Two museums in Guernsey -- June 16 -17, 2012
We visited the Victor Hugo house museum in Saint Peter Port, Guernsey on our first morning there. It was a very interesting house and the tour guide was wonderful. We both enjoyed the tour very much.
Victor Hugo House, St. Peter Port, Guernsey
We had some time before our tour was to begin, so we visited the garden first. This is the back of the house. Hugo enjoyed the views of the sea, so used the rooms at the back of the house the most. There are a lot of rooms with views of the sea.
They allowed photos without flash in the house, so I took photos when I thought there was enough light. Some of the first rooms we visited were quite dark with very dark wood on the walls. Much of that paneling had come from antique chests that Hugo repurposed to make paneling and fireplace surrounds. In this room there were tapestries with glass beads in them that reflected the light, making it brighter than some of the other tapestried rooms.
This is a tapestry with glass beads on the ceiling. the picture isn't sideways; this is the way I took the photo looking up at the ceiling.
Hugo apparently also collected Delft tiles. This room was heavily decorated with tiles. Here he used the bottom part of a soup tureen as a wash bowl for this little sink in the corner. This room was a dining room. We had previously seen the top of the same dish used in a ceiling. Hugo did much of the planning himself for the decoration in the house.
This is a lamp above a stairway with a sky-light. Hugo also painted. He painted the sides of the opening here.
This room was redecorated by one of his sons. It is not in Hugo's style, but was a charming room.
The young woman above was our tour guide. She was very knowledgeable and gave a good tour. This small room on the 3rd floor was Hugo's bedroom.
And this is the room where he did most of his writing. He wrote standing up, looking out at the sea. This room is above the stairway. You can see the top of the skylight in the floor. And there is sort of a platform on the right, which is reflected in the mirror straight ahead. There were tables on the far right and left that pulled up to make a writing surface in front of the windows.
Well, hopefully that gives you some idea of the house. It's only a small sample of what you see inside, so you must go there for yourselves.
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The next morning, we visited the
Costume and Folk Museum at Saumarez Park.
This is the house from across the lawn. It was being used as a home for seniors, I think. Anyway it wasn't open to the public. The museum was behind the house in some old farm buildings.
The museum entrance is on the right.
This is another part of the museum. It had an interesting display of farm implements and carts.
This is the kitchen of the old farmhouse.
And this is the parlor.
Upstairs there was a school house display.
See the math problem those little children were being taught?
As you may know the Gansey or Guernsey sweater comes from Guernsey. This is an example in a display case. This design is typical of the Gansey designs. The sweaters didn't have a back and front. The fishermen could wear them either way around. The sleeves were picked up and knitted down from the shoulders, which made it easier to replace sleeves worn out at the elbow.
And here is a man wearing a Gansey sweater and working on a basket for fish.
Then there was a darling dollhouse, so I took some pictures of it too. There was some knitting on the table, here, but it looks like it didn't get into the picture.
The central stair hall.
The dining room.
I apologize for the poor quality of these pictures. I enjoyed both these museums and wanted to share them, even though the photos aren't great quality.