Prehistoric Guernsey

The island has a number of fascinating neolothic, or New Stone Age, earthworks, menhirs, dolmens and burial chambers. The one at Hougue de Dehus, is a 10 metre long passage grave, pictured in my last post, which experts believe was constructed in about 3,500 BC.

It is covered by a grass mound and could easily be overlooked. 

another pic by Unukomo

It was in fact saved from quarrying in 1775, but the chamber itself was not discovered until it was excavated in 1837. Later, in 1916, a face was discovered carved into one of the capstones you can see when you look up. The face has been nicknamed Le Guardien du Tombeau – Guardian of the Tomb, but it is not known how long the carving has been there.

Yet another reason for another longer visit to Guernsey to go on my bucket list.

Wordless Wednesday: Le Dehus Prehistoric Grave Site, Guernsey

another pic by Unukomo

Victor Hugo in Guernsey

In a previous post, I promised more about Guernsey. I can’t claim to be an expert on the island. My three visits have all been fleeting – two of them were just a few hours and the third a few days. I still haven’t managed to visit Victor Hugo’s House, which we passed when walking up and down the hill on the way to or from our hotel above the harbour when we stayed there.

Hugo, author of Les Misérables and many other famous works, was also a French politician. When he fell out with French President, Louis Bonaparte, nephew of Napoleon, he fled the country ending up in Guernsey after spells in Belgium and Jersey. He bought 38 Hauteville, the house which is now open to the public in summer months, though sadly not while I was there with time to visit. Hugo lived there continuously for over ten years and sometimes after that. He wrote and/or published a number of his famous literary works there.

The photo of the interior is attributed to User:Hannes 2 at Wikimedia Commons. The description there  informs us that it is an 'interior of Victor Hugo's house in St Peter Port,' Hauteville House, and that 'Hugo designed the interior himself, (the) historic wooden panels and the play with light and darkness play an important role'. 

I shall just  have to go back again when the house is open to see all this.

Wordless Wednesday: Castle Cornet, St Peter Port, Guernsey

(pic by Unukomo at Wikimedia Commons)

Sculptures in a Garden

The one comment on my last post refers to The Little Chapel, so I thought I’d point you to some more of my photos of it on this blog.

Going back to Guernsey reminded me how I love coming across works of art in a garden or park.  This is because on one trip there we visited the sculpture park at Sausmarez Manor, where hundreds of sculptures are displayed, and most are for sale.

I visited Wikimedia Commons to find free photos of outdoor sculptures and was reminded of the Musée Rodin in Paris, another of my favourite places, when I saw this picture of his masterpiece, The Thinker, which can be found there.

I also saw references to sculpture gardens all around the world. And, of course, you find statues in many parks and gardens which do not call themselves sculpture gardens. There are numerous public parks and historic house estates where you find outdoor art  in the UK alone. 

The delightful annual Mythic Garden Sculpture Exhibition at Stone Lane Gardens in Devon is particularly memorable for me. I could probably continue reminiscing about places like this all night, but had better stop now and get on with other things before it's bedtime and another day is over.

Guernsey

We did go to Guernsey on Tuesday. It was touch and go when I got several emails and texts informing me that the Poole ship was in dock and we had to go to Weymouth for the 8 am ferry. The last ones told us to go to the Poole port by 6 am for a coach to take us to Weymouth. So that’s what we did. Daughter and I got up at 5 and woke granddaughter at 5.30 by which time the chauffeur (hubby) was drinking coffee and getting ready to take us to the port, leaving 2 dogs on their own for half an hour, before chauffeur became dog minder.

The fog was thick as we left Poole and several times on the voyage the captain warned us that he was going to have to use the fog horn. St Peter Port was much as I remembered it from previous trips and by the time we disembarked at around 10.45 the fog had lifted and the sun was out. We mooched around the shops and bought Eryn a pair of high top trainers in a sale at a bargain price. Then we collapsed at an outside table at a Thai restaurant with a birds’ eye view of the harbour and an ice cold bottle of vino in a bucket.

