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| View from our hotel gardens |
Many years ago, I
remember being captivated when watching a video (remember those?) about
Guernsey. Ever since then, I’ve longed to visit the island. Well this year we
finally did it. And I can honestly say, the anticipation lived up to the dream.
We chose to go on
a package holiday via a well-known holiday company though, in truth, the
company only acts as an agent and had very little input. As my husband won’t go
near a boat (he gets sea-sick on a pedallo!), we chose to go by air, being met
at the airport by a local Guernsey coach. Even driving from the airport, I was
impressed by what I could see. It seemed less pretentious that Jersey (which
we’ve visited previously) with many of the houses we passed seeming to conform
to what I thought might be small country-style houses. Of course there were
some large houses but they tended to be tucked away off the road and behind
greenery. We didn’t see St Peter Port, the main town on the island that first
day as it was a late flight and we were taken straight to our hotel. In fact,
we were only just in time for a delicious dinner. And much to our surprise,
there was waiter service. We were lucky with our room too as it overlooked the
gardens. More about them later.
We’d been informed
that the Town as it’s known was only ten minutes from the hotel but it took us
a lot longer than that to find it. We quickly realised that we’d gone a very
long way round to get there and, using short cuts and the inevitable steps, the
Town being built on a steep hill, we often did it in the ten minutes.
Inevitably, it took us a lot longer to walk back up, especially as our hotel
was located on the formidable Hauteville (high town), and necessitated several
stops to catch our breath. The Town itself was a delight with two main streets,
the main shopping street, Le Pollet, and the quayside. Almost all the buildings
along that stretch of road turned out to be original warehouse buildings, tall,
angular and with several of them still bearing evidence of their origins by
having hoists jutting out of upper floors. Of course, many of the ground floors
are now occupied by shops, bars and restaurants but they don’t detract from the
atmosphere. The harbours themselves are a joy to see with all the different
types of boats moored there. Almost all the street names are in French and, in
fact, until 1926, French was the official language there. I’m given to
understand that in many of the more countrified areas a kind of Norman French
patois is still spoken.
On the Monday
morning, we went on a round-the-island tour as part of our package with a very
knowledgeable courier/driver. With Guernsey being heavily occupied during WWII,
there were many German fortifications and we saw several on our travels. He
explained that houses are at a premium on the island and that there are two
prices, one for local people and one for outsiders who want to settle on the
island. Even the so-called local prices are high, being comparable to London,
while an ordinary three-bedroomed house for outsiders would be over £1m+! As we
needed one or two things from the Town, we chose to be dropped off there. Big
mistake! The heavens opened (the remains of Hurricane Dorian) and within
minutes we were drenched. By the time we made it back to the hotel, we were
soaked through and had to get changed down to our underwear. Mind you, we still
hadn’t found the quick way back by that day. Not our best day.
On finding out
that the bus fares are capped at £1 per trip, we had the idea of going round
the island on the local bus, stopping off at the various lovely looking bays
we’d seen on the Monday then getting the bus back again. Unfortunately, the day
we chose to do that there were two cruise liners moored in the bay and it
seemed that one of the things the day visitors had been advised to do was to
take the bus round the island and every bus was packed. Not daring to get off
anywhere in case we couldn’t get back on again, we stayed on the bus! Our
driver had to turn away a party of about ten Japanese as the buses are only
single-deckers and quite small. I felt quite sorry for them as only one of them
could speak English and the bus was packed with standing room only. I can only
hope they made it back to their ship in time!
Most of our day was
finding different ways into the Town and strolling round there, though we did
fit in a visit to Cornet Castle, one time fortress to guard the island against
French invaders. Lots of steps there too but the museum about Guernsey through
the ages was good to look at and very informative. Another day, we caught the
bus to the Folk and Costume Museum at Sausmarez Park which was also
fascinating.
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| View of a small part of the gardens |
Normally when we
go on holiday, we like to take a stroll after dinner but with our hotel being
on THAT hill we didn’t bother and as we’re not ones for drinking in the lounge
as many other residents did, we were at a bit of a loose end in the evening.
Having said that, it was the best hotel we’ve ever stayed in. Everywhere was
clean, the service was exceptional and the food was brilliant. If anyone ever
fancies going and don’t mind walking up THAT hill, the hotel is called The
Pandora. The serving staff were nearly all Portugese and they couldn’t have
been more obliging. I’ve already mentioned the gardens and they were truly
beautiful with various terraces all leading down to more gardens many with
views of the sea. Unfortunately, we weren’t too lucky with the weather and
there were only three days that we actually managed to sit out.
Just a hint though, if you've read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society or seen the film and think that's what it looks like now, it doesn't. I'm given to understand that much of the film was shot in Devon because Guernsey has altered drastically since the war. There are certain locations that I recognised particularly the German Observation Tower shown here.
So did Guernsey
live up to my expectations? It certainly did and more so. Would we go back
again? Yes, we would. All being well, we plan to go again next year. Just not
to the hotel on the hill!
