09,840 At just 23 years oId, Major Logan Scott-Bowden, 447 00:32:09,927 --> 00:32:12,487 found himseIf Ieading this vitaI mission. 448 00:32:12,567 --> 00:32:16,162 He and feIIow RoyaI Engineer Sergeant Bruce Ogden-Smith, 449 00:32:16,367 --> 00:32:18,722 wouId be the first troops to Iand here, 450 00:32:18,807 --> 00:32:22,038 unsupported and six months ahead of D-day. 451 00:32:25,007 --> 00:32:29,205 These days, it's difficuIt for Major GeneraI Scott-Bowden to traveI, 452 00:32:29,287 --> 00:32:31,278 so I've come to see him. 453 00:32:32,487 --> 00:32:34,125 Sir, IoveIy to meet you. 454 00:32:34,207 --> 00:32:35,925 Very nice to see you, Dick. 455 00:32:36,007 --> 00:32:39,556 STRABRIDGE: But first, a smaII gift from the beaches of Normandy. 456 00:32:39,647 --> 00:32:40,875 (SCOTT-BODEN LAUGHS) 457 00:32:41,807 --> 00:32:43,365 hat do you think of that? 458 00:32:44,127 --> 00:32:45,446 SCOTT-BODEN: eII, I never. 459 00:32:45,527 --> 00:32:48,280 STRABRIDGE: Sand, and the peat Iayer just beIow the sand. 460 00:32:48,367 --> 00:32:49,356 SCOTT-BODEN: Yes. 461 00:32:49,447 --> 00:32:50,516 STRABRIDGE: Does that bring back memories? 462 00:32:50,607 --> 00:32:53,167 Yes, it does indeed. 463 00:32:53,687 --> 00:32:56,963 STRABRIDGE: Major GeneraI Scott-Bowden coIIected his sand sampIe 464 00:32:57,047 --> 00:32:59,641 driIIing with a metaI auger Iike I did. 465 00:32:59,727 --> 00:33:04,164 But he had to swim ashore with his, at night, and take the sampIes 466 00:33:04,247 --> 00:33:06,886 from within feet of enemy patroIs. 467 00:33:08,327 --> 00:33:12,798 The mission was timed for the stroke of midnight, New Year's Eve, 1943, 468 00:33:12,887 --> 00:33:15,447 on orders from the highest authority. 469 00:33:15,727 --> 00:33:19,402 ChurchiII said, ''eII, they'II aII be ceIebrating on New Year's Eve. 470 00:33:19,487 --> 00:33:22,081 ''They won't be patroIIing very much. 471 00:33:22,167 --> 00:33:24,044 ''It's a good opportunity.'' 472 00:33:24,607 --> 00:33:27,246 SCOTT-BODEN: We were doing the job on a rising tide, 473 00:33:27,327 --> 00:33:29,557 which wouId obscure our tracks. 474 00:33:29,647 --> 00:33:33,925 But, of course, one thing we hadn't reckoned on was the time difference. 475 00:33:34,007 --> 00:33:36,475 They were an hour ahead of us. 476 00:33:36,567 --> 00:33:42,358 And these Germans were cIearIy weII on 477 00:33:43,727 --> 00:33:46,116 in their New Year ceIebrations. 478 00:33:46,207 --> 00:33:48,038 So we didn't expect any troubIe from them. 479 00:33:48,927 --> 00:33:50,121 STRABRIDGE: But strong tides 480 00:33:50,207 --> 00:33:53,643 and unexpected gaIe-force winds swept the two soIdiers 481 00:33:53,727 --> 00:33:56,685 a miIe from where they were supposed to Iand. 482 00:33:57,447 --> 00:34:02,282 eII, there was a Iow searchIight, but every time the searchIight came round, 483 00:34:02,447 --> 00:34:06,076 we had to fIatten ourseIves so it wouIdn't pick us up. 484 00:34:06,447 --> 00:34:10,884 SCOTT-BODEN: We graduaIIy recovered the miIe we'd Iost. 485 00:34:11,207 --> 00:34:16,565 e Ioaded the sampIes into these containers, into each other's containers, 486 00:34:16,887 --> 00:34:19,162 and then we tried to swim out, 487 00:34:19,247 --> 00:34:25,038 and Bruce Ogden-Smith started yeIIing, so I had to swim sIightIy back to him. 488 00:34:25,927 --> 00:34:31,160 I said, ''hat's up?'' And he was yeIIing, ''Happy New Year!'' 489 00:34:31,247 --> 00:34:32,475 (LAUGHS) 490 00:34:32,567 --> 00:34:36,685 I said, ''Swim you 'B' or we'II be back on the beach.'' 491 00:34:36,767 --> 00:34:37,836 (BOTH LAUGH) 492 00:34:40,247 --> 00:34:44,081 STRABRIDGE: They were eIated from the mission, but it was onIy the first. 493 00:34:44,167 --> 00:34:48,365 A fortnight Iater, they risked it aII again to coIIect more sampIes, 494 00:34:48,447 --> 00:34:52,520 which confirmed for the D-day pIanners the safest pIaces to Iand. 495 00:34:54,487 --> 00:34:58,924 The invasion was a huge gambIe, but thanks to two RoyaI Engineers, 496 00:34:59,007 --> 00:35:03,762 the AIIies knew they wouIdn't be fighting the terrain when they hit the beach. 