LUNCH IN FRANCE
St Malo, on the Brittany coast of France is only one-hour ferry ride from Jersey so Brian and I decide to pop on over for lunch and a bit of shopping (sorry, I know that sounds pretentious but what the heck).
We arrive mid morning just in time for a café au lait at a lovely bistro on top of the ancient wall that surrounds this medieval city, and manage to order our coffee without too much drama.
We spend the next couple of hours wandering the cobblestone lanes and browsing the shops, stopping to listen to buskers and watch the sidewalk artists’ paint landscapes, and draw portraits.
After all this expended energy it was time for lunch, and we find a quiet little restaurant the Quai De Crêpes on one of the smaller lanes off the main street. We order moules mariniere for me and fromage and tomate omelette for Brian in halting French and wait to see what will arrive, and when it did, it was delicious.
A trip to France (or anywhere for us) would not be complete without a nice glass of wine, so after a bit more sightseeing we find a brasserie on the square and have an excellent Châteauneuf-du-Pape while being entertained by a 3 piece ensemble.
Sadly it was time to return to the ferry terminal for our fast cat ride back to Jersey, but this short taste of France has left us yearning for more.
CHANNEL ISLANDS-JERSEY
We decide to have a look at The Channel Islands and travel by ferry to St Helier, the capital and main port on Jersey.
Arriving after our very pleasant, albeit 9½ hour ferry ride through a force 7 gale. As we turn the corner at the marina and we hear music and laughter, and see men in tuxedos and women in beautiful evening gowns. We have arrived and the Out of the Blue Maritime Festival is in full swing. It’s an extravaganza of music, food, street theatre and it seems everyone from the island is here. We are drawn by a delicious smell to a food stall that is selling BBQ scallops, they are the largest and tastiest we have had since leaving Queensland.
We have booked a B & B in St Clement, a parish on the southeastern coast of the island. After dropping off our bags, we walk to the local pub and have our first drink in Jersey, a pint of Stella for Brian and a glass of nice Aussie Shiraz for myself.
I should probably explain that even though Jersey is the largest of the five main Channel Islands, it is only 117 sq kms or 14kms across by 8kms long. Jersey has 32 kms of white sandy beaches and we have been told that the water temperature is warmed by the currents from the Bahamas, but apart from a paddle to get to the fort at St Aubin we have not ventured into the water. The tides here rise and fall dramatically, often by as much as 12m, leaving sail boats high and dry as the water drains from the bays like water down the drain.
The Channel Islands are British, but not part of the United Kingdom. They make their own legislation and internally are self-governing, and are divided into the bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey, they also issue their own currency and stamps.
Lying a mere 23 kms off the coast is St Marlo in Brittany, the coast of France can be seen in the distance. Jersey has a very European feel, street names, towns and many of the locals surnames are in French, some older locals still speak a Norman patois. Menu’s are often in French, regardless of the cuisine, and the seafood, especially the mussels or moules are fresh and wonderful.
The Germans occupied the Channel Islands for five years during the Second World War. Today the hillsides along the coast are still dotted with concrete anti aircraft gun emplacements and bunkers. The islanders endured great hardships during the occupation, many sent away to prisoner of war camps and not all returning.
You can tour the Jersey War Tunnels, an elaborate German World War II project, built deep underground by civilians and prisoners of war, designed as artillery barracks but later converted into a military hospital.
There is so much to see on this island, from the charming fishing village of St Aubin, with it’s lively pubs and quayside bistros to the rugged cliffs and rocky promontory at Corbiere.
And the best B & B we have stayed at since we left Australia, the Au Caprice Guest House,La Houle, St Aubin run by Eric and Helene, where we stayed to for our last week and a half week here,
We just cannot get over the pace of the island, the locals are friendly and helpful and motorists stop for you to cross the road. With it’s leafy lanes and old stone forts, silver and gold smiths and of course the Jersey cows, we feel that this place is somewhere we want to stop for a while.
Southsea
We have had a nice 10 days here in the Portsmouth/Southsea area. Being close to the beach, watching the ships and seeing the sun again has been just great.
We have had so much rain in the past month when we were in Scotland and Northern England we had just about grown webbed feet, but I suppose we did expect some rain here, just maybe not as much as we have had.
It's also the first time in 2 months that we have been able to unpack to a degree, and cook our own meals again instead of eating out all the time.
Here are some photo's from this south eastern coast of England to give you an idea of the scenery here.
We are off to the Channel Islands on Saturday. We are taking the slow ferry so it will take us 10hrs to get there, but we are both looking forward to a relaxing voyage and to see what Jersey is like, and you know I'll post it here as soon as I can.
Brighton
It’s not a very warm day but we decide take the train from Portsmouth to Brighton.
Not really knowing what to expect, and with the only knowledge of the Pier at Brighton from those British dramas shown on the ABC, our first look at the area is a bit of a let down.
The weather is not helping either, it’s windy, cold and showery. But we do walk down onto the beach (stones) and have a chat with the lifeguards huddled behind their wind guard, suggesting that a move to Australia would be a good one for them. And yes there were surfers and swimmers in the water (temp 12C) believe it or not.
The Pier has also seen better days, although you can imagine what a lovely place it must have been years ago.
