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Oceania Regatta
Dover-Barcelona Cruise

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ABOVE: Fishing and pleasure boats rest on the harbor bottom in St. Peter Port. (On Guernsey, the difference between high and low tide can exceed 30 feet or 9 meters.)

Guernsey shore excursions

Continued from: Guernsey (St. Peter Port)

The Regatta was the last cruise ship of the season to visit St. Peter Port when we arrived on on September 13. The town was far quieter than it had been during a call on the Silver Whisper a few weeks earlier. The fact that we had arrived on a Sunday, when few businesses other than a handful of cafés and newsagents were open, made the town seem even quieter. (It wasn't so long ago that you couldn't get a drink in Guernsey on a Sunday, and you still can't rent a video at the Blockbuster in St. Peter Port).

Still, the town wasn't totally dead: As I walked from the Regatta's tender to the seafront esplanade, I heard music from a brass band. A parade was marching along the seafront, and I followed. After a few blocks, the parade halted and the paraders (a mixture of elderly war veterans, band musicians, flag bearers, and adolescent Boy Scouts) stood at attention while they were inspected by a couple of tall, natty silver-haired gentlemen in military uniforms with sashes and medals.

I abandoned the gaggle of parade-watchers after the band played "God Save the Queen" and headed for the Guernsey Tourist Board's attractive headquarters along the waterfront. (The century-old building, constructed of Guernsey granite and adorned with flowerboxes, is the island's former Government House.) From April through October, the tourist board offers inexpensive walking tours several days a week, including a 10:30 a.m. Sunday walk in the old town immediately behind the harbor.

The town tour was a bargain at only five pounds (Guernsey or Sterling) for a fascinating stroll of nearly two hours with Judy Porter, a licensed Guernsey tour guide who led our group of about 15 foreign visitors and locals through the Sabbath-quiet streets of St. Peter Port.

Judy PorterMs. Porter told us about the town's history, the island's political status ("part of the British Isles, but not the United Kingdom"), the local two-tiered property market ("local market" for Guernsey folk, the more expensive "open market" for foreign residents) and the hardships of the German occupation during World War II (when both the locals and the occupying forces were reduced to near-starvation by the end of the war). She occasionally produced visual aids to illustrate her talk--among them, a small cannonball from the English Civil War that a friend's son had found buried in the family's garden.

Later, I walked along harbor breakwater to Castle Cornet, the massive fortress that dominates the harbor entrance. For £6.00, I was able to spend a couple of hours exploring the courtyards, parapets, gardens, and small museums within the castle's walls.

If I'd been in a mood to go farther afield, I cold have booked one of the Regatta's three-hour tours:

Guernsey Island Tour, a trip to the WWII German Occupation Museum and the German Underground Hospital, with a drive around the island by bus.

Guernsey Cliff Walk, an excursion that began with a drive to St. Martin's Point (a scenic overlook with views of neighboring islands Herm and Sark) followed by a downhill walk along high cliffs, a visit to a pottery, and a cream tea at a local hotel.

The Life of Victor Hugo, a tour of Hauteville House (where the French author lived and wrote for 15 years) and two local tourist attractions, The Little Chapel and the Candie Museums and Gardens, plus a drive along Guernsey's west coast.

TIP: A New Zealand couple aboard the Regatta told me they'd rented a Smart Cabrio and driven around the countryside. Since the speed limit for cars on the island is 35 m.p.h. (about 56 km/h, a tiny two-seater Smart convertible is perfectly adequate for a Guernsey outing--and a lot of fun, besides.

For more information about St. Peter Port and Guernsey, see:

Guernsey Tourist Board

Next page: Port of Bordeaux


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Dover-Barcelona cruise: ports and sights

Dover Cádiz
Guernsey (St. Peter Port) Málaga
Bordeaux Palma de Mallorca
Oporto (Leixoes) Barcelona
Lisbon