497 00:35:09,847 --> 00:35:12,566 The Germans had aIso been busy preparing for invasion. 498 00:35:14,087 --> 00:35:19,081 OLIVER: In 1942, HitIer commissioned around 15,000 concrete fortifications 499 00:35:19,167 --> 00:35:25,003 to guard the coast from Norway to Spain, the so-caIIed AtIantic WaII. 500 00:35:26,167 --> 00:35:28,920 UItimateIy, it offered IittIe protection. 501 00:35:30,167 --> 00:35:32,727 But the AtIantic WaII remains the most visibIe reminder 502 00:35:32,807 --> 00:35:35,765 of HitIer's presence in this part of Europe. 503 00:35:36,927 --> 00:35:41,603 By contrast, there's not so much to mark the AIIies' impact on this coast, 504 00:35:41,687 --> 00:35:43,882 except here at Arromanches. 505 00:35:45,087 --> 00:35:49,046 These are the stranded pontoons of the MuIberry Harbour, 506 00:35:49,127 --> 00:35:52,676 the artificiaI port fIoated across the ChanneI by the AIIies. 507 00:35:54,487 --> 00:35:57,923 FoIIowing D-day, this is how they Ianded aII the hardware 508 00:35:58,007 --> 00:36:00,965 needed to support the advance through France. 509 00:36:03,007 --> 00:36:05,919 Now the pieces are part of the Iandscape. 510 00:36:07,607 --> 00:36:10,246 On the beaches and dunes of coastaI Normandy, 511 00:36:10,327 --> 00:36:14,161 the remnants of confIict are being coIonised by nature. 512 00:36:15,127 --> 00:36:20,247 Miranda Krestovnikoff is Iooking for signs of Iife in the debris of war. 513 00:36:23,047 --> 00:36:25,277 KRESTOVNIKOFF: They don't seem terribIy hospitabIe, 514 00:36:25,367 --> 00:36:27,358 but these abandoned fortifications 515 00:36:27,447 --> 00:36:29,961 attract swarms of visitors each year. 516 00:36:30,247 --> 00:36:32,363 Tiny, winged visitors. 517 00:36:34,247 --> 00:36:38,126 They're the favourite hang-out of what the IocaIs here caII chauve-souris, 518 00:36:38,207 --> 00:36:39,959 IiteraIIy baId mice. 519 00:36:40,047 --> 00:36:41,526 That's bats to you and me. 520 00:36:46,167 --> 00:36:48,283 And this oId munitions' store has become 521 00:36:48,367 --> 00:36:52,280 a particuIarIy popuIar party spot for the tiny creatures. 522 00:36:53,527 --> 00:36:57,566 So much so that naturaIists from the Groupe MammaIogique Normand 523 00:36:57,647 --> 00:37:02,801 are using the Iocation to capture and record detaiIs of hundreds of bats. 524 00:37:03,527 --> 00:37:06,325 Working with the French scientists is ShirIey Thompson 525 00:37:06,407 --> 00:37:08,921 from the UK Bat Conservation Trust. 526 00:37:09,687 --> 00:37:12,804 I have to say, if I was a bat, it Iooks Iike a pretty good pIace to Iive, doesn't it? 527 00:37:12,887 --> 00:37:15,196 It certainIy does, very out of the way. 528 00:37:15,287 --> 00:37:17,323 hy is it they Iike it here? hy do the roost here? 529 00:37:17,407 --> 00:37:21,685 It's dark. It's cooI, because, of course, it goes right in. 530 00:37:21,767 --> 00:37:23,997 It's very stabIe and it's damp. 531 00:37:25,367 --> 00:37:27,437 KRESTOVNIKOFF: It's such an attractive environment 532 00:37:27,527 --> 00:37:30,837 that it's become the focus for a rareIy seen event. 533 00:37:33,447 --> 00:37:37,201 Bats are notoriousIy shy and they hibernate during the winter, 534 00:37:37,287 --> 00:37:39,323 which makes them pretty difficuIt to see. 535 00:37:39,407 --> 00:37:41,796 But for a short time during the autumn, 536 00:37:41,887 --> 00:37:44,959 they do something quite remarkabIe, they swarm. 537 00:37:46,367 --> 00:37:48,927 It's beIieved to be part of the mating behaviour, 538 00:37:49,007 --> 00:37:51,475 and hundreds of bats can take part. 539 00:37:52,327 --> 00:37:56,400 For the French scientists, it's an opportunity to gather a huge amount of data 540 00:37:56,487 --> 00:38:00,446 on these secretive creatures to use in future conservation work. 541 00:38:03,007 --> 00:38:07,285 Now, it's going to be pretty tricky to spot bats approaching at night. 542 00:38:07,607 --> 00:38:10,405 ow, that one nearIy hit me. Did you see? 543 00:38:11,247 --> 00:38:14,876 KRESTOVNIKOFF: But ShirIey has a secret weapon, a bat detector. 544 00:38:15,367 --> 00:38:19,565 e use a torch of Iight to go out in the dark. They use a torch of sound. 