Bordeaux at low tide. (Picture by Daniel Guerin, 0583166)
I HAVE long thought that a coastal car park is a sound measure of the beauty of the view in front of it.
Nobody keeps figures as to the number of cars that, over the course of the year, are parked on our coastal promontories, but I would hazard a guess if someone did, that the two at Bordeaux and one a harbour-mouth away at La Banque Imbert, under the shadow of Vale Castle, are busier than most.
The views northward and out across the Russel towards Herm and Jethou, with Brecqhou and Sark plugging the gap, are staggeringly beautiful.
Here you get the full and spectacular visual benefit of living in the largest mass of the Bailiwick of Guernsey.
In front of your very eyes lies the sight of islands which, under a Guernsey sun, are the collective match for any around the world.
Turn your gaze left up the channel and towards Beaucette, north of the pebbled Petils Bay, and the islands become islets and the charm is no less appealing.
Omptolle and Petit Omptolle with Herm in the distance. (27282802)
The combined glories of Houmet Paradis, Omptolle and Benest, with Platte Fougere and the SW Platte and Corbette beacons momentarily splitting the fast-moving tide, make any stroll northward from Bordeaux an underrated joy.
They were sufficiently impressive to capture the imagination of Victor Hugo, whose Toilers of the Sea is the story of lonely man living opposite Houmet Paradis.
Like all good things, it has to end somewhere. And, in terms of unbroken coastal walking, that end comes just before Beaucette with the tiny but quaint little bay of Miellette.
At high tide there is but a narrow slice of sand to the left of the pebble bank, but on a quiet summer’s afternoon or evening with the tide well down, Miellette opens to a lovely, fairly secluded, sandy bay.
Just don’t go too far because, as the signs all along this part of the coast constantly remind visitors, it is a dangerous tidal stretch.
Article posted on 12th June, 2008 - 2.00pm
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