Gorey, Jersey

Can I give you some advice? Never watch two final episodes to two different series on the same day. I am a complete wreck. Both Grimm and The Vampire Diaries had their last ever season finales last night and I watched them before writing this.

Jesus Christ.

Deep breath and let's get on with some more of what we got up to in Jersey.

Our third day started the way the second did, with the hotel breakfast and a reasonably early start to pack as much in as we could.

I knew I wanted to visit a castle or two and what I didn't tell you about the day before was the afternoon, before our date night, was a bit of a failure. 

We'd originally attempted to visit Elizabeth Castle but it turned out it wasn't the right time of year and then we tried to go to the Maritime Museum as well, but it turned out that was only open on Sundays! What a palarva. So that's when we settled for the arcade.

Anyway as it was a brand new day, we thought we would try the Maritime Museum again which was thankfully open! We literally just got inside when the heavens opened and it hailed very very heavily. Lucky for us, we spent the next hour or two wandering round the museum looking at all the shells and sealife and boats.

It was quite interesting but rather expensive!

Again, as per our usual, we went back to the hotel for a quick break before heading back out again, this time to visit Mont Orgueil Castle in Gorey (the opposite side of the island - took about 20 minutes to drive to!)

I loved this castle. We drove past The Paper Fig restaurant and wove our way up and up these narrow twisting lanes to the castle on the hill above.

We got to the little hut where we had to pay for the entrance and the weather turned once more for the worst - only quick bursts of heavy rain but enough to keep us hovering inside a little bit longer.

The guy behind the desk gave us a map of the castle and challenged us to find the four hidden items on our scavenge through the castle as it had many many little hidey holes and so many tucked away crevices!

Once the rain had stopped the sun came out in all her glory and it was a beautiful day. The views were absolutely stunning and we had so much fun winding our way around all the rooms and completing our mission to find the secret items.

We were starved by the time we left though so we took a different, very windy route back to the hotel but came across this adorable little garden centre with a tearoom. The food was amazing. It was packed so it must be a good spot for a Sunday lunch.

After that we made our way back to the hotel, packed our bags ready for our departure the following day and made use of the hotel amenities one last time.

One last post to come for Jersey but that's all you're getting for now!

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The Paper Fig

So, I have some exciting news - I'm moving house! Finally.

It's into another house share but it's with less people, in an area I like and the house is beautiful.

That's why I've been so busy of late, I've been packing stuff up, taking it home, moving it into the new place, and all that jazz that comes with moving into a new place.

The next month is going to be extremely busy with multiple trips back and forth to the new place and home as I transfer all the clutter I have (I am such a hoarder!) but I will try to keep my two posts a week coming. 

I definitely still have a lot of reviews to do and a few other ideas that I've been thinking about.

For now, here is the review on The Paper Fig restaurant in Jersey, located in the town of Gorey.

As you can see in the above photo it's a very beautiful, cosy little restaurant.

Unfortunately, the evening we visited was a cold and rainy one so it was lovely to walk into such a warm ambience. 

The candles were lit, there were squashy cushions to sink into and an interesting variety of textures from the walls to the artwork, even to the mosaic bathrooms!

We were the first people in the restaurant that evening and the waiter who accommodated us was very polite and friendly.

The place slowly filled around us as we ordered.

Adeel went for the Ragout d'Agneau Croupe, a lamb rump in a truffled wild mushroom cassolette, red wine sauce and creamy mashed potatoes.

He said it was the best meal he has ever had. He even wanted to go into the kitchen to personally shake the chef's hand - he didn't, but that goes to show how much he enjoyed it!

I was torn between two but in the end decided on the Filet de Cabillaud, a fillet of cod with capers, butter sauce and crushed lemon potatoes.

It was phenomenal. The sharp lemon-y potatoes went so well with the little capers and the smooth cod. I was in heaven.

The portions were small (like in a proper posh place) but it was enough. They were rich and creamy and just beautifully presented.

We just managed to squeeze in some Jersey Dairy vanilla ice cream which was a good palette cleanser and a nice way to finish off the meal.

Seriously, such a great place and a surprisingly fantastic gem of a find, well, recommendation really, wonderful staff and a beautiful location.

If you ever, ever, get a chance to visit, please do. I can't recommend it enough.

Amazing.



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St. Brelade, Jersey

I love bank holiday weekends but they always throw me off, hence the lack of post last night...

I've literally been so busy of late that my posts are half-assed anyway which is why I tend to just post reviews.

But, I did promise more on our time in Jersey and when better to sit down and write a proper post than on a bank holiday Monday?

We'd agreed that this time round we would get up early every day so we could fit as much in as possible (when we went to Oxford it kind of all went pear-shaped cause we overslept! Which also has to do with my weird thing where I cannot for the life of me sleep in a hotel. Strange, but I managed in this one!!).

So we started our day off nice and early, down for the breakfast and then out of the hotel between 10 and 11.

Before heading for St. Brelade, we quickly ran across the road to look at the beach again - we fell in love with it.

After taking a few - hundred - snaps, we took the car and made our way to St. Brelade Bay. It was absolutely stunning. The sun was out and I don't think I've ever seen the sea that blue before. Because it was early March as well it was so quiet and peaceful.

We wandered along the beach drinking in as much of the view as possible stopping in a tourist shop to by some fudge (they are very proud of their Jersey cows so really advertise it in all possible products!)

Next we drove to a golf country club (unbeknownst to us at the time - I just thought it was a regular golf place) in which we went on the driving range (I was so so awful) before having lunch at Rocco's.

Adeel took every opportunity to have steak as possible it seemed, but I stuck with a ham and cheese toasty as we had plans for a date night dinner that evening.

Another thing we also noted on was how nice everyone was. Nobody was in any hurry to get anywhere. The fastest speed you could go was 40mph, and everyone was just so polite and conversational - it was wonderful.

I think we had a short break at the hotel after that - somewhat of a siesta if you like - before heading to an arcade. We literally played air hockey and a shooting game, Adeel won a stuffed toy on a claw machine and we left.

We had a bit of down time before getting ready for dinner. We'd asked the receptionist at the time for a recommendation and she kindly booked us a reservation with her friend's restaurant The Paper Fig.

Now, I haven't put any photos in of the restaurant or food because I want to write a full post on it. It was just perfect. And that's all I'm saying about it in this post!

After we returned from our heavenly culinary experience we dipped into the pool once more before hitting the sheets...

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