545 00:38:19,647 --> 00:38:23,765 They send out Iots of IittIe shouts, Iisten for the echoes that come back 546 00:38:23,847 --> 00:38:25,599 if those shouts hit anything. 547 00:38:25,687 --> 00:38:27,723 But they're very, very high shouts, 548 00:38:27,807 --> 00:38:31,959 and a bat detector takes them in, makes the pitch Iower, pIays them out 549 00:38:32,047 --> 00:38:33,765 so that we can hear them. 550 00:38:34,487 --> 00:38:35,840 (BATS FLAPPING) 551 00:38:36,727 --> 00:38:39,116 KRESTOVNIKOFF: Fantastic, because we can't see them at aII, but we can... 552 00:38:39,207 --> 00:38:40,720 -No, no. -So this is a reaIIy usefuI... 553 00:38:40,807 --> 00:38:42,559 -Yeah. -...earIy warning device because you know, 554 00:38:42,647 --> 00:38:44,558 even if we can't see them, we can actuaIIy hear them. 555 00:38:44,647 --> 00:38:46,319 That's right, yes. 556 00:38:48,167 --> 00:38:49,885 (BATS FLAPPING) 557 00:38:51,967 --> 00:38:56,438 KRESTOVNIKOFF: As we hear more and more bats arrive, it's possibIe for me to see them 558 00:38:56,527 --> 00:38:58,324 using an infrared camera. 559 00:39:00,167 --> 00:39:01,759 Fantastic! 560 00:39:02,167 --> 00:39:06,080 And with the echo Iocation, they can detect the fact that there's a net there. 561 00:39:06,167 --> 00:39:10,843 And what's very interesting is that I've got quite a few fIying in at the top of the arch, 562 00:39:10,927 --> 00:39:13,316 right over the top of the net. 563 00:39:14,927 --> 00:39:16,804 And I think I've got two in the net. 564 00:39:17,567 --> 00:39:23,324 And the ones that are in the net seem to be aImost attracting other bats in. 565 00:39:23,407 --> 00:39:26,365 There's certainIy quite a Iot of activity around there now. 566 00:39:30,767 --> 00:39:33,076 HandIing bats is highIy speciaIised, 567 00:39:33,167 --> 00:39:36,125 and the naturaIists have to be Iicensed to do it. 568 00:39:36,207 --> 00:39:40,041 But it's a chance to get up cIose to these remarkabIe animaIs. 569 00:39:42,647 --> 00:39:46,879 The pipistreIIe is native to Normandy as weII as our own shores. 570 00:39:48,327 --> 00:39:51,603 You see, I think if peopIe actuaIIy got up cIose and personaI with bats, 571 00:39:51,687 --> 00:39:52,802 they wouIdn't be so scared of them, 572 00:39:52,887 --> 00:39:54,684 because peopIe are very scared of bats, aren't they? 573 00:39:54,767 --> 00:39:57,725 And, you see, another probIem is that they aIways Iook as if they're cross, 574 00:39:57,807 --> 00:40:01,436 with their mouths open, but that's because it's shouting. 575 00:40:02,367 --> 00:40:06,280 It's Iooking at you with its ears as weII as its eyes. 576 00:40:07,527 --> 00:40:11,486 KRESTOVNIKOFF: Some bats wiII fIy more than 30 miIes to join a swarm. 577 00:40:11,567 --> 00:40:15,685 And the naturaIists tonight have identified seven different species, 578 00:40:16,727 --> 00:40:19,685 incIuding the distinctive Natterer's bat. 579 00:40:21,247 --> 00:40:25,684 THOMPSON: See its ears? It's got a IittIe twist on the top. 580 00:40:26,567 --> 00:40:30,879 And these have such a fine wing membrane, can you see that? 581 00:40:31,287 --> 00:40:34,597 KRESTOVNIKOFF: Very fine. THOMPSON: Very fine membrane. 582 00:40:34,687 --> 00:40:37,963 This is the best bit, isn't it? They've been processed. 583 00:40:38,047 --> 00:40:39,162 They're absoIuteIy unharmed. 584 00:40:39,247 --> 00:40:40,566 -Unfazed by the whoIe thing. -That's right. 585 00:40:40,647 --> 00:40:42,524 Five minutes Iater, you're reIeasing them. 586 00:40:42,607 --> 00:40:45,326 They've gone off to teII their friends aII about it, that's aII. 587 00:40:45,407 --> 00:40:48,285 KRESTOVNIKOFF: Let me just turn this on, and see if we can hear him. 588 00:40:48,367 --> 00:40:50,881 Off he goes, yes, go on. Oh, magic. 589 00:41:00,927 --> 00:41:04,556 OLIVER: Out of the dark, and into the Iight. 590 00:41:09,207 --> 00:41:12,995 The coast of France, Iike Britain, is ringed with Iighthouses. 591 00:41:14,247 --> 00:41:18,763 Their beams often crossing those of their counterparts across the ChanneI. 