Fotos

The cruise on which I was giving lectures was the Crystal Symphony, anchored about half-a-kilometer from St. Peter Port on the Guernsey Island. Indeed, it was low tide and made sense to take a local tender into the port. There in dock was the Victor Hugo, a catamaran that makes round-trip crossings from Normandy, just an hour away.

The picturesque Island of Guernsey, although geographically closer to France, has been staunchly British through the ages. Its diverse culture, however, reflects the best of both countries. Pastel-colored houses rise layer upon layer behind St. Peter Port, the island's picturesque main town, where goldsmiths, silversmiths, wood carvers and clockmakers feature their ware.

A favorite son of Guernsey, Victor Hugo, French author and poet, spent 15 years in exile in St. Peter Port. It was there that he wrote his masterpiece, "Les Misérables" (1862). Although he is known to the world as a surpassing writer, he prided himself more with his passion for interior and landscape design, embodied in his home, Hauteville House. Although he is one of my favorite authors, I will not augment this post with an excerpt from Victor Hugo's novel, Les Misérables. Rather here is a three-minute piece from the musical in which 17 Different Jean Valjeans take the stage to sing "Do you hear the people sing? If you have a few minutes to listen, I believe this will be a magnificent experience for you. They sing in English, French, Swedish, Hungarian, German, Japanese, Polish, Dutch, Norwegian, Czech, Danish, Icelandic... a virtual Olympic Games of Lés Misérables.

In an accompanying workshop, I am posting a photo of the front gate of the home. For the main photo on Trekearth, we are not allowed to show friends or family, but in the workshop, where I present an image of the front entrance, my wife managed "to get" in the way, so to speak. Finally, I would like to dedicate this photo to my good friend, Malgorzata Kopczynska, one of the most talented photographer-physicists I know.