Author: lebrun.g@clicetcom.fr

In Guernsey during 2014 there was a special celebration to mark 100 years since the statue of Victor Hugo was first unveiled. The island hosted a delegation of guests from France included the Conseil Générale of La Manche, the Vice-President of Normandy, a representative of the French Embassy in London, as well as descendants of Victor Hugo’s family. Chief Minister, Deputy Jonathan Le Tocq, said : “Our links with our neighbours in Normandy and France are undergoing a period of renewal, not least through the establishment of the Bureau des Iles Anglo-Normandes. Our long relationship with France is not just political or economic – it is also cultural and linguistic, and Victor Hugo is an important symbol of that. The great poet wrote ‘La réalité, c’est l’âme [The soul is our reality]’ and his statue reminds us that a large part of Victor Hugo’s souls found a home in Paris.”

On 6 December, Jersey’s Connétable of St Helier, Simon Crowcroft, attended the salon Nautic in Paris to attend the launch the Tour des ports de la Manche offered by Jean François LeGrand, President of La Manche. The event was also attended by representatives from the general council of La Manche and the Granville yacht club. The Tour, which is taking place for the 31st time, will depart from Barneville-Carteret on 5 July 2015, call into Jersey, then Guernsey, before departing Granville, Dielette, Cherbourg-Octeville and ending at St Vaast-La Hougue on 10 July.

On 18 November the Chief Minister of Guernsey, Deputy Jonathan Le Tocq, and Jersey’s Minister for External Relations, Senator Sir Philip Bailhache, met with the French Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Her Excellency Sylvie Bermann, at the French Embassy in London. Among the topics under discussion were the Channel Islands’ close links with France and the importance of maintaining this cooperative, mutually beneficial relationship.