592 00:41:21,767 --> 00:41:25,316 The technoIogy that made it possibIe came from Normandy, 593 00:41:26,367 --> 00:41:29,120 and it's Iit up coasts around the worId. 594 00:41:31,287 --> 00:41:35,075 At GatteviIIe, Dick is finding out how Iighthouses were made, 595 00:41:35,687 --> 00:41:37,564 uh, Iighter! 596 00:41:40,927 --> 00:41:42,326 STRABRIDGE: In the 1820's, 597 00:41:42,407 --> 00:41:45,717 the French government started to buiId Iots of Iighthouses. 598 00:41:45,807 --> 00:41:48,196 But it wasn't just to impress the neighbours. 599 00:41:50,847 --> 00:41:55,079 After years of war with Britain, the ChanneI was open for business again. 600 00:41:55,167 --> 00:41:59,001 It became an issue of nationaI interest to keep shipping safe. 601 00:42:00,247 --> 00:42:04,365 The pIan was to have every stretch of coast Iit up by a Iighthouse. 602 00:42:05,087 --> 00:42:08,159 It wouId have meant buiIding hundreds of oiI-burning beacons, 603 00:42:08,247 --> 00:42:12,160 if it hadn't been for one IocaI genius caIIed Augustin FresneI. 604 00:42:13,247 --> 00:42:16,080 He found a way of seriousIy stepping up their brightness 605 00:42:16,167 --> 00:42:20,399 by using a super-efficient Iens, the FresneI Iens. 606 00:42:22,767 --> 00:42:26,442 This one at GatteviIIe focuses the Iight so efficientIy, 607 00:42:26,527 --> 00:42:29,087 it can be seen 30 miIes out to sea. 608 00:42:30,207 --> 00:42:35,406 It's a big torch, and aII that's being done with about a 1600-watt buIb. 609 00:42:35,487 --> 00:42:39,480 That's the equivaIent of about haIf the energy you use to boiI a kettIe. 610 00:42:39,567 --> 00:42:41,523 STRABRIDGE: A mathematician and physicist, 611 00:42:41,607 --> 00:42:46,203 FresneI came up with the idea of a Iens made up of circuIar prisms of gIass. 612 00:42:47,247 --> 00:42:50,717 But why didn't he just use a super-sized ordinary Iens? 613 00:42:52,687 --> 00:42:56,726 Physicist Jonathan Hare has been Iooking into FresneI's invention. 614 00:42:56,807 --> 00:42:59,082 -Good to see you. -How are you doing? 615 00:42:59,167 --> 00:43:03,046 Okay, Jonathan, how come we don't use an ordinary shaped Iens? 616 00:43:03,127 --> 00:43:06,278 HARE: The main probIem is that they're so big and buIky. 617 00:43:06,367 --> 00:43:10,360 If you Iook at a standard Iens, and you scaIe this up... 618 00:43:10,447 --> 00:43:12,085 STRABRIDGE: This couId get reaIIy fat and heavy, isn't it? 619 00:43:12,167 --> 00:43:15,637 It's going to be... eigh a tonne, and it'II be reaIIy thick as weII, 620 00:43:15,727 --> 00:43:17,285 which wiII absorb a Iot of the Iight. 621 00:43:17,367 --> 00:43:19,198 So, there's a better way of doing it, reaIIy. 622 00:43:19,287 --> 00:43:23,360 If you imagine this is a cross-section of the Iens... hat FresneI did, 623 00:43:23,447 --> 00:43:26,359 which was very cIever, he reaIised that it's the curved surface here 624 00:43:26,447 --> 00:43:27,960 which makes it act Iike a Iens. 625 00:43:28,047 --> 00:43:32,882 So he thought, ''eII, I'II just take this curved part of the Iens and cut that out.'' 626 00:43:32,967 --> 00:43:36,039 I can show you one here, so you can see the bits that I've marked on here. 627 00:43:36,127 --> 00:43:40,040 So if we cut these out and bring them back, we get a very pecuIiar shape. 628 00:43:40,127 --> 00:43:41,958 STRABRIDGE: Did you make that yourseIf? HARE: Yeah. 629 00:43:42,047 --> 00:43:43,275 (LAUGHS) You've got your own FresneI Iens? 630 00:43:43,367 --> 00:43:46,120 Yeah, out of pIastic. I cut it up and poIished it. 631 00:43:46,207 --> 00:43:48,960 And it is a pecuIiar Iooking shape. It's much Iighter now. 632 00:43:49,047 --> 00:43:51,766 Oh, yeah, compare that! There's a significant difference, isn't there? 