German Ambassador to the Court of St James, London, Herr Georg Boomgaarden, with Lt-Governor Sir Fabian Malbon at the Old Government House Hotel yesterday. (Picture by Adrian Miller, 0683728)

THE rugged beauty of the island’s coast had the German Ambassador to London waxing lyrical on his first official visit.

His Excellency Georg Boomgaarden was not only impressed with his experience of the political and cultural side of Guernsey, but he was blown away by its landscape.

‘On our tour there was a moment when the sun came from behind a black cloud and lit up the waves and the rocks. The smell and sounds of the sea made me want to stop being an ambassador and become a romantic writer,’ he said.

‘I can see why Victor Hugo chose to live here.’

Mr Boomgaarden, who was brought up in coastal towns on the North Sea and whose wife, Christiane, comes from the Baltic Sea, said he found the multicultural French and British influence in the island fascinating.

‘The influence of the Norman French history is interesting and perhaps had some effect on the excellent food we have been eating, and the connections with Britain are very special,’ he said.