August 10 – Guernsey/St. Peter Port, Channel Islands

20 degrees, very clear, windy

After yesterday’s epic excursion, we have a short jaunt into and around St. Peter Port today. We tender onto the island and when we arrive we are right in the island’s capital city of St. Peter Port.

world's closest pub to a church

I have to say a walking tour is my favourite kind of tour…no getting on and off of buses, there is space to roam, and you get a good feel for the place. Today’s tour is with only 11 people in total which is another bonus! The guide is also excellent.

The focus of the tour is a visit to the medieval Castle Cornet. This was interesting to visit, but really the guide’s commentary was by far the best part of this tour. At one point he described a bit about the German occupation of the island during the war. His description included a story about a girl and boy (5 and 2 years old) who were separated from their parents during the voluntary evacuation of the town. He showed a picture of the 2 children and went on to describe how the boy contracted polio and as a result wasn’t able to continue the family business of tomato farming, but became a musician. This man, as the story continued, became an arts advocate on the island and coincidentally…was the guide’s father. This was a very moving story and as the guide said (and I agree completely,) the stories are what makes what we are learning about more real and impactful. This is what was missing from yesterday’s tour to the beaches.

fishing boats and town

We walked around the town with the guide stopping every so often to hear about what we were seeing or anecdotes about the history of Guernsey. We visited a church, heard about Victor Hugo’s time on the island during his exile from France, tasted gache (the island speciality, essentially a current bread slathered with Guernsey butter) and visited the castle.

The guide also made a pretty big deal about Sir Isaac Brock who was from Geurnsey and played a significant role in Canada’s independence from the US and the War of 1812. I’ve never actually heard of him, but will make a point of learning a bit more about him.

part of the castle

After the tour we had to stop for a pint at the one pub in town to make it into the Guinness Book of world records for being the closest pub to a church, as you should be able to see in the photo of me.