The 5th of September marked our first year anniversary of our marriage with each other, so we decided to take a well deserved break to the small island of Jersey. Well I decided on behalf of us, as it was a surprise for Izaskun who discovered on the way to the airport.

Our trip started somewhat started when we arrived at the airport, I had book a 12pm flight to ensure we didn’t have to rush to the airport and wake up early, etc… however we did still end up rushing as we always seem to do. Well after a short 1 hour flight we had arrived. The airport was cosy but it seemed to function as a small town airport. The first thing upon arriving is the number of posters of off-shore banking and investing services, makes sense if Jersey being known as a financial paradise.

 

 

Well after finding a taxi we finally made it to the hotel which was somewhat modest for being a 5 star hotel but still very nice. It did appear to be a bit dated, apparently it was the jewel of its time having being built about 100 years ago. It even had the queen stay over. Overall the hotel was nice but could do with a bit more modernisation.

 

After a short rest we proceeded to explore a bit by taking a walk. Fortunately the view from our room of over the sea with the Queen Elizabeth castle, which has a tidal entrance (i.e. It’s only accessible during low tide).

 

 

 

Having explored the town centre and the marina which appeared to be quite posh but the town centre seemed a bit 50/50 with some “rougher” areas being present. There were of course lots of financial brands from BBVA, Lloyds, Santander, Deutsche Bank, Standard Bank. To name just a few. There were a quite a few markets and interesting shops but unfortunately they were in the process of closing when we arrived. However overall we are expecting a mix of french and English culture but it seemed to be exclusively English. They had a couple of street signs in French but overall 90% of things were english. Making it appear more like an English village than an island just a few miles from France.

 

After our walk about we managed to explore the hotel a bit where we managed to have a swim and sit in the jacuzzi, yes it was very enjoyable 🙂 We also managed to sit through a couple of hot moments in the steam bath and sauna which was really nice after a long day walking about.

 

 

Later that evening we did some research on what there is to eat. We read about a place called Ruby’s which was renowned for its seafood and general good value for money attitude. Apparently seafood, in particular mussels are one of the specialities of Jersey, so of course we had to try. We took a taxi for 9pm which appeared to quite late for the locals to eat, who appear to finish eating and close up around 10pm. Regardless, we managed to have a good meal with a bottle of Rosé, 2 courses, dessert for £80. That’s pretty cheap when compared to London! So, we were pleasantly surprised. After dinner we decided to have a drink at a bar/club across the road.

The club had a roof terrace so we were like… let’s go. We ended up staying for one or two drinks and then decided to go home, walking. Exploring the town at night too. After this it was time for bed, and we finally managed to sleep well.

The next morning we woke up late, well early for us but generally late for most people. We decided to explore the castle, ensuring we walk through to the castle while the tide was low and taking the boat/truck ferry service they have later. We had 15 minutes to cross the low tide area before it would be flooded but luckily for us we walk fast and we managed without any issues.

 

The castle was actually a lot larger than we thought, it consisted of a series of building that ranged from a long history of renovations and additions. The island was used originally as a retreat for monks, where a chapel and a hermit lived. It was first developed as a fort in the 16th century where the development of cannons meant that the main land was vulnerable to ship cannons. Nearly immediately after the original development completed then the next phases started with the addition of further cannon and buildings. It was used as a prison for french prisoners within the 18th century, it developed 2 small hospitals in the 19th century and was even occupied by the germans in the 20th century who modernised and installed a couple of bunkers which can be seen as a striking contrast to the other buildings on the island.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a few hours of walking around and exploring we decided it was time to head back, the probably most exciting part of taking the boat/truck ferry back to the main land. There are two ferries, Charming Betty andCharming Nancy, which provide an ‘swapping’ service across the channel. We took the Charming Nancy ferry.

 

 

 

After our short but interesting ferry trip we again went to the hotel to do some more swimming, steam bath, sauna and yes, jacuzzi. We then headed out to try out another restaurant. This time we went to a small place near our hotel which was only about a 5 minute walk. It was a french styled restaurant that had good reviews. Pity I didn’t take any photos 🙁 overall the food was good and reasonably priced so overall pretty pleased with our eating in Jersey.

Our last day was pretty uneventful, we managed to explore further down the coast, walking down the entire bay area. There we saw a mix of rich houses (i.e. mansions) and smaller houses all side-by-side. Something that made me think a bit how London is structured.

 

 

Once we got back to the hotel is was time to leave to the airport. We arrived on good time as the airport was only about 20 minutes drive away, which is pretty useful. We checked through and passed security in no time. We were even early, the only issue was that our flight was delayed… apparently a Chinese plane wasn’t able to land at Gatwick (where were flying to), which means all flights were delayed until that plane had landed. It was pretty annoying but at least overall we had a good trip.

We would definitely like to go back and explore more of the island is we have the chance in future.