My mother had announced last year that she wished to see the Channel Islands, asking me to tag along. And while I hadn't been too interested initially, I thought it might be a fun idea anyway - I love strange stuff and the Channel Islands' situation is definitely a curious one: They had fallen under Plantagenet rule along with half of what's now France until King John (he of ignoble Robin Hood fame) had managed to lose most of their French possessions again. Theoretically this included the islands, but the islanders declared themselves loyal to the English crown - and have stayed thus until today, being neither a full part of the UK nor a member of the EU, but a curious hanger-on to Britain with Guernsey best known as Britain's favorite tax haven. In fact until 19th century French (or rather a medieval Norman version of French) had been the main language on the islands until new settlers came over from England, replacing the Norman patois with English. Today it's hard to distinguish Jersey from any Southern English coastal town - sadly.
At least the weather was classic English when we arrived on an Air Aurigny flight from Stansted - rain, wind and grey skies. So we only went for a short walk around Saint Helier, the capital and hurried back to our fancy abode, the Hotel de France, for dinner and an early night in. Here's Elizabeth Castle in the harbour - under bulging rain clouds and Liberation Square:
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The best way to explore Jersey is by bike really - the island is just the perfect size to get around either in one long day or in two shorter tours is full of so called Green Lanes, that have a speed limit of 15 mph and generally deserted anyway. So after breakfast we walked into Saint Helier to rent bikes from a recommendable outfit called Zebra by the bus station and started the tour of the western half - along St. Aubin's Bay, the island's favorite beach in summer and along small roads to Corbiere Point, the south-western-most tip of the island with its famous lighthouse. Which WAS a gorgeous sight to behold, not least because of the water's amazing colours that were more Caribbean than English Channel:
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Having made it along the western coast and the scenic Five-Mile Road, we got caught in a short downpour (of course in an area where no shelter was to be had) but finally reached beautiful little Greve de Lecq Bay (above) where we could dry out and reheat with hot cocoa. From there it was back through scenic St. Peter's Valley, where we did hit the odd obstacle on the road, but also came across the famous Jersey Cows, the island's biggest pride.
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Luckily our fancy hotel came with a nice pool area, so I could chill and swim in the pool for a while, before an early night in to recover from the long bike tour.
Next morning we had to get up early anyway to catch the morning ferry to Guernsey, the second-biggest of the Channel Islands and also the richest and fanciest. Admittedly St. Peter Port did look a lot more inviting at first sight than Saint Helier.
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We first went for a little walk, past the old refurbished market (above left), the Parish Church with its many memorial plaques and along the harbour where the pools were being readied for summer season (under not very inviting skies). Then it was time for what I had really wanted to do here - visit Hauteville House, where Victor Hugo lived during his 13-year-exile from France and where he penned Les Miserables among many other books.
So, above is the entrance, a view from a window - and a statue of the great man which is not actually at the house but in public Candie Gardens nearby but fits best here. Below is a look into his garden and his living room - for someone championing the cause of the poor and the downtrodden, Mr Hugo sure lived well in his fancy mansion.
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From here we did wander to pretty Candie Gardens and as the weather finally cleared up, back to the harbour to walk out to Castle Cornet and generally admire the coast line of Guernsey until it was time for some classic English Cream Tea in the sunshine.
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Finally it was time to catch the return ferry back to Jersey in the late afternoon. On the way we passed the tiny Channel Island of Herm (population: 55) and the even tinier Jethou (population: 0) and also saw Sark in the distance - pretty enough but I'd be dying of boredom there. At least, when coming back into Jersey Harbour, I could also take a nice pic of Elizabeth Castle from another angle:
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Next day it was time for another bike tour, this time to explore the Eastern half of Jersey. Making it out of Saint Helier and its infernal traffic was a bit of an adventure, but finally we reached leafy country lanes again and headed all the way North to enjoy the scenic view of Giffard Bay and have a longer break at Bouley Bay:
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We also came across more of the splendid local countrylife - the cute piglets being enough to turn you into a vegetarian there and then. At least mentally - for a few hours. Finally we reached the Eastern coast with famous St. Catherine's breakwater (which should have been a big harbour but the idea was abandoned later) and what is surely Jersey's most beautiful castle: Mont Orgeuil near Gorey.
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The view from the top all around was absolutely stunning, so it's easy to see why the English hung on to the castle for many centuries. Even though Elizabeth I. had sent Walter Raleigh down there to tear it down and build a new one, but for once the good man said no and instead gave orders to have it refurbished.
Today you can roam around as you like, poking your noses into deserted little rooms, other larger rooms that hold curious items of exhibition and artwork or simply wander along the walls - where you might just come across some archers and knights. The big room is the "Great Hall" by the way - the central meeting place of everyone in the castle - but not all that great if you ask me.
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If I ever felt like Game of Thrones was coming alive, it would be the artwork on the right side, showing the various wounds a knight could incur during medieval battles in full bloodied gore. More interesting was the Royal Tree in the middle, showing just how entwined the Houses of France and England were after starting with Eleanor of Aquitaine and her two English and French husbands at the bottom.
There was a less than pleasant surprise waiting when we left the castle and I realized that my bike had somehow got a flat tire (and probably emptied out the air while I was in the castle). But Zebra was really awesome - when we called them, they came out immediately - not to pick us up (which I had secretly hoped) but to simply swap my flat bike against another one without even the least amount of fuss or howcouldyou. So we did the last hour of biking back to Saint Helier, before recovering with a cold pint at a pub and one last stroll around the center and the lovely Central Market. The whole day had been sunny and lovely and it did make all the difference for such an outdoorsy vacation.
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We still had a few hours next morning, which we used to finally visit the Jersey Museum which consists of two halves: One is the old 19th century merchants' house by the harbour whose French owners had incurred huge debts and fled to France one night, leaving their possessions behind - now it's all recreated to ressemble a typical 19th century upper class house with the family around as holograms to tell their story. The other half is an exhibition on the island's history from neolithic times to the Norman period, the arrival of modern English settlers and the German occupation in WWII. Very well done and nice to see.
There the trip should have ended on a happy note, but sadly British Airways messed it all up for us - the flight from Jersey to London-Gatwick being so late, that we missed the connection home to Duesseldorf. Luckily it wasn't all tragedy, since there was still the evening flight to Cologne which we could get onto, but since all that was Easy Jet, we had to buy entirely new tickets - never mind the additional three hours delay. Oh well. Nonetheless it was an interesting trip I probably hadn't undertaken myself but certainly don't regret.