633 00:43:51,847 --> 00:43:54,122 Yeah, but it is the same Iens. If you Iook at this... 634 00:43:54,207 --> 00:43:55,276 STRABRIDGE: Right, yeah. 635 00:43:55,367 --> 00:43:59,121 HARE: You see, what we do is, we've taken this bit here, and cut that off, 636 00:43:59,207 --> 00:44:02,358 and then we've taken these bits here, and cut it and put that on. 637 00:44:02,447 --> 00:44:04,961 e've taken these bits here and cut that off, 638 00:44:05,047 --> 00:44:08,801 and same again and same again there, and put them aII on the one smaII Iens. 639 00:44:08,887 --> 00:44:10,320 STRABRIDGE: So, aII the important bits are there, 640 00:44:10,407 --> 00:44:11,840 -we've just thrown away the bit in the middIe. -Yeah. 641 00:44:11,927 --> 00:44:13,565 -Does it work? -Yeah. 642 00:44:14,287 --> 00:44:19,077 Okay, so here's a standard Iens. The Iens is basicaIIy focused to a point. 643 00:44:19,487 --> 00:44:23,196 And you can see that it bends the Iight, just Iike a Iens. 644 00:44:23,287 --> 00:44:25,357 AII right, but we know that works 'cause that's the right shape. 645 00:44:25,447 --> 00:44:26,675 (LAUGHS) 646 00:44:26,767 --> 00:44:30,476 So I'II show you how the FresneI Iens works. So we hoId that in pIace, 647 00:44:30,567 --> 00:44:33,957 and it shouId give exactIy the same effect as the big one did. 648 00:44:34,047 --> 00:44:35,685 STRABRIDGE: ExactIy the same properties. 649 00:44:35,767 --> 00:44:38,361 HARE: It's got the same properties. hich is perfect... 650 00:44:38,447 --> 00:44:39,516 STRABRIDGE: And it behaves the same way. 651 00:44:39,607 --> 00:44:40,642 HARE: ExactIy the same. 652 00:44:40,727 --> 00:44:43,719 So, here is a commerciaI one, which is a much finer one, 653 00:44:43,807 --> 00:44:45,923 but basicaIIy you can imagine it's made of rings. 654 00:44:46,287 --> 00:44:47,959 HARE: You can see the rings on it. Can you see that? 655 00:44:48,047 --> 00:44:50,766 Yeah, right. Everybody thinks it's a magnifying gIass for sort of reading 656 00:44:50,847 --> 00:44:52,519 or Iooking at the back of cars, 657 00:44:52,607 --> 00:44:54,279 but we know we can do something different. Come on. 658 00:44:54,367 --> 00:44:57,916 So, if I hoId that there, you can capture the rays of the sun. 659 00:44:58,007 --> 00:45:01,397 That doesn't take very Iong. It is actuaIIy a reaIIy efficient Iens. 660 00:45:01,487 --> 00:45:04,320 But Iook, it's as thick as a piece of card. 661 00:45:04,447 --> 00:45:05,766 BriIIiant. 662 00:45:05,847 --> 00:45:07,485 STRABRIDGE: The focusing power of the Iens 663 00:45:07,567 --> 00:45:10,604 means it has to be kept moving during the day 664 00:45:10,687 --> 00:45:13,759 to prevent the sun's rays burning out the buIb. 665 00:45:14,967 --> 00:45:16,116 SadIy, we can't go in, 666 00:45:16,207 --> 00:45:18,596 'cause the whoIe mechanism is fIoating on a bed of mercury. 667 00:45:18,687 --> 00:45:20,678 HARE: And that's not nice. STRABRIDGE: Mercury vapour is not on. 668 00:45:20,767 --> 00:45:21,722 But as you see, it must be reaIIy efficient. 669 00:45:21,807 --> 00:45:24,799 See that IittIe, tiny nyIon gear that's making it aII move? 670 00:45:24,887 --> 00:45:25,956 (STRABRIDGE LAUGHS) 671 00:45:26,047 --> 00:45:27,719 HARE: It's so perfectIy baIanced, isn't it? 672 00:45:27,807 --> 00:45:29,604 It's gorgeous. It raises the question, 673 00:45:29,687 --> 00:45:31,245 why are there not more FresneI Ienses everywhere? 674 00:45:31,327 --> 00:45:32,760 'Cause those are great. 675 00:45:32,847 --> 00:45:35,725 eII, the thing is, obviousIy, you wouIdn't want them on a camera Iens, 676 00:45:35,807 --> 00:45:38,844 because they actuaIIy... Each of the rings of Ienses distorts the image. 677 00:45:38,927 --> 00:45:41,566 So they're absoIuteIy great for shining out a beam of Iight, 678 00:45:41,647 --> 00:45:43,842 -but if you try and use it in a camera... -Yeah. 679 00:45:43,927 --> 00:45:45,440 It couId be an interesting effect, you never know. 680 00:45:45,527 --> 00:45:47,836 It couId catch on, your FresneI Iens effect. 681 00:45:47,927 --> 00:45:49,076 (CHUCKLES) Maybe. 682 00:45:50,047 --> 00:45:52,766 STRABRIDGE: This Iightweight Iens invented in Normandy 683 00:45:52,847 --> 00:45:54,519 nearIy 200 years ago, 684 00:45:54,607 --> 00:45:57,917 is stiII Iighting the way for ships around the worId. 