May 15: Jersey Island: Northeastern Coast

Previous: May 14

Today was our last day in Jersey until we return to the airport on the 27th to travel home. We decided to spend our day in a last coastal hike, starting in Razel, a small community a couple kilometres east of where we ended our May 11th hike on the northwestern coast.

Razel and its harbor:

We got to the bus early enough to arrive at the start of our hike around 9:45, with an expected travel time of about 3 hours. In length and difficulty (vertical change in elevation), the hike was somewhere between the northwestern coast and western coast hikes, so not terribly challenging but rather a good, long workout. Weather was perfect: sunny, neither too warm nor too cold, and a mild breeze. Puffy cumulus clouds that occasionally threatened rain but never quite delivered. We've really had great weather so far.

Shoshanna on the trail:

Amusingly, we met a couple of women who were walking the same route we were. One was from Scotland, and was leaving Jersey tomorrow, like us, and the other was a native Guernesy-ite. We two pairs kept stopping at different points for water breaks, bootlace tightening, admiring the view, etc. etc. As a result, we kept hopscotching each other throughout the trip until it became a bit of a joke: "Hurry up, Shoshanna! Get moving! They're catching up again!" Said loud enough so they could hear.

We stopped for a bathroom and ice cream break at St. Catherine's breakwater, where we visited a few days ago with Shoshanna's friend Trepkos. Jersey ice cream still excellent. We'll report back in a couple days about whether Guernsey has a competitive product.

Further along the way, we stopped at "Geoffroy's Leap"—not, please note in advance, "Geoffrey's" Leap. The aforementioned non-Geoffrey Geoff was apparently a notorious seducer of local women, with no care as to whether they already had a partner. As a result, despite his popularity with at least some of the local women, he was convicted of crimes against propriety and sentenced to death by being forced to leap from a precipice. Amazingly (given how far the supposed precipice was from the high tide mark), he survived the plunge and was judged innocent—only to return to his old habits and leap from the cliff again just to show he was still innocent. The second time, he did not survive the plunge. The lesson, apparently, is that it's okay to philander once, but that one shouldn't push one's luck a second time, no matter how tasty the sin.

The supposed site of Geoffroy's leap:

The final stop on the day's tour was Gorey, a small port town partway down the east coast. Took us about 3 hours to get there, which was what the guide book and map had predicted. The town's famous for Mont Orgueil Castle, which is an imposing bulk that looms over the scenery. I think it's the biggest castle on the island. Certainly the biggest one we've seen. We climbed up to the base of the walls, but didn't feel motivated to pay the entry fee to climb an additional 200 steps to the top of the walls.

Mont Orgueil Castle:

We stopped for lunch in Gorey Pier, below the castle at a restaurant called The Moorings. It was the last in a line of seaside eateries, which proves the virtue of examining all one's options before making a decision. We chose pizza, which was excellent. Delicious, fresh ingredients, with really crisp and spicey ham and pepperoni, tangy tomato sauce, and stringy-melty fresh mozzarella. Baked in one of those nuclear-furnace ovens that produces a delicious chewy crust in mere minutes. It paired well with a Liberation IPA, which we also shared. We were tempted to order a second one, but didn't weaken.

Post-pizza parlay:

Leaving the castle without doing the whole tour turned out to be fortunate because we ended up sitting beside a charming Irish brother and sister who had lived in Jersey for more than 30 years. He was about our age and she was about 10 years older. If memory serves, her name was Chloe; I don't recall his name, but we left them my business card so they could e-mail us some information about B&Bs they liked in Ireland that were little known but high quality home-stays. They were originally from Northern Ireland, but not relatives of Mimi's family. We talked about travel for at least an hour as they polished off two bottles of "rosee" (rosé) wine. Fun!

When their meal arrived, we left them to enjoy it and caught a bus back to St. Helier so we'd have time to pack. But also wanted to check out the location of the hotel we'd be staying at during our last night in the Channel Islands in 10 days. We stopped on the way at Weighbridge Square, where a little French market had sprung up, with about 8 tents promoting Normandy products. Shoshanna tried a half-pint of "summer" cider, which was delicious: not too sweet, just a little alcohol bitterness, and very refreshing.

Dinner was at JAC Café again: vegetarian chili for Madame, and baked salmon with veggies for me. Birra Moretti for our shared drink. A reliable and simple summer beer.

Early to bed, since we need to catch the Islands Unlimited ferry to Guernsey at 7:15 AM tomorrow, which means heading out the door before 6:30. The ferry operators think they're an airline and we should be there an hour early despite us having reserved tickets.

Next: May 16