We take some silly photos, have some fish and chips and a nice cup of tea and say “well that’s Brighton”
Stonehenge
We couldn’t miss seeing this prehistoric monument and being only an hours drive away we rent a car and go for a drive.
You can see Stonehenge from quite a distance, it sits on a triangle of land and is bordered by 2 major roads. Makes you wonder what the engineers were thinking when these roads were planned.
You cannot go right up and touch the stones any longer, but you can still get reasonably close. The site now under the control of English Heritage does have a path that surrounds the area and a free audio tour that explains the history.
Stonehenge lies in the centre of an area rich in pre-historic remains. Burial mounds are still visible to this day from the path that surrounds Stonehenge and many artefacts such as pottery, animal bones and even Roman coins have been discovered in the surrounding fields
Archaeologists estimate it was first constructed in 3100 BC, although it has been reconstructed many times over in the past 5000 or so years. Evidence of burials have been happening here even long before that period.
Surrounded by a bank and a ditch, it’s main entrance was carefully aligned to face the midsummer sunrise in one direction and the midwinter sunset in the opposite direction. So could Stonehenge have been built to commemorate both the Summer and Winter Solstice’s?
The size and type and placement of the stones, some of them believed to been bought here from Wales about 240kms away and weighing over 40 tonnes is amazing.
Even though the day we were at Stonehenge there were probably another hundred visitors there, there was a sort of eerie reverence, a quiet admiration for the ancient people that built this massive structure.
The Kilt
Alright ladies this is the one I promised, (any men following our travels may not want to look at these pics).
Brian has put his own slant on the wearing of his kilt, the Ducati t-shirt.
Now he's looking around for something equally silly for me, so stay tuned.
Isle of Wight
It's a lovely sunny day so we decide to take a day trip to the Isle of Wight on the Hovercraft.
We cross the choppy Solent in this smooth and speedy craft and arrive in Ryde, the largest town on this small island that’s total area is only 380 sq kms.
The day is still lovely and sunny so we hop on the open top bus to start our visit to the island. The scenery here is quite stunning, white chalk rocks jutting out of the sea, quaint villages with thatched roofed stone houses and sandy beaches, unique, as most are stony or shale in Britain, and cattle and sheep grazing on green farms bordered by well-kept hedgerows.
We see the house where Alfred Lord Tennyson once lived and where he wrote one of his most famous books, ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’.
Our ticket allows us to hop on and off so naturally we stop for tea and scones at a lovely spot on the coast, and also visit The Needles Battery, which was built to protect Britain from invasion and used during both the first and second world wars.
We have managed to see most of this lovely island in a day and catch the Hovercraft back to Southsea, our little apartment and a nice glass of red.
Back to England, Hampshire
HMS Victory, The Mary Rose and Portsmouth
We leave Scotland heading south again to Southampton.
It takes us just under 8 hrs to reach southern shore of England and our first view of the English Channel this trip.
We stay in Southampton for the first couple of nights but move to Southsea, near Portsmouth, for a week in an apartment. We are only a few metres from the seafront, and a short ferry ride from the Isle of Wight.
There are lots to see here, the Portsmouth Historical Dockyard has the HMS Victory, the Royal Navy’s most famous warship. Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson’s captained this ship, to defeat the combined forces of the French and Spanish fleets off Cape Trafalgar, to become Britain’s greatest Naval hero.
It gave us both an eerie feeling to be walking the same decks that Lord Nelson had so many years ago, and also to see the actual spot where he was fatally injured during the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
Also The Mary Rose, the only surviving 16th century warship, and a favourite of Henry Vlll, she sank off Portsmouth in 1545. She was only re-discovered in the 1970’s, and raised in the 1980’s, her hull being preserved in the silty bottom of the bay. Many artefacts, cannons and personal effects had also been found, still on board and preserved like the hull, by the muddy bottom.
It’s nice to be back close to the water and to have some sun again, we have had so much cold and rainy weather the past 3 weeks in Scotland and the north of England.
LORDS CRICKET GROUND
While we were in London and the girls were off having some retail therapy Adam and I decided to visit the Mecca of all Cricket fans. The Home Of Cricket, Lords.
So off we went on the ‘tube’, held up by an old wartime bomb discovered during works in the East End for the new Olympic Site.
We finally arrived, a little late but in time to visit the fabled Long Room, “No photos allowed Ladies and Gentlemen” (especially you Australians) I am sure they were thinking. Then on to the external highlights including the picnic area where all the legendary players meet before the game, also visiting the famous grandstand we have all seen so many times on the television.
And the media stand that looks so out of place with it’s Space Station shape. “hurry along there” the English journo’s said, we don’t like the likes of you lot in here with us. A bit amusing I thought. A quick visit to the Nursery End with an explanation as to the name, (it was formerly a nursery), original thinkers the Poms!!!!
Next into the obligatory sales area to buy souvenirs and then on to the Museum that is part of the experience. This was particularly interesting with all the historical displays etc., and of course the famous Ashes. Which they had great pleasure in telling us they had taken away from the Australians recently.
It’s an astonishingly small and insignificant trophy considering the amount of time and effort put into winning it.
All very enjoyable to be able to see all those places we have seen and heard about for so many year, and it was good to hear the poor old Pommies admit that we have had some true champions of what they consider to be “Their Game”
