The man and I went to Jersey last month; can't believe it was that long ago! Neither of us had ever been to the Channel Islands, so it was a chance to do some real exploring...
Travelling as foot passengers on the conventional from Portsmouth took us just over 9 hours to get there - having now experienced being on a ferry for that long, I wouldn't recommend it for a second trip. First-time round was fun, but not something I want to do on another visit. And there certainly will be another visit!
I absolutely fell in love with the island. It has all the best bits of British and French living rolled into one. Everyone speaks English, the place names are French, and whilst the currency is Pound Sterling, they print their own bank notes, including £1 notes! :-)
Life seems a lot more relaxed there; though that might be down to us having been tourists! For such a relatively small island (though it is the biggest of the Channel Islands), being 9 miles across at its widest point, there is masses to do there and plenty of places to visit - we didn't have nearly enough time there...
There were three highlights of the holiday for me:
First was discovering the harbour village of St Aubin - absolutely gorgeous - I want to live there!!!
The second highlight was meeting up with an old friend for the first time... Yep you've guessed - a friend I'd met online but never face-to-face. We met through an internet forum site for lovers of fantasy and science fiction about 7 years ago. He lives in Jersey with his fiancee and two children, and is a very talented singer/songwriter and published author :-) - take a look at www.justinthorne.com.
We went for a meal with him and his fiancee and his children and we all got on like a house on fire :-) We went back to their house afterwards and he treated us to our own private concert :-)
The third highlight was visiting Mont Orgueil Castle:
You won't find a castle in a better location... The man and I both agreed that it was one of the best we'd ever visited - and between the two of us we've been to a few... On a clear day you can see the coast of France, though unfortunately when we were there the visibility wasn't quite good enough, though it was certainly hot and sunny enough. It's one of those castle with lots of random staircases leading off to places you might otherwise miss - very fun to explore!
To finish, have a Jersey cow:
Yes, that's right folks, I'm still one of Britain's lucky - i.e. in employment. I've successfully made myself so indispensable that my manager's been forced to up my contracted hours from 31 to 40 per week - *rubs hands in expectation of a bigger pay cheque to come* The mister and I have also worked out that I'm due a tidy sum in tax rebate - Yes, I'd better repeat it: *speaks slowly to ensure comprehension* ~ Money back from HMRC :-)
I should really offer apologies for depriving you of my unique style of blogging for so long since my last post... Things have been really quite hectic over the last month or so, and whilst I've had many intentions of picking up the keyboard during that time, I never really made it to writing anything.
As some of you will be aware, my dear sister got married just over a week ago, and I got the only bridesmaid job going. My sister looked as stunning as I knew she would, and my brother-in-law (I love saying that!) scrubbed up quite well too - he even trimmed his beard. Imagine a more human version of Chewbacca, and you've got him. Talking of Chewie - he does a scarily accurate impression *grins*
I know someone might be interested in the flowers and other arrangements...
and this was my bouquet - my sisters was the same but bigger...
My sister also made her wedding jewellery (which I benefited from too, as she made me a pendant, slightly smaller and slightly different to match hers):
All in all a good day was had by all, and the mister and I will be celebrating it all over again in a couple of weeks at their 'Just Hitched' party.
Talking of the mister; we're off on holiday in two days :-) Off to the most southerly of the Channel Islands, Jersey ~ land of the jumpers and potatoes. Whilst we're there we'll be meeting up with an old internet-based friend of mine (who I've never met face-to-face), who's a published author and singer/songwriter with two albums :-) He's also a bit of a poker player. See this website if you're wondering who the hell I'm talking about...
Anyway, will try not to leave such a huge yawning gap between posts next time...
'Tis time to make packing lists :-)