After one authentic Thai meal, a large cheeseburger and chips and a crab salad because Eryn wanted to try some crab meat, we headed back to the harbour wall and ambled along hoping to have ten minutes on a beach, but a) the tide was in and b) it was too far to walk in the time we had left. So we sat around watching people play boules on the side of the harbour and then went to check in for the journey back.

We all agreed that we’d enjoyed the visit but it wasn’t long enough (on the last day trip that Hubby and I had done from Weymouth, we’d left at  7 am and got back around midnight – that day had impressed us so much we’d gone back to stay for a few days a couple of years later, and thoroughly enjoyed seeing more of the island). Unfortunately this week it took about 45 minutes for the coach to get out of the car park to get us back to Poole and we were all pretty fed up and knackered on arrival, and the sight of our steadfast chauffeur pulling in ahead of the coach was very welcome indeed.

The photo is of The Little Chapel, one of my favourite places in Guernsey. It is in a village south of St Peter Port, and really is a tiny chapel on two floors, built by a monk who completely covered every one of its surfaces with decorative shells.

Garden Goodies and Guernsey

The tomatoes I wrote about here are now flooding my kitchen. Everytime I come in from the garden I have another bowlful of  juicy red fruit - or are they veg? I think opinions are divided. It's the first time I have been this successful in growing tomatoes out of doors. It must be thanks to the glorious summer we are having. We're also eating our own potatoes and runner beans, and they are serioously good.



Hope the weather lasts for at least another day. Tomorrow is a very early start, as the ferry we should have been taking from Poole is laid up and we have to get another fromWeymouth for our day trip to Guernsey. It means getting to the Poole ferry terminal by 5.50 am to get a transfer coach to Weymouth. Another one will bring us back from there on our return at 5 pm.

We'll have four hours to explore St Peter Port or find the nearest beach.

Exceptional Weeks

This week has been quite exceptional.

Monday:  I posted a question about plant identification and since then have discovered via Dave's Garden that it is a shoo-fly plant, corroborated by the RHS website.

Wednesday: pub lunch and a lovely dog walk in the New Forest with old friends we only get to see a couple of times a year. Their dog, Ginger, has featured before in this blog.

Thursday: sadly, a funeral. My cousin has finally lost his wife to cancer after a diagnosis over ten years ago. I can't remember the last time we got together with all of his children and grandchildren at the same time. Such a pity it takes such an ocassion for it to happen, but it usually does.

Next week is also going to be exceptional.


Monday: my daughter and granddaughter arrive for a short stay with Rafi, their puppy. If we have time, we'll take him and Jade to a fun dog show in aid of Pound Puppy Animal Rescue.

Tuesday: an early start. The dogs stay with hubby while the three of us take the ferry to Guernsey as a day trip, using a voucher from lastminute.com. Before we get back, my son will arrive with his girlfriend to be put up while they do some local house hunting. We'llbe short of sleeping space that night, but we'll manage.

Wednesday: take hubby to Bournemouth hospital for a 9 am consultation about a cataract in one eye. Daughter will be dog minding till we get back, then will take her tribe home.

In between all this, I have deadlines to meet. Help!

The Little Chapel in Guernsey

Here is another of my articles at Helium. I hope you can spare the  time to go and read it all. Your clicks are mounting up and I will not have to keep referring you there for much longer.

Many people include Guernsey in a European tour. They've heard about the German occupation in the last great war and the moving stories about it that are displayed in the island's museums. If you are one of them, and you emerge from the German Occupation Museum or the German Underground Military Hospital with a heavy heart, choose one of Guernsey's other attractions to lift your mood.

Although they are part of Great Britain, Guernsey and the other Channel Islands are much closer to France than to England and many of the place names are French. At Les Vauxbelets, which is French for 'the pretty little valleys', you will find Guernsey's Little Chapel.

 It's well worth a visit. Said to be the smallest in the world, it is about nine feet long by six feet wide.

Read the rest of this article here.