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sbisson at 11:37am on 27/07/2002
sbisson at 11:37am on 27/07/2002I love beaches, those dramatic spaces where air, land and water meet. And, drawn like a moth to the coast, I've been on many: the pink coral sands of Bermuda, the wide expanses of the French Atlantic coast near Bordeaux, little coves of crystal water on the Croatian Adriatic coast, the sculpted shores of the south coast of Hong Kong, the flint banks of Shingle Street, the black sands of a collapsed volcano on Lanzarote, and the wide open skies of a winter's afternoon at Reculver.
But there's one spot I really love, one beach I could sit on for hours, a beach I grew up with.
Jersey isn't a big island, and my grandparents lived just on the south-east corner of the island, at La Rocque. It's a lovely area, with pink granite houses and a small harbour still used by inshore fishermen. While most people tend to stop at the big beach, sheltered from westerly winds by the granite harbour wall, those in the know walk down the harbour, to a set of steps by a plaque commemorating the attempted invasion of Jersey by the French in 1781.
The steps go over the top the harbour wall, dropping you down to one of the quietest and most pleasant beaches you will ever find. Soft white sand billows around pink granite outcrops. The beach shelves gently down to the sea, azure blue like only a summer Jersey sea. When the tide is in, there's a small island in the middle of the cove, sea pinks nodding on its grassy summit. When the tide is out rock pools run all the way to the horizon, a mile or more beyond the coast.
It's an ideal beach for children, gentle seas, soft sands, rocks to climb and rock pools to explore. It's also a pleasant place for adults, quiet and calm, just the lap of gentle waves on the shore, and the ripple of children's laughter.
Last weekend, back on Jersey,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
marypcb and I spent an afternoon on that beach. And it was just as I remembered it.
The harbour wall and the beach
The island in the middle of the beach at high tide
The martello tower watching over the beach
Pink granite and blue sea
Looking west to Green Island, past Le Hocq
But there's one spot I really love, one beach I could sit on for hours, a beach I grew up with.
Jersey isn't a big island, and my grandparents lived just on the south-east corner of the island, at La Rocque. It's a lovely area, with pink granite houses and a small harbour still used by inshore fishermen. While most people tend to stop at the big beach, sheltered from westerly winds by the granite harbour wall, those in the know walk down the harbour, to a set of steps by a plaque commemorating the attempted invasion of Jersey by the French in 1781.
The steps go over the top the harbour wall, dropping you down to one of the quietest and most pleasant beaches you will ever find. Soft white sand billows around pink granite outcrops. The beach shelves gently down to the sea, azure blue like only a summer Jersey sea. When the tide is in, there's a small island in the middle of the cove, sea pinks nodding on its grassy summit. When the tide is out rock pools run all the way to the horizon, a mile or more beyond the coast.
It's an ideal beach for children, gentle seas, soft sands, rocks to climb and rock pools to explore. It's also a pleasant place for adults, quiet and calm, just the lap of gentle waves on the shore, and the ripple of children's laughter.
Last weekend, back on Jersey,
marypcb and I spent an afternoon on that beach. And it was just as I remembered it.The harbour wall and the beach
The island in the middle of the beach at high tide
The martello tower watching over the beach
Pink granite and blue sea
Looking west to Green Island, past Le Hocq
happy
(no subject)
I can't though. Not all of 'em.
sigh
Swoon!
Since you shared your favorite beaches with me, I would like to do the same when you two come out and visit. We need to make plans SOON about when you're planning to hang with me, so I can allocate time and make sure I'll be in town. Plus, then I'll even clean my house. Smile.
Re: Swoon!
we're flying over on the 24th and spending a night or two with Rick in SF, then stopping with Rowan&Russell during ConJose and we fly back on the 7th, so seeing/staying with you after the con would be ideal for us (we haven't quite pinned down Wednesday the 28th either as I think Rowan is still in Rio then and Rick has other folks arriving).
Re: Swoon!
Well, hrrrmmmm.... That might not work out best for me. I was actually hoping to be gone from the 2nd or 3rd thru the 14th. For some reason I thought you wanted a crash space before the con. So if you could switch things around that would be better for me. You are very welcome to stay with me anytime 8/25-8/30, and I would have plenty of time to play tour guide.
But we can email or chat and figure it all out. I havent bought a ticket yet, and I definitely want to show y'all around and hang out. I also want to take some time between my school quarters to go away, and was hoping to visit tanais since he couldnt make it out here.
lets talk soon. I'm so looking forward to seeing you. I'm sure we can work this all out, no worries.
Re: Swoon!
What we call warm enough to swim is anything over about 25 degrees air temperature and I'd say it was pretty near that when I was over before, but I'm told it was a cool spring day! So far this week it's been 28-33 (too hot!) although it's cooler and windier today. I'm hoping to at least paddle in the Pacific; I only got my toes wet before to prove i was there.