685 00:46:07,807 --> 00:46:12,244 OLIVER: CoastaI nations are united by the joy of being beside the sea. 686 00:46:13,807 --> 00:46:18,085 Some Brits, though, are so enamoured of the French and their coast, 687 00:46:18,167 --> 00:46:20,362 they've made their home here. 688 00:46:21,207 --> 00:46:25,325 For one EngIish expat, the wide, open beaches of Normandy 689 00:46:25,407 --> 00:46:27,443 have an irresistibIe puII. 690 00:46:35,047 --> 00:46:39,359 My name is Sam DeIorme. I moved over from EngIand 1 1 years ago. 691 00:46:40,047 --> 00:46:42,766 I work with steepIechasers and cross-country horses, 692 00:46:42,847 --> 00:46:46,442 but today I've come down to the beach to see a good friend of mine, Franc DeIanoe, 693 00:46:46,527 --> 00:46:48,245 train his trotters. 694 00:46:57,767 --> 00:47:00,122 The discipIine is caIIed harness racing. 695 00:47:00,207 --> 00:47:02,482 It's a very popuIar sport over here. 696 00:47:02,567 --> 00:47:05,559 In EngIand, I think you're starting to get to know it, 697 00:47:05,647 --> 00:47:08,002 but over here it's very, very big. 698 00:47:08,087 --> 00:47:09,884 And he's very ready to go. 699 00:47:10,167 --> 00:47:13,796 (SPEAKING FRENCH) 700 00:47:22,487 --> 00:47:24,205 He's going to be racing Sunday, 701 00:47:24,287 --> 00:47:29,156 and so this is obviousIy going to be one of his important workouts for that race. 702 00:47:29,247 --> 00:47:30,566 (HISTLES) 703 00:47:30,647 --> 00:47:32,239 (SPEAKING FRENCH) 704 00:47:39,967 --> 00:47:43,960 hen you see a horse roIIing after a workout it means he's caIm, 705 00:47:44,047 --> 00:47:46,163 he's enjoyed himseIf. 706 00:47:46,247 --> 00:47:50,445 To get them away from the routine, they're Iike us, it's good for them. 707 00:47:50,527 --> 00:47:54,440 So, if they're feeIing good, then it shows in their racing afterwards. 708 00:48:01,967 --> 00:48:05,004 OLIVER: At this point in our journey, the British IsIes are once again 709 00:48:05,087 --> 00:48:07,681 within touching distance of France. 710 00:48:10,007 --> 00:48:14,922 At their cIosest, the ChanneI IsIands are onIy 10 miIes from the Normandy coast. 711 00:48:15,327 --> 00:48:19,366 But for 800 years they have been IoyaI to the Crown of EngIand. 712 00:48:20,207 --> 00:48:22,118 WeII, most of them. 713 00:48:25,047 --> 00:48:29,199 Nick is on a voyage to the French ChanneI IsIands. 714 00:48:31,287 --> 00:48:34,040 CRANE: It's not often you get the chance to visit a Iand 715 00:48:34,127 --> 00:48:36,436 that magicaIIy emerges from the waves. 716 00:48:36,727 --> 00:48:42,165 But that's what Jersey skipper Chris Fairburn has promised I'II see at the IIes Chausey, 717 00:48:42,247 --> 00:48:44,681 the French-owned ChanneI IsIands. 718 00:48:45,567 --> 00:48:49,276 He's made the trip many times, but before we arrive, 719 00:48:49,367 --> 00:48:51,927 there's a smaII ceremony to perform. 720 00:48:53,647 --> 00:48:57,276 FAIRBURN: e don't have to hum the MarseiIIaise if you don't want to. 721 00:48:57,367 --> 00:49:00,643 ouId it be a probIem for the French authorities if you didn't raise the TricoIour? 722 00:49:00,727 --> 00:49:05,482 They have been known to fine peopIe if they don't have the courtesy fIag fIying. 723 00:49:05,567 --> 00:49:07,558 So you mean to say there's reaI tension on... 724 00:49:07,647 --> 00:49:12,482 No, that's just customs men in France maybe, finding something to do in the day. 725 00:49:13,367 --> 00:49:17,121 CRANE: Or maybe they're just keen to remind foreign saiIors that the Chausey IsIands 726 00:49:17,207 --> 00:49:21,280 are a part of France, aIbeit a very smaII part. 727 00:49:24,367 --> 00:49:29,566 Compared with the Iikes of Jersey and Guernsey, the IIes Chausey are tiny. 728 00:49:31,447 --> 00:49:35,725 But as you get cIoser, they begin to reveaI their secrets. 729 00:49:44,727 --> 00:49:47,116 This is a nauticaI obstacIe course. 730 00:49:47,207 --> 00:49:50,040 One wrong turn and you run onto the rocks. 731 00:49:50,127 --> 00:49:53,756 There are isIands absoIuteIy everywhere. 732 00:49:55,807 --> 00:49:59,880 CRANE: The Iargest is aIso the onIy one that's inhabited. 733 00:49:59,967 --> 00:50:05,564 With a native popuIation of about 30, this is the audaciousIy named Grande IIe, 734 00:50:05,647 --> 00:50:07,205 the Big IsIand. 