La Belle Jour

Islands wax and wane, appear and disappear; a temporary relief from the ubiquity of blue. A continental European oddity, Jersey's pristine blue seas and quaintly British, going on French culture, allows one to step across the 26 miles that separate the UK and France; continental Europe.

As a British man, cultural although I may be, I can't help having my preconceptions, perceptions and comprehensions limited by a rather ferocious and inclement sea that is, literally, all around me.... A sea-faring Nation, us Brits are the champions of cultural stasis, conservative and emotionally-muted; somewhat OCD and over-analytical, a little bit anal, we should have continued the 1960's revolution well into the 21st Century to align ourselves more with the sophisticated Gauls and demonstrative Latin-folk.

I write as Brexit threatens to alter societal vagueries, but not the status quo, not a European recherche, historical, intellectual perspective, nor will it alter our very British love of the continent, nor our fierce defence of our islands and our eccentric, emotionally reserved British existence. Somehow Jersey and its quaint sister islands allow us to reflect on on la difference and, entrez-nous our deep-seated similarities.


Photo; St. Aubin's Bay, Jersey 2017.
Photograph and words copyright "all rights reserved" Simon Harris.
:-) Simon