Guernsey Day 4 - Victor Hugo's House and Castle Cornet

Categories: uncategorized

Tags: "Victor Hugo", "Castle Cornet", Guernsey

Date: 29 July 2009 22:28:30

Well, the weather report wasn't too good today so The Mister and I donned jeans and trainers and went into town. Of course that meant it was boiling hot all day and the heavens only opened on the way home!

First of all we went to visit Victor Hugo's house, Hauteville House where he lives during his exile from 1832-1848. It is an absolutely fascinating property and many of the furnishings and decor was designed by Victor Hugo himself. It would seem that he was a bit of a fan of recycling and some of the sideboards etc. have been made up from a variety of old chests, chairs, tables, doors etc. The lower floors are really dark and quite melancholy, but as you get further up the house you get treated to this gloriously light study and bedroom with the most sublime views of the other Channel Islands and Castle Cornet. It was well worth a visit and we had a truly fabulous tour guide who was really knowledgeable and clearly passionate about the role she has in retelling the story of Victor Hugo.

P1010487After a spot of lunch The Mister and I headed off to Castle Cornet. When you arrive at Guernsey harbour on the boat this is one of the first things you will see. There has been a castle in existance there since about 1206 and has gone through various stages in its history. Inside the castle there are several museums (some of which we went to seem, some of which we couldn't be arsed with), but we also managed to see a Living History performance which was really well worth seeing. The woman performing was really good and she was full of useful information.

The other thing that was on at the Castle was an installation by Anthony Gormley called Lot. There were five different figures, all set up high on the castle walls. They are tall, skinny and quite imposing figures. I thought they were dramatic, but wasn't exceptionally blown away by them. There are a few pics on my flickr account though, so have a look if you fancy it.

Tonight we went to dinner at my aunt's house, where two thirds of the coven (ie. my two aunts) slightly gave The Mister a bit of a grilling. Or as my cousin Nic put it, "it's more like the firing squad". The Mister coped admirably I think!

Anyway, pics from the day...

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