Guernsey, United Kingdom

We had an early start this morning, retracing our steps to Gatwick for our flight to Guernsey followed by a Fast Ferry to St. Malo in France. I was up late (11:30) trying to catch up on blogs last night so when the alarm went at 6:15 I was not too enthusiastic about getting up. We have had a nice spell of our own time with our 4 weeks of car and then staying put in London, but for the final couple of weeks we are going to need to be a bit more structured and disciplined.

Morning routine went well, and the underground was operating fine in the easterly direction we needed to go. The western platform however had big delays due to a train breakdown. At Victoria where we changed we tried to cash in our Oyster card, but got told we needed to go downstairs to cash in the ticket component as there was too much for him to refund. We didn’t have a lot of time up our sleeve so Vern suggested we deal with it at home, sell them or post them back for a refund which is an option. We were a bit annoyed at this as there is equivalent of around $50 NZ we should have received back and when we were sold the cards there was no indication it would be such a rigmarole to get our money back – apparently you just turned up and asked for it – right.

I think this experience highlights an opinion we have formed of things in the UK – which in a nutshell is not a lot different from the Greek one we arrived at. “Tourist beware” as the British will fleece you just as quick as the Greeks. In fact in some ways they are worse as a lot of the entry fees are really extortion. Food, parking and public transport are also expensive and yet the minimum wage is only £6, so I figure someone or some sector of society is getting awfully rich and controlling things. You do see or notice a real class distinction in some areas with the upper level being quite rude and snobby. And all because you were born into something? Its not something that sits well with my antipodean values.

London was interesting but almost overwhelming with the sheer number of people everywhere. I am glad we slowed down a bit and only did one thing a day for most of the time because it was just too wearying to rush here. One could spend a couple of weeks here easily and still only scratch the surface of the city and close day trips. It is quite a scenic city in its own way, and the inner city quite clean and tidy. We were blessed with very good weather too, which makes a difference. I do wonder though if it may be a thought to come in winter to avoid crowds but then you would have to contend with a lot of horrid weather I guess and the gardens would not be as lush or colourful?

Check in with Air Auringy went well including security with me having a second scan and body pat down. The metal detectors picked up the buckle on my shoes and watch enough to warrant a search.

The weather in London and on Guernsey was very nice blue day just like a summers day at home around 23 degrees and flying in we were treated to lovely views of clear blue and green water and lots of islands. The airport was small and there was no customs check so we sailed right through, collected our bags and took a bus for £1 each for the 20 minute ride to town. It dropped us by the waterfront and centre of town and we had a little walk of about 1km to get to the Ferry Terminal.

The drive into town was very pretty with beautifully planted gardens bursting with colour, green paddocks and tidy older style houses either white washed or gaily painted with pink or blue .. The town continued the flower theme in abundance and is so picturesque framed by the bright clear green-blue port filled with boats. It is a busy medium sized harbour/port and had a mix of commercial and pleasure boats. If the weather is consistently like this, it looks like a terrific place to come and spend some time exploring.

We checked in and found we didn’t have time to go back to town to get some lunch and the lady said we were not allowed to leave the building after checking in. Ok, couldn’t see why so I boosted down the wharf to get a takeaway grilled fish and a hamburger for Vern as there was not much on offer at the Kiosk in the building. It was a local ‘workers’ cafe and served simple but good food and the man there (my senior) picked my accent and tried to chat me up LOL.

We couldn’t have chosen a better day to take a boat between Guernsey and France. We bought first class tickets which gives us a special lounge, a newspaper and free teas, coffee water and cookies. It also gives me an opportunity to catch up on blogs (doing that now) and for Vern to relax and process his holiday so far as well as contribute to my memory on our holiday etchings.

The Ferry was nice and modern and bigger than our Scottish one, but smaller than the Croatian one. There must have been about 100 cars drive on, and unsure how many passengers were on board. The trip was smooth and we got into St Malo early at 5:30 local time which is an hour ahead of Guernsey. There is a free shuttle from the end of the port to customs, which was just a stamp on the page and then we walked an easy 1.5 km in very bright warm high 20’s to our hotel with water on both sides over a ‘retracting bridge, lovely yachts and pleasure boats to the right and tidy stone walled medieval city to the left. Our hotel is on a narrow piece of land that connects the headland the medieval city is on with the mainland, and we have splurged on a waterfront view, bigger space, Nespresso machine room at the Mercure. It is really nice and spacious – and being here for 5 nights is going to be wonderfully relaxing.

After settling in and testing the Nespresso we goggled a supermarket in old town and walked 10 minutes into town through the walls to see a bustling market place with restaurant tables full of dinners on the cobbled streets. Wow what a pretty place this is, more so than photos I had seen. The old city has tall stone buildings with pointing Norman style roof lines. The roads and streets are shared by cars and people and are cobbled in a decorative pattern. There are lovely flower baskets and plantings – one which amused me with red cabbage in the middle. I guess only the French can do it like that in a non potage setting and call it style.

St Malo is busy with tourists but not bursting like the UK, and people walk around you in consideration rather than the bull rush menagerie in Britain. You hear excuse me and sorry and merci a lot, I find myself unravelling and relaxing and feeling very good to be here again. At the market we saw familiar foods and products from our last trip to France and it did not take long to fill our basket with freshly baked baguette, ewe cheese from the Pyrenean, duck pate, terrine, seafood tapa and Jambon (raw cured french ham). We also got yummy creamed rice like we had previously for breakfast, a gourmet orange, a peach and a couple of bananas and a large fizzy cider (local €1.98) all for under €20. We walked home via the sea on the soft golden sand to enjoy our picnic with the full sized windows open. The day ended magically with a stunning sunset followed by our pillow top bed with memory foam pillows.