Being flexible on start dates we took advantage of 0.99p [+ tax] BMI fares from Birmingham to the Channel Islands. This took us most of the way to France and enabled us to check out Guernsey from the air [we elected to take the scenic route that gave us a touch-down on the island].
Two nights in Jersey enabled us to get a flavour of the island. It was a pleasant place but still defiantly British and not the blend of French cafes and bakeries we had anticipated. The climate was mild being nestled into the French coast and Jersey potatoes were growing abound. We had expected St Helier to be a gentrified tax haven much like a rural version of Monaco but it still had a slightly gritty feel to it with the usual queue outside the city mission.
The two main highlights were:
- walking to Elisabeth island fortress at low tide; and
- visiting the Durrell zoo, which was set up by the renowned Environmentalist and part time author Gerald Durrell. A young Mark had enjoyed his books "My family and other animal" and others describing his trips to acquire rare animals from Africa. Most interesting at the zoo were the Giant Jumping Rats, the nocturnal Aye-Ayes and tiny frogs that have enough poison to kill 1,000 people.
An early start saw us munching breakfast on the way to France on a fast ferry. Mist shrouded the French coast and it was only just before docking at St Malo that we got our first real view of the Continent...
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