Jersey

The Cream of Jersey

07.10.2010 19 °C

Jersey cow

Thanks to this lovely gal and her lady friends we've been enjoying the rich cream and butter that made Jersey famous. Although the lush pastures of this quaint island nation are being rapidly swallowed by rampant development, you can still find 'quaint' in places; like this beautiful market hall in the capital, St. Helier ...

But, with a flat tax rate of just 20%, and only 3% GST, there's no shortage of 'foreigners' wanting to set up shop on this pretty, temperate isle close to the Normandy coast. It seems idyllic, just like its wide sandy beaches and craggy cliffs...

However, all is not rosy in this paradise. The stench of money is in the air here and if you dream of a little retirement pad on the beach - dream on. You'll need a minimum of 4 million bucks to buy a place, and at least another twenty million in the bank before the States of Jersey will even consider letting you stay. No wonder the place is full of sports celebrities and film stars. Seventy years ago, the Germans came, but Adolf's louts didn't bring cash; they brought guns - and they left them behind when they got their marchng orders in 1945. The island was turned into a concrete fortress by the Nazis and the massive fortifications are now a tourist attraction.

Today we visited the labyrinthine underground hospital tunneled by slave labourers into the heart of the island, and this is a range-finder for a giant coastal gun...