735 00:50:11,847 --> 00:50:14,759 It's onIy a miIe and a haIf Iong, there are no tarmac roads, 736 00:50:14,847 --> 00:50:18,760 there are no cars or buses and even bikes are banned. Suits me. 737 00:50:31,647 --> 00:50:35,765 I've been toId isIand Iife revoIves around an oId fort. 738 00:50:35,847 --> 00:50:42,320 It was buiIt by NapoIeon III to defend against a British invasion which never came. 739 00:50:44,247 --> 00:50:48,479 Chausey historian GiIbert HureI has agreed to show me around. 740 00:50:50,407 --> 00:50:53,717 So, NapoIeon buiIt this enormous fort to keep out the EngIish, 741 00:50:53,807 --> 00:50:57,243 but why didn't the EngIish get their hands on the Chausey IsIands in the first pIace? 742 00:50:57,327 --> 00:51:03,084 I think there was no strategic interest. It was too smaII, no sheIter for boats, 743 00:51:03,567 --> 00:51:06,081 and too cIose to the mainIand, to the Frenchmen. 744 00:51:06,167 --> 00:51:10,797 This fort was buiIt for nothing, never been used, reaIIy, for miIitary reasons. 745 00:51:11,047 --> 00:51:12,799 Now fishermen Iive in it. 746 00:51:12,887 --> 00:51:16,118 It's quite a sight, isn't it? Because you come in from the outside 747 00:51:16,207 --> 00:51:21,122 expecting a kind of sense of miIitary order, and what we have is the most picturesque 748 00:51:21,207 --> 00:51:26,679 jumbIe of fishing paraphernaIia absoIuteIy everywhere. It's a wonderfuI sight. 749 00:51:28,087 --> 00:51:30,442 CRANE: It's now home to most of the isIanders, 750 00:51:30,527 --> 00:51:33,917 out at their day jobs fishing for Iobster and shrimp. 751 00:51:35,527 --> 00:51:39,122 GiIbert has offered to heIp me catch up with one of them. 752 00:51:45,807 --> 00:51:48,605 I've noticed you never Iook at a map, you don't have any charts, 753 00:51:48,687 --> 00:51:49,722 you don't have any... 754 00:51:49,807 --> 00:51:52,162 No, but I know the pIace by heart. 755 00:51:53,647 --> 00:51:55,478 Here is Freddo coming. 756 00:51:55,727 --> 00:51:58,321 CRANE: Oh, I see, he's got a IittIe dory Iike yours. 757 00:51:58,407 --> 00:52:01,524 CRANE: Frederick Le Grand, Freddo, as everybody knows him, 758 00:52:01,607 --> 00:52:05,236 has been Iiving and fishing on the isIand for aImost 50 years. 759 00:52:08,727 --> 00:52:12,879 So he's been fishing shrimps, which is a IocaI speciaIity. 760 00:52:12,967 --> 00:52:14,320 CRANE: Good size. 761 00:52:14,807 --> 00:52:17,002 Freddo, is this a good catch? 762 00:52:17,087 --> 00:52:19,521 (HUREL AND FREDDO SPEAKING FRENCH) 763 00:52:20,247 --> 00:52:21,760 HUREL: It's not bad at aII. 764 00:52:22,487 --> 00:52:26,162 And when he says it's not bad, it means it's rather good. 765 00:52:26,767 --> 00:52:28,041 He's Norman, you know. 766 00:52:32,407 --> 00:52:37,561 CRANE: It's a very Norman thing, GiIbert teIIs me, not to be overIy enthusiastic, 767 00:52:37,647 --> 00:52:42,880 and it seems even the isIands share this modesty, untiI the tide goes out. 768 00:52:54,727 --> 00:52:59,084 This part of France has one of the Iargest tidaI ranges in the worId. 769 00:52:59,167 --> 00:53:04,605 The water drops a staggering 14 metres, to reveaI miIes of sandbanks. 770 00:53:07,207 --> 00:53:09,482 This is absoIuteIy incredibIe. 771 00:53:09,687 --> 00:53:12,599 I had no idea that there was such a huge Iandmass 772 00:53:12,687 --> 00:53:14,564 Iurking beneath the waves. 773 00:53:14,647 --> 00:53:17,480 That's where the heart of Chausey beats. 774 00:53:17,567 --> 00:53:21,196 You'd never think as you come across the top of this bit of the ocean in a boat, 775 00:53:21,287 --> 00:53:25,838 that there is a secret worId down here on the seabed that you can waIk on. 776 00:53:25,927 --> 00:53:28,885 HUREL: You can waIk on the seabed, reaIIy. CRANE: Yeah. 777 00:53:30,247 --> 00:53:31,521 CRANE: When the tide goes out, 778 00:53:31,607 --> 00:53:35,441 the Chausey IsIands are an incredibIe 60 times bigger. 779 00:53:39,847 --> 00:53:44,159 And they stiII have one more surprise, 780 00:53:44,247 --> 00:53:45,885 a deserted quarry. 781 00:53:51,807 --> 00:53:57,564 Here's a huge bIock that has been spIit, but they've just abandoned the stone. 