Seetheworld2: June 2013 Isle of Jersey

Monday, July 15, 2013

June 2013 Isle of Jersey

After our trip to Switzerland, we crossed France and took the ferry from St. Malo to the Isle of Jersey. Jersey is the largest of the Channel Islands. Although it is only 14 miles from France, it has been under English/Norman influence since 1066. Everyone speaks English, but all towns and streets have French names. The Germans invaded and occupied the Channels Islands for five years during WWII.

The purpose of our visit was to join the International Caravanning Association (ICA) group and hike the 50 mile trail around the island. Our group consisted of 5 UK couples and us. They were camping in their motor homes or travel trailers. Since we did not have wheels, we camped in a rented tent.

Before we arrived, we had been monitoring the weather in Jersey. It looked like we would be hiking in the rain every day. Somehow we lucked out and completed the 7 days of hiking without any rain. The best part of the hike was having a Jersey soft serve ice cream at the end of the day, by far the best soft serve we have ever had. We had a few free days to explore the island, so we visited their zoo, gardens and two museums. We ran out of time before we got to explore their castles and other interesting sites.

Out of our group of 12, all 11 hikers completed the 50 mile circuit. Old castles, German fortifications, long sandy beaches, and rugged cliffs provided interesting diversions during the hike.

We returned to Paris for our flight home, but due to a strike by the air traffic controllers, our flight left 2 hours late. We missed our connection in Iceland, so our trip home was delayed 24 hours (we were very grateful to be delayed in Iceland instead of France!). We went to the Blue Lagoon on our extra travel day.