Guernsey Day 4 - Around the island by bus

This was perhaps the longest of the organised events.  We joined the bus quite early and began the tour.  There was, of course, some overlapping information with the walk around St. Peter Port, and at one point when he was talking about Privateers, the tax rate went from 20% on the walking tour to 33% on the bus tour.  If you don't want to follow the link, privateers are pirate ships that employed by the state to disrupt foreign (enemy) shipping.  They are allowed to keep what they capture, but must pay a tax to the crown. 

The first stop on the tour was the Little Chapel at Les Vauxbelets.

The chapel is 16 ft x 9 ft. It was built from whatever could be begged from anywhere.  It is beautifully done and a fantastic tribute to God.  Getting through it is quite challenging, it's narrow, and I was in constant fear of damaging it. A lot of the broken pottery is Wedgewood. There really are bits from everywhere.

Our next stop was a WWII gun emplacement.  We left the bus and walked across the uneven ground, with its trenches and camouflage.  Even now, it is only clear where the trenches are if you look closely.  There were many warnings from the bus driver to take care. It was a beautiful day -very peaceful, providing a stark contrast to the activity that was here over 80 years ago.

For refreshments, we stopped at the Guernsey Pearl, where I snapped a picture of a model of the Roman ship that was wrecked. I don't remember seeing it on our previous visit. The Royal Golden Guernsey Goat is a similar colour to the Guernsey Cow.  The breed of cow is carefully managed.  They have a genetic difference that prevents them from breaking down beta-carotene, hence the colour.  That also give their milk (so also butter and cheese) a rich golden colour.

The second part of the tour, around the north of the island, took us along the north coast - Vason bay, Cobo bay and a few smaller ones.  These are where the natural beaches are found.  They are long, wide beaches with fine sand - a beautiful place for an afternoon at the beach.  We didn't get to stop for a paddle.

Moving around the East Coast, we soon completed our journey through St Samson and back to St. Peter Port. 

Once back, we went to find the tapestry, it is somewhere behind the sunken garden, but when we finally found the right door, there was a notice saying the tapestry was no longer on display, and had been moved for restoration. 

We had lunch in a bar, opposite the sunken garden on one side and opposite the Prince of Wales pub.  I think the pub provided the food, judging by the direction it came from.  The bar had a big TV, and we watched some Wimbledon, then visited Candie park and looked at the statue of Victor Hugo. The official visit to the park and museum is overmorrow.

After watching Alcaraz vs Norrie, we needed so dinner, but it was quite late.  We wandered around, not wanting a huge meal, so tried Island Pizza, by the time we finished they were already closed and just about packed away.