| Towards the end of
June 1937, en route from Paris to Britain, Paul Harris stopped
for a few days in the Channel Isles. One reason for his desire
to visit the island of Guernsey, as he told Rotarians, "was by
reason of the fact that it was for a time the home of Victor
Hugo, and the place where his novel 'The Toilers of the Sea' was
written." Harris was especially interested in the work of Victor
Hugo, who had originally arrived on the island of Guernsey in
1855 and stayed there until 1870, during which time he wrote
several novels including 'Les Miserable's'. In Guernsey, Harris
made a special visit to Hauteville, the home of Victor Hugo in
St Peter Port, where the writer spent some years living in
exile. Hugo had returned to Paris after the defeat of Napoleon
the Third at Sedan but went back to Hauteville on various
occasions until his death in Paris in 1885.
 During a boat trip
to the island of Sark, Harris declared himself much impressed by
the caves and coast line. He was particularly interested in the
grotto in which the hero of Victor Hugo's novel 'Toilers of the
Sea' had the battle with the octopus. He was also delighted
when, during a visit to the "lovely home of Past President Le
Messurier (in Jersey), he was presented with original signatures
of Victor Hugo". These much treasured souvenirs were framed and
can still be seen in the Paul Harris Gallery. |
Victor Hugo
Poet & Novelist
1802-1885
 Each man should
frame life so that at some
future hour fact and his dreaming meet.
—Victor Hugo
|
