Correspondances comme un roman Reflet d’un vitrail sur le sol pavé de la Little Chapel. Sur la grève de Saint Peter Port, principale cité de l’île. Stained glass reflected on the floor of the Little Chapel. On the seafront at Saint Peter Port, the main town on the island. his cape billowing in the wind, Hugo the Romantic seems pen can be found: a chasm here, a haunted house there, a former to be striding forward, as if on one of the long walks he used smugglers’ place and a tiny island on the west coast, near Portin- to take with his beloved Juliette Drouet. fer, that Hugo bought one day from one of his Guernsey friends. The writer had, naturally, arranged for his family, as well as his (Its exact location is unknown, but we do know from Hugo that mistress, to follow him into exile. Juliette lived on the same it could be reached at low tide and that he made bouquets there street, a few houses down. Madame Hugo, who was often off of “twenty-one different particularly fragrant flowers.”) traveling, turned a blind eye. In the afternoon, Juliette and Victor would set off on one of their favorite walks. Following Vows over time Another inspiring place was the astonishing the granite cliffs that drop down into the Channel, they walked Dehus Dolmen, discovered shortly before the writer arrived on the to Fermain Bay, a delightful little pebble beach protected by island. The ancient burial chamber of a Celtic chief, this archaeo- an 18th-century tower. They enjoyed the “harsh and gentle” logical site fascinated this man who loved “dark enigmas.” Today, nature, the stunning undergrowth strewn with the pale blue of the large grass-covered tumulus is hard to find from the road. wild hyacinths. The charm is today heightened by Fermain Inside, its huge chamber, surrounded by enormous upright stone Bay’s famous Beach Café, one of the best on the island, a must- slabs and with a small menhir in the center, is thrilling. Finally, it visit walking destination for lovers of literature—and also wouldn’t be possible to end this Anglo-Norman trip without tak- of carrot cake and strawberry cheesecake. ing a quick look at Victoria Tower, built in 1848 for the visit of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. One day, like two teenage lov- Inspirations, apparitions Continuing a bit farther south ers, Victor Hugo and Juliette carved their initials inside. And right along the coast, you come to Moulin Huet Bay. It’s surprising at the top, Hugo wrote the first verses of his “Song of the Birds”: how many French names survive on Guernsey, which has been “Life! O joy! Deep woods, a British possession for such a long time. Even today, there are We are alive. places named Vue de Rêve, La Folie des Doux and RuetteEndless flight entreats us; Tranquille. As for Moulin Huet, it recalls the existence of a water Let us float upon the air, o’er the water! mill that still existed in Hugo’s time. It was at this spot, which Birds also inspired Renoir to paint some very beautiful canvases, that Are made of soul-dust.” the poet particularly liked to swim and picnic with his friends. From: Hugo, Victor. God and The End of Satan / Dieu and La Fin de Satan (p. 315). In his journal entry for August 15, 1860, he wrote: “We lost a Swan Isle Press. Kindle Edition. silver fork from our silverware at the Moulin Huet picnic.” And a few lines further on: “the fork was found . . .” Step by step, you can go right around the island—on foot or by bike, hopping The Little Chapel, minuscule sanctuaire édifié au début from bay to bay and from rock to rock, following in the great du XX siècle, en galets, coquillages et morceaux de porcelaine.e The Little Chapel , a tiny shrine built in the early 20th century man’s footsteps. There are numerous places where the trace of his out of pebbles, seashells and fragments of broken china. 118