Channel Islands, Paris, & DLP (FINAL UPDATE)

[D C]

Originally Posted by DisneyEater

Really enjoying the TR. Thanks!

Originally Posted by Brian5581

Absolutely amazing pictures, thanks so much once again. Incredible that you were able to stand on the exact same land as your ancestors.

Thanks!
I know it's lengthy, but it was a matter of how best to convey everything sufficiently for a TR. I figured that most people wouldn't have seen the islands, and I was just in awe with all of Normandy, so you're getting slightly less than everything
Not to mention, it's a good way to re-visit the trip myself!

[Yogi3323]

Originally Posted by Brian5581

Absolutely amazing pictures, thanks so much once again. Incredible that you were able to stand on the exact same land as your ancestors.

thanks again ...

[OttawaWendy]

Loving this TR. I like the Disney ones, but frankly, I've seen it all. This is really interesting.

Canada owes allegience to the Crown, but not the British Parliament, too. What is the difference between us and the Chanel Islands? (real question, not rhetorical - trying to understand)

[D C]

Originally Posted by OttawaWendy

Loving this TR. I like the Disney ones, but frankly, I've seen it all. This is really interesting.

Canada owes allegience to the Crown, but not the British Parliament, too. What is the difference between us and the Chanel Islands? (real question, not rhetorical - trying to understand)

Wendy, I have NO clue! I think I've learned more about the govt's of the channel islands than I have about Canada. If I figure it out though, I'll let you know. I know that Queen Elizabeth is the reigning monarch over quite a large number of countries, but the howtheheck/why/what part of it confuses me thus far.

[mikayla73]

Such a wonderful trip ... thanks for giving us everything!

[Jay324]

Great trip report Dave. Really love reading about a non Disney trip every now and then.

The photo of the dry docked boats in low tide is hysterical.

Jay

[scottinbx]

Loved all the pics. This looks like an amazing trip. That was a little high up for me though.

Looking forward to more.

[D C]

Originally Posted by scottinbx

Loved all the pics. This looks like an amazing trip. That was a little high up for me though.

Looking forward to more.

The "cycling prohibited" signs were a bit superfluous. After one look at the isthmus, with the mix of concrete and dirt and that rather petite railing, I'm not thinking I'd ride across under any circumstances!

What's crazy is watching the horses & carriages go across. Le coupee is lower in the middle than either end, so the horses have their brakes on going onto it while this carriage is pushing them down, and then just before they hit the lowest point, they start to canter to have enough momentum to make it up the other side. And the carriage driver isn't exactly sitting on the ground when this is going on. They're WAY the heck up there!

I'll walk, thanks.

[D C]

But wait, there's more....


Back on Guernsey the next day, we received a personal tour from a distant relative that did some amazing legwork to learn more about my family’s history on the island. Remember that my Great Great Grandfather was born on Sark. He was a military man and spent his life in the Royal Navy. As a result, my Great Grandfater was born in mainland England. Can an island nation actually be considered a “mainland”? Regardless, GG Grandpa was the last from Sark, and he eventually retired and died on Guernsey in 1916. My Great Grandfather came to the US in 1911. 100 years ago next month

Our agenda for the day started with visits to a pair of churches. The churches have little interest in the way of tourism & sightseeing, but I’m including them in the TR simply because of their comparative age. The significance of them to [u]my]/u] trip is that the first is where the funeral services were held for my Great Great Grandfather. The second is the site of his grave.

First the ~800 year old church in St Sampson parish. Now, the age thing cracks me up a bit. Yesterday, in our local paper, there was a story about a church that was founded 180 years ago! Contrast that to the newest church we saw on this trip being the one on Sark and it’s over 100 years older than that. It was the NEW church compared to these two. LOL




The second church, of similar age, was in the adjacent Vale parish. Think of parishes like states within the US, except scaled down so that 10 of them fit within a 30 square mile island. More like counties it would seem, but considering this is technically a national level, the state analogy is a bit more apt.

This church was a bit more elaborate in its exterior construction




The list of the heads of the church. I think the oldest date is in the 1100’s! That’s older than recorded history in North America by centuries!


I was happy to meet up with my Great Great Grandfather.
Arched stone, 2nd from the right in the front row. “Safe on the eternal shore”


A quick trip to the beach for lunch at Pembroke Bay on the North end of Guernsey


Have we mentioned Germans yet? They built a lot of fortifications on the island. Here’s one protecting the inlet to the bay where the beach is.
Seems they were convinced the Allies would try to take back the islands by force.


And just for fun, another low tide pic

[D C]

Back on our own in the afternoon, we toured Castle Cornet, seen in the earlier pic of the pools. The oldest parts of Cornet date to the 1200s (we’re talking pre-gunpowder), and were in use as a fortification as recently as WWII. Again with the Germans… Castle Cornet is on a tidal island, positioned to protect the natural harbor of St Peter Port, it’s been in use in some capacity pretty much forever.

800 years? How much wear happens after being in use for THAT many years? Just ask these granite stairs. I suspect they were once flat and level.


Here are a few pics of Castle Cornet


The harbor was well covered


A few more




And one of my favorites. The light house at the end of the breakwall.


We said goodbye to Guernsey the following morning. One final glance back at St Peter Port (my apologies for a pic of boats actually floating)


Next, off to Jersey (the island, not the state, not the clothing, not the week at WDW, or the TV show for that matter, I suppose)