Page 129 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Brittany

NOR THERN FINISTÈRE  127

The Story of the Johnnies
When Henri Olivier, an inhabitant of Roscoff,
sailed for Plymouth in a ship loaded with onions,
he was unwittingly establishing a tradition.
Hundreds of agricultural workers, many of
whom were very young, followed Olivier’s
example, going from port to port in Wales,
Scotland and England selling strings of onions
to housewives, who nick named them Johnnies.
Until the 1930s, this seasonal migration was an
essential opportunity for trade, and many
families who lived on the coast of Brittany
began to adopt such British habits as drinking
tea and playing darts. They also began to speak
Breton interspersed with various English words
Johnnies with their strings of onions and expressions.
4 Roscoff 5 Île de Batz
Road map B1. * 3,700. £ @ from Road map B1. * 740. 4 4
Morlaix. g n Quai d’Auxerre; (02) 98 motorboats run by CFTM (02 98 61
61 12 13. ( Wed am. _ Pardon de 78 87), Armein (02 46 80 04 47) and
Ste-Barbe (mid-Jul); Fête de l’Oignon Armor Excursions (02 98 61 79 66)
(mid-Aug). ∑ roscoff-tourisme.com from Roscoff. n (02) 98 61 75 70.
_ Pardon de Ste-Anne (late Jul).
From the fish farms at Ste-Barbe
to the seaweed boats in the old Separated from Roscoff by a
harbour, most of Roscoff is narrow channel, the Îsle de
focused on the sea. The Église Batz (Enez Vaz in Breton) is a
Notre-Dame-de-Kroaz-Baz, small island just 4 km (3 miles)
built with funds from merchants long and 2 km (1 mile) wide.
and privateers (in 1515), has It has about 20 sandy beaches
caravels carved on its outer walls. and creeks.
Roscoff (Rosk o Gozen in The crossing from Roscoff’s
Breton), whose port handles old harbour, or from the groyne, Jardin Exotique Georges-Delaselle, the
ferry links with Plymouth, has takes only 20 min utes, and the colonial garden on the Île de Batz
a long, if stormy history with island attracts up to 4,000
Britain. Not only did Roscovites visitors a day over certain ruined Romanesque Chapelle
fight naval battles with the summer week ends. Outside de Ste-Anne and the Jardin
British and suffer their raids, they the high season, Batz is a haven Exotique George-Delaselle,
were also accomplices in of tranquility, with far fewer in the southeast of the island,
smuggling. In the 18th century, visitors than continue to flock created in 1897. Some 1,500
contraband tea, brandy and to the Île de Bréhat (see p104). plants from southern Africa,
other liquor left Roscoff to be Most of the islanders are California and New Zealand
landed in Britain. Shipowners market gardeners. The seaweed thrive in the island’s
grew prosperous, as the fine that they spread on their small gentle microclimate.
houses that they built in Rue plots of land helps produce the
Armand-Rousseau, Rue Amiral- best fruit and vegetables in Y Jardin Exotique
Réveillère and Place Lacaze- the region. Georges-Delaselle
Duthiers clearly show. From the landing stage, an Porzan Iliz. Tel (02) 98 61 75 65.
A small museum presents the alley to the right leads to the Open Apr–Oct: daily. & 8
history of the Johnnies, which
was the name given to the
Roscoff producers who went
to Great Britain to sell their
distinctive pink onions.
E Maison des Johnnies et de
l’Oignon Rose
48 Rue Brizeau. Tel (02) 98 61 25 48.
Open mid-Jun–mid-Sep: Mon pm &
Tue–Sat; mid-Sep–mid-Jun: Tue, Thu &
Fri pm (also Mon pm and Sat pm in
Apr). Closed Jan. & 8 obligatory. Île de Batz, a small treeless island with sandy beaches, off Roscoff

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