The Channel Islands aren't usually on most travellers' radars when it comes to choosing a holiday spot. Generally, Britain's outlying islands conjure up images of offshore banking, dairy cows, Jersey potatoes and complicated residency rules.
But in my travels around the Channel Islands, most recently to Jersey, I've found it to be well worth a visit. Jersey's rolling fields of green, beaches, castles, and warm climate are all good reasons for a visit. The Gulf Stream means the islands enjoy a warm climate.
Other advantages are that it's well-connected to the UK, and the time zone and currency are the same as on the mainland. That's worth considering at the moment, with the poor dollar/euro to pound exchange rates.
A quarter of Jersey's work force is employed in the financial services industry, and that has two important effects on tourists: good hotels and restaurants. Two establishments have even been awarded Michelin stars.
I liked the The Terrace at the Grand Hotel (Esplanade, St Helier 01534 722301). The avocado and mango salad and crab sandwich on focaccia were both great. There's a large terrace with a good view of Elizabeth Castle, and the service is excellent.
Café JAC in the Jersey Arts Centre is also a nice spot for a latte (Philips Street, St Helier, Tel: 01534 879 482). The Museum Brasserie at the Jersey Museum (The Weighbridge, St Helier (Tel: 01534 633300) has a large courtyard and is a good place for lunch. Another great thing about Jersey is the ice-cream. The famed milk of the Jersey cow definitely lives up to its creamy reputation.
To get around, it's best to hire a car. The sights and beaches are spread around the island and public transport is limited to buses. There are a number of signposted bike trails – which is good as the vehicle roads can be very windy. Navigating the roads is terrifying enough in a car – even though the speed limit is only 40 miles an hour. A bike would not be for the faint hearted, so stick to the trails.
Jersey's main historical attractions are Mont Orgueil Castle and Elizabeth Castle. There are also a number of tourist attractions that tell the story of the five year Nazi occupation of Jersey from 1940 to 1945. The Channel Islands were the only part of the UK to be occupied during the Second World War.
A complex of underground bunkers, the Höhlgangsanlage, has been turned into the Jersey War Tunnels museum. There's a permanent exhibition at Ho8 on the life of Violette Szabó, a secret agent for Britain's Special Operations Executive during WWII. Szabó was executed in Ravensbrück concentration camp aged 23 and was awarded the George Cross posthumously. It was her daughter Tania Szabó who received the cross on her mother's behalf in 1949. Now a Jersey resident, Tania Szabó opened the exhibition at the Jersey War Tunnels in 2003. (Höhlgangsanlage 8, St Lawrence. Tel: 01534 860 808)
I stayed at the Hotel de France, St. Helier. It's a grand four-star hotel with a gym, sauna, infinity pool and a chic spa. My room was very comfortable, had a fine view of St. Helier, and staff were helpful too. The Hotel de France has had an interesting history, with various incarnations as a Jesuit College, a training school for the occupying German forces during the second world war, and twice as a hotel. It's about a 15 minute walk from town.
History, fine dining and beaches – Jersey has got serious holiday credentials.
Harriet Torry was guest of the Jersey Tourism Bureau. For more information about Jersey please visit their website at www.jersey.com
Photo Credits: St Brelade's Bay by Paul Hudson; Elizabeth Castle, St Helier, Jersey by Alex Fearn; View from Mont Orgueil Castle by paulafunnell; SOE Memorial, Albert Embankment by Loz Flowers via Flickr (Creative Commons).
On Saturday, Jersey celebrated the 64th anniversary of the island's liberation from five years of Nazi occupation during the Second World War. An international music festival, street parades, an outdoor service of thanksgiving and a enactment of the arrival of the British troops all commemorated the 9th May 1945 – the day when, as the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill said, "our dear Channel Islands are also to be freed".
The Jersey Liberation Festival took centre stage over the weekend, hosting a number of world-class musicians at concerts and masterclasses.
The highlights included the Liberation Gala Concert at the Jersey Opera House. The Sitkovetsky Trio steered the audience through an intense musical line-up, played with great feeling and energy. The trio consists of violinist Alexander Sitkovetsky, pianist Qian Wu, and cellist Leonard Elschenbroich. The communication between the three was powerful; they played Smetana's haunting Piano Trio with thrilling intensity.
Guy Pratt struck a more lighthearted chord during his comedy gig "My Bass and Other Animals". Pratt, the former Pink Floyd bass guitarist turned stand-up comedian and "Betsy", his bass guitar, kept the audience laughing with his anecdotes about working with Madonna and sessions with an elusive Michael Jackson.
Musicians from Germany, China, Spain, Russia and Italy served to make the Jersey Liberation Festival a truly international event. The Italian-Thai opera singer Maya Sapone got the crowds swaying to the 1940s favourites "We'll Meet Again" and "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" at the street party in Liberation Square.
One thing that made the Jersey Liberation Festival special was the engagement with the local community. At the start of the festival's grand keynote event, the Liberation Gala Concert, the master of ceremonies read out poems from a recent children's poetry competition. Entitled "What Liberation Means to Me", the poems had been published in the local newspaper and gave the classical concert an injection of local colour. Schoolchildren's poems rarely feature at classical concerts, and in Jersey they made fantastic addition.
At the Coffee Concert in the Arts Centre the next morning, young Jersey musicians got the chance to perform on stage with pianists Wu Qian and Tessa Grobel. Grobel, who also directed the festival, said young musicians in Jersey really benefited from the concert, and not just for the chance to perform. "So many children came [to the masterclasses] from around the island. Everybody just raved about them, being able to watch performers rehearse, and being inspired by performers who are young enough that they could relate to." The musicians involved in the festival – no matter how acclaimed or well-known – made an effort to connect with the islanders.
The Liberation Day festivities and the Jersey Liberation Festival were both heartening and moving. Although upbeat, the celebrations reflected on a solemn historical occasion. The impassioned music of the musicians cast light on a dark chapter of Jersey's history.
Watch an exclusive interview with star pianist Wu Qian about the Jersey Liberation Festival, her favourite concert venues and why Chinese food is the best...
