Guernsey, Channel Islands

Monday, August 8, 2016

What a lovely day!  It was 18C and sunny, perfect for sightseeing.

Today the ship stopped in St. Peter Port, the capital of Guernsey. Well actually, St. Peter Port is the ONLY town on the island.  

Guernsey is the second largest of the channel islands located between the west coast of France and the south of England. The island is 24 km by 9.6 km. Guernsey used to be called Sarnia, (The Green Land), and the people there are still called Sarnians.

Brief history of Guernsey: In 933 AD, the Channel Islands became a part of the Duchy of Normandy (France). With the Battle of Hastings in 1066, the Dukes of Normandy became the kings of England, and the islands became English property. When the English monarchy was restored, the islands were given the choice in 1204 to revert to the French or stay with the English and be self-governing, which is what they chose. They have their own legal system, currency, and taxes.  They are famous for their guernsey cows which give rich milk.  

During WWII the British government told islanders that they would not help protect them from German invasion. They were given a few days to decide to leave or stay. Most of the women and children left. The Germans occupied Guernsey for 5 years, during which time the British imposed a food embargo and the island faced starvation. The island was liberated on May 9, 1945. Today Guernsey is considered a British Crown Dependency.

 

Imagecredit:http://static.bbc.co.uk/history/img/ic/640/images/resources/topics/occupation_channel_islands.jpg

Our ship was too large for the dock, so we had to be "tendered".  That means the ship anchors away from the dock and the lifeboats are used as water taxis to take you to the dock.

We took a city bus out to The Little Chapel, built by Brother Déodat in 1914 who wanted to create a miniature version of the grotto and basilica at Lourdes, France. This is actually the third version. The first measured 9 X 4.5'. He was criticized by his fellow brothers and tore it down. He replaced it with a second chapel that was 9 X 6'. However, when it was visited by the Bishop of Portsmouth, the bishop could not fit through the door. So once again Déodat demolished the chapel. He began the current version shortly afterwards, but went to France in 1939 and died there, so he never saw his chapel completed. This one measures 16' by 9' and can hold 8 people. The Little Chapel was built using only cement, seashells, pebbles, and broken china. And from a distance, the chapel looks bigger than it actually is.

Imagecredit:http://www.thelittlechapel.org/thumbnail.aspx?f=d%3A%5CDomains%5Cthelittlechapel.org%5Cwwwroot%5Cdbgraphics%5Clinks_06.jpg&w=170&h=100000

We took another bus over to St Martin's Church, where there is a statue that is over 4000 years old. She is called the Grandmother of the Cemetery and no one really knows where she came from or who she is. The statue is similar to 2 statues found in the north of France. About 2000 years ago she was recarved to appear to be wearing what looks like Roman clothing. That is why she is called Julius Caesar's grandmother. In the 1800's an overzealous church official split the statue in half because of its pagan origins, and she is now held together with an iron spike in the middle.

The north and west of Guernsey are fairly flat, but the south and east are hilly with famous cliffs. We walked along the cliffs from Jerbourg to Fermain Bay, about an hour.  The views were stunning.

We had intended to hike all the way back to town, but it was a lot of steep stairs and very tiring, so halfway we gave up and took a bus.  This was a good choice because it gave us more time to explore the town.

We had a nice view over Castle Cornet.  It is 800 years old and more of a fortress than a castle. It is an island fortress and once protected Guernsey. During WWII, it was occupied by German troops.

Imagecredit:http://www.museums.gov.gg/media/image/5/8/Castle-cornet-aerial-4.jpg

We had not known that Victor Hugo was exiled to Guernsey in 1855 because of his political views, and stayed here for 15 years. It is here that he wrote Les Miserables, Frankie's favourite theatre play. The tours of the house were already sold out, but we were allowed to visit the gardens.

The Candie Gardens were once part of a private estate.  The oldest known heated glass-houses in the British Isles are here (late 18th century). The gardens had flowers, lawns, and fish ponds. And a statue of Victor Hugo looking out towards France.

We stopped at a tiny out of the way variety store, and they sold us a 6 pack of bottled water for 9 pounds ($15).  On the ship the same amount would be $50.   The only down side was that Anton had to lug 9 litres of water back to the tender and the ship.

When we were getting back on the ship, we saw some crew members taking someone's luggage off.  An illness or a death?  That's sad.  Or perhaps just a crew member leaving.

We were back on the ship by 3:30 and it left at 4 pm.  We loved Guernsey, it was such a lovely island and the people were so friendly and helpful.  It's apparently very difficult to move here because there are strict immigration controls because the island is so small.  Our bus driver is allowed to live here for 3 years and then must leave for 3 months before coming back.

We finally went to a show on the ship tonight, because it was a jazz night.  On the way back to our room, we were waylaid by a fantastic orchestra doing big band music.  Frankie sat for an hour and listened to how good she will be after she practices saxophone for the next 100 years.....