We hadn’t heard much about the Channel Islands at the time of booking, but after this weekend I will be recommending a trip to Guernsey to all that I encounter. In fact, I feel quite passionate about the picturesque little place, which I likened to a ‘Doll’s House island’ as everything was so miniature, quaint and untouched. So much so, that the locals are a little worried that people will ‘discover’ Guernsey and it will become a little touristy, like neighbouring Jersey. So make sure you keep this blog to yourself – we can’t have everyone discovering how perfect this little gem of an island is!
We had an easy flight over on Friday night – just a short 50 minute domestic journey and we were touching down in this little piece of Paradise, with a population of 60,000. We’d decided to hire a car, which worked out a mere pittance when you divided it amongst the four of us, so we picked this up from the airport and oohed and ahhhed our way to our hotel, through narrow hedge enclosed roads, past quaint brick cottages and Guernsey cows! As I said, it was like something out of a movie.
We got to our hotel fairly quickly thanks to the island’s perfect pocket-size and after settling into our (lovely) rooms, we found ourselves at the hotel bar, sipping on cider, playing with the family dogs, petting the cats and munching on the delicious home-cooked cake our host had gifted to us. Even better was the fact that Brad isn’t a sweet tooth and Collins was on a diet, so Kayla and I got two pieces each. Suits me just fine!
After being regaled with stories by our host, we retired to our rooms, only to wake up to a delicious breakfast offering, which was all inclusive. We chomped our way through pancakes, bacon and maple syrup, or a ham and cheese omelette in my case, before setting off in our much adored hire car for some exploring.
Guernsey is a fascinating place. The channel islands were occupied by the Germans during WWII and as a result, there is a small concentration camp on Alderney island, as well as countless bunkers, forts and memorials. During the war many children were sent away to various areas of the United Kingdom to live in ‘safe houses’ – some never returned, and when others did, they were coming home to a place and family they no longer really remembered as they had spent the past five years in Glasgow/ Birmingham etc. It’s very sad. Our host also told us stories of girls that fell in love with German soldiers and were ridiculed as a result for the rest of their lives.
Guernsey was also a hot spot during the Napoleonic wars thanks to its proximity to France (you can actually see France on a clear day), so the history of the island is lengthy – something which was obvious as we made our way around the island and saw the countless fortresses, set against the most beautiful beaches.
We spent a lovely long time exploring the sights of the island, including my new favourite sight of all time – the Little Chapel. Like the name suggests, the Little Chapel is a TINY wee chapel, which is mad entirely out of mosaic and was created by a monk who lived on the island and used to go around asking locals for spare plates, cups etc. It really is the most beautiful thing and is so cute and doll-like, I could have stayed there for hours. The Eiffel tower may be grand in stature, but this little place is like an ice-cream sundae for the eyes! Sooooooo cute!
Next up we decided to back into Saint Peter Port for a quick squiz around the cute wee city centre, as well as a spot of tax-free shopping – another bonus of the Channel islands. We managed to stumble across a digital camera we’d had our eyes on for quite a long time, on a super special, which we pounced on, and Jess managed to pick up some new designer sunnies. Kayla wasn’t to be left out and purchased a new mascara for good measure. Thrilled with our new purchases we decided it was time to celebrate our shopping success and the divine weather, with a few drinks and some lunch and we had seen just the place. We trooped back to the car and set off for Cabo, a beach on the West of the island. Due to Guernsey’s sweet little size, we were there in no time at all, sipping on my new favourite drink Crabbies (alcoholic ginger beer) and munching away on a rooftop overlooking the ocean. Glorious! Here we stayed for a good few hours until the combination of the summer sun, the Crabbies and Saturday cheer had us reaching for the swimmers and heading to the beach. Whilst Brad managed to brave the water after half an hour of paddling, we weren’t so brave and settled for sitting down and watching the braver sods splash away. While the weather was roasting, the ocean was at a good old-fashioned English temperature – FREEZING.
The remainder of the day was sent exploring the island and slurping ice-cream, before we headed back to our hotel to prepare ourselves for Guernsey nightlife, which we’d heard was quite good. After a few pre-drinks and much chit chat, we set off in search of atmosphere, where we had no trouble finding a few bars which seemed to be pumping. By this stage we were starting to feel a little hungry and despite insisting we would never eat again as we were so full, after a few hours we found ourselves asking the locals for the ‘closest dirty takeaways’. One local pointed us in the direction of a ‘dirty burger joint’ as well as a ‘dirty Chinese’ and a few glorious moments later there was utter silence as we ploughed our faces with chips, cheese and gravy, or chips, cheese and curry in Brad’s case. Best meal ever, although in retrospect, horribly, horribly bad for us. Mine was basically a delicious gravy soup!
The next morning we were treated to another grand breakfast, before traipsing into Saint Peter Port in search of Victor Hugo’s house – the place where he wrote Les Miserables. Sadly the house wasn’t open on Sundays, but we did save ourselves a few bob, take the token tourist snaps, then wandered through cute doll-house streets to a little café at the bottom where we stopped for some refreshments. Unfortunately our chosen place, though cute, spelt New Zealand wrong on their menu when advertising New Zeland mussels, but after Brad kindly informed them and an embarrassed waitress tried to blame it on her colleague, we felt right about sitting down for a piece of cake and a hot choc.
Next stop was the Castle Cornet which was used as a fortress in all the wars to have graced Guernsey’s shores. Fascinating stuff, as was the gift shop, which we spent an inordinate amount of time looking in every nook and cranny!
To finish the day we headed to a brilliant bar on the south coast which we saw advertised. As luck would have it we ended up stumbling across this venue on a day they were hosting a music and food festival, so we spent our last hours on Guernsey listening to talented locals perform, stuffing our faces with moules, burgers, cakes and bean jars (that’s right – you read correctly) and sipping back the Crabbies, before we reluctantly drove back to the airport.
We were in such good spirits that even a three hour delay on our journey couldn’t upset us and we had a whale of a time at the airport, as did no doubt the people surrounding us who nosily looked on in at our cosy friendship foursome as we kept each other entertained. Entertainment that included, but wasn’t limited to: sit-up competitions, booking travel, ‘would you rather’, throwing food and insults at each other, as well as the occasional nap.
Perfect weekend? We sure as hell think so!
Love to all!
Kylie
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