Guernsey: Contemplations The lush, legendary island of Guernsey, a tiny patch of land in the English Channel, was Victor Hugo’s home during his exile. For the reopening of Hauteville House, novelist Florence Noiville follows in the footsteps of this great man in his small realm. It’s a head-spinning experience. Being in Hauteville House, Victor Hugo’s legendary home on Guernsey, taking notes on the same little fold-down desk in dark wood where he wrote— standing up—such masterpieces as The Man Who Laughs and Toilers of the Sea. This special moment is made all the more delightful by the spring sun that gently warms the interior of this glassed-in room, which the poet called his “lookout”. Hugo would retreat to this spectacular rooftop perch over- looking the sea to work and reflect. What a view! It takes in the little beach of Havelet Bay, the town of Saint Peter Port and the islands of Herm, Sark and Alderney out at sea. A 360-degree panorama. With clear visibility, they say that you can even make out the coast of France in the distance. It’s easy to imagine the author of Les Misérables at this very writing desk, stroking his white beard, gazing out at the horizon and dreaming of his homeland with a heavy heart. Written in stone The writer had been forced into exile [following Napoleon Bonaparte’s coup d’état on December 2, 1851] owing to his vociferous criticism of Napoleon III, “Napoleon the Little,” whom he also called a “vile dwarf.” When he bought this house on Guernsey in 1856, with the earnings from his collection Les Contemplations, published that year, little did he know he would be staying here for 15 years. But he enthusiastically set about refurbishing it. In addition to creating new rooms (including the lookout, the studio and the conservatory), he also visited the island’s antiques dealers and bought old furniture, taking some of them apart to make new pieces; designed his own gas chan- deliers and flowery wall hangings; and combined silk and Statue de l’écrivain aux Candie Gardens. leather from Córdoba, Delft tiles and Murano glass, Oriental Statue of Victor Hugo in Candie Gardens. carpets, chinoiseries and even the sculptures in the style of garden gnomes on either side of the fireplace. Hugo left absolutely nothing to chance. Floors, walls, ceilings—every square centimeter was painted, engraved or covered in wallpaper according to his direction. He is well known as of the finest arts and crafts specialists and artisans, the place a poet, a novelist, a playwright, a draftsman and a politician, reopened a few weeks ago after a magnificent restoration, in but Hugo was also a great decorator, indeed, nearly a designer. keeping with the spirit of its illustrious owner. On this spring His house is a work in itself, a great poem in stone where each day, we discover Hauteville House’s new attire. The austere room is a verse and each floor a stanza. gray façade with its spring green door and window frames are disconcerting—that’s how they were in Hugo’s day—but you New beginnings Yet for some years this masterpiece had been could spend hours in the large red lounge, the billiard room taking in water. It was raining in the lookout. The City of Paris, and the astonishing entrance with its ceiling covered in porcelain which owns the house, set about restoring it under the supervi- plates with, in yet another imaginative touch by Hugo, a section sion of Riccardo Giordano, chief architect of Historic Monu- of wall made from the bottoms of bottles set in lacy woodwork ments, and with the support of a great Victor Hugo aficionado, to let light through. Nearby, an elderly local woman is moved. François Pinault. As a result, and thanks to the brilliance “To think I used to play near this garden when I was a child.” Hauteville House is a source of pride for the island’s residents. But this is not the only trace of the writer on this “portion Le dolmen de Dehus, tumulus entièrement recouvert d’herbe. of old Norman ground.” Not far from here, in the Candie The Dehus Dolmen, a large grass-covered tumulus. Gardens, between two camellias as tall as trees, rises a statue L’un des nombreux chemins de randonnée qui longent les falaises. of Hugo, dedicated to what he described as this “rock of hos- One of the many hiking paths along the cliffs. pitality and liberty.” Lost in thought, holding a walking stick, 117