DAY 54 SUNDAY MAY 17 - A DAY OF SURPRISES

The Abbey Court provided a hearty breakfast for us and we walked down to the waterfront, debating whether to take the ferry to Herm.  Evelyn, our daughter, had worked at the White House Hotel there more than 20 years ago.  She told us it was the only building on the island, but things have changed a lot since then.  The return fare was 12 pounds but the captain charged us 10 "because you are Australians".  The day was fine and the trip on the ferry was very pleasant and only took 20 minutes.

On the way over a man called Richard was wearing a clerical collar and he invited us to attend a church service in the chapel up the hill at 10am.  Our plan was to walk around the island on the track, but that would take two hours, so we were conflicted.  There are no cars or motor bikes allowed and even radios are banned outside, so it is a very quiet atmosphere.  We walked for forty minutes along the cliff tops and the views were magnificent.  It was almost as good as the Bouddi Coast Walk.  The hills were covered in wildflowers.

We came to Belvoir Beach and realised that we could take a short cut up to the church from there and so we arrived at the church at 9:55.  We found it by following the sound of the bell that this man was ringing.

The little church was amazing, with three foot thick walls.  It was built in Saxon times from granite and honoured St Tugual who is described above.

There were 16 people in the congregation and Richard kept the service quite informal.  He had us write a message on sunbeams and paste them onto a sun.

After church we returned to the cafe at Belvoir for morning tea

 and continued around the coast.

 In several places there were chambers built by people 5000 years ago.

We caught the ferry back at low tide and saw all the stranded pleasure boats in St Peter Port.  By 7 pm they were all afloat again; the tides must be about 6 meters here.

We went straight to Hauteville,  which was the house that Victor Hugo lived in while he was in exile from 1852 to 1870.  At first he lived in Brussels and then he moved here in1856.

Note the French flag.

 While waiting for a tour to start at 2pm we were invited to stroll in the garden behind the house, where he relaxed.  The views across the bay were beautiful.

He continued to own the house until he died at 82, and his children eventually donated it to the City of Paris.

For seven pounds each we were given a one hour personal tour by a very earnest young French man who had studied at the University of Lyon.  The house was a statement about Hugo's beliefs and tastes and was quite luxurious.  There were wood carvings in every room and huge tapestries on some walls and ceilings.  There were little slogans in latin and french everywhere.

 Malcolm bought a copy of Les Miserables in the form of a manga comic to add to his collection.  This was how he looked as a younger man.

After dinner of scampi and chips we walked along the cliff walk, watching the sun light up Herm as it was setting.

Our hotel was 200 meters above sea level, so by the time we returned we were quite tired.