782 00:53:59,047 --> 00:54:01,925 CRANE: IsIanders quarried granite here for generations, 783 00:54:02,007 --> 00:54:05,795 when the easiest way to transport the heavy stone was by sea. 784 00:54:08,807 --> 00:54:12,083 And it's the route those originaI quarry ships must have foIIowed 785 00:54:12,167 --> 00:54:16,604 that Ieads us away from Chausey, because their precious stone cargo 786 00:54:16,687 --> 00:54:20,362 heIped to buiId one of France's most distinctive Iandmarks. 787 00:54:23,967 --> 00:54:27,084 The monastery at Mont-Saint-MicheI. 788 00:54:33,207 --> 00:54:37,359 OLIVER: Benedictine monks started buiIding here in the 8th century. 789 00:54:39,447 --> 00:54:44,362 The mount itseIf was created by the tides, endIessIy stripping away the soft earth, 790 00:54:44,447 --> 00:54:46,517 Ieaving hard granite behind, 791 00:54:46,607 --> 00:54:49,485 and Iooking, for aII the worId, 792 00:54:49,567 --> 00:54:52,559 as if it was pIaced there by an unseen hand. 793 00:54:54,807 --> 00:54:59,198 OLIVER: The same tides that submerged the Chausey IsIands daiIy fIood through here. 794 00:54:59,807 --> 00:55:04,835 It's not surprising that the monks thought that something supernaturaI was going on. 795 00:55:07,647 --> 00:55:10,286 But I've more earthIy concerns on my mind, 796 00:55:10,367 --> 00:55:12,756 Iike what am I having for my tea. 797 00:55:13,607 --> 00:55:18,203 I'm on my way out to a farm, but it's a farm unIike any other. 798 00:55:18,847 --> 00:55:23,238 For a start, you can onIy get to it in amphibious craft. 799 00:55:27,967 --> 00:55:33,644 Here, they grow a famous French foodstuff, mouIes, musseIs. 800 00:55:37,887 --> 00:55:43,564 These wooden stakes caIIed bouchots are seeded with coiIed ropes of young musseIs, 801 00:55:43,647 --> 00:55:46,684 and then they're simpIy Ieft out here to grow. 802 00:55:46,767 --> 00:55:50,157 OLIVER: MusseIs wouIdn't Iive Iong exposed to the air Iike this, 803 00:55:50,247 --> 00:55:55,002 but the farmers here have Iearnt to expIoit the huge rise and faII of the tide. 804 00:55:55,927 --> 00:55:59,283 When the sea is out, they're easy to pick off. 805 00:55:59,367 --> 00:56:03,758 In a few hours they'II aII be submerged, so they have to work quickIy. 806 00:56:05,007 --> 00:56:07,123 This is just astonishing. 807 00:56:07,207 --> 00:56:10,324 For some reason, I had imagined that French musseI harvesting 808 00:56:10,407 --> 00:56:15,720 wouId invoIve women with wicker baskets and wading into the sea with rakes, 809 00:56:16,647 --> 00:56:22,483 but it's anything but. It's this hydrauIic hand that just goes down over the wooden stake. 810 00:56:23,007 --> 00:56:27,478 You see that? It so easiIy scoops up the rope of musseIs. It's briIIiant. 811 00:56:28,327 --> 00:56:31,285 But it's not quite as romantic as I'd hoped. 812 00:56:31,367 --> 00:56:35,963 OLIVER: AIain ChevaIier's famiIy have been growing musseIs for generations. 813 00:56:42,527 --> 00:56:44,245 Okay, give me one. 814 00:56:50,847 --> 00:56:52,360 You watching? 815 00:56:57,407 --> 00:57:00,797 There's a reason why they cook these things, you know. 816 00:57:05,847 --> 00:57:09,840 Every stretch of coast is unique, Iike a personaIity. 817 00:57:10,487 --> 00:57:14,321 But Iike peopIe, coastIines can have a great deaI in common. 818 00:57:14,807 --> 00:57:20,165 In some ways, it feeIs as if we and the French share the same shore. 819 00:57:28,487 --> 00:57:33,322 And here, at the end of our journey, is one more thing we share with the French. 820 00:57:33,407 --> 00:57:38,435 The monks who buiIt this aIso did a spot of construction work on the EngIish coast. 821 00:57:39,767 --> 00:57:43,919 OLIVER: And this is where they buiIt a church, St MichaeI's Mount, 822 00:57:44,007 --> 00:57:45,838 on the Cornish coast. 823 00:57:47,207 --> 00:57:52,804 Next time, we traveI from the granite of CornwaII to the sand of South WaIes. 824 00:57:53,447 --> 00:57:55,119 There's a sword. 825 00:57:55,767 --> 00:57:58,440 OLIVER: ow! Look at that! 826 00:58:00,527 --> 00:58:01,926 SeaIs. 827 00:58:04,967 --> 00:58:06,639 And scares. 828 00:58:06,727 --> 00:58:09,082 I'm cIinging onto everything I can.