Marx wrote to Engels on 14th August 1879 about a trip to Jersey. He travelled from Waterloo station to Southampton by train and then by boat to Jersey. The crossing wasnt ideal and neither was the food. His disdain for French holidaymakers no doubt reflected his experiences with the Paris Commune and the brutality of the French State in 1871
Our crossing from Southampton to Jersey was made altogether too watery by a tremendous downpour of rain; we arrived dripping wet at St Hélier where it was also ‘pouring’ hard. Since then the weather, after occasional vacillations and transitions and set-backs, has been very good. The farmers in Jersey thought the end of t h e world was at hand; they maintain that they’ve never had such a bad spring and summer. Tomorrow we a re moving to the Hôtel de l’Europe, St Hélier. We a re leaving our present lodgings in St Aubin’s because Tussy and I cannot stand the monotonous daily fare of lamb or MUTTON in consequence of which I have, during the past few days, become an involuntary VEGETARIAN. We could find nowhere else to stay—we spent a great deal of time hunting round—in these parts. When we arrived in Jersey, it was still comparatively empty, but as time went on there was immigration on a massive scale, notably of FRENCHIES. When we made inquiries at the Hôtel de l’Europe this morning, it so happened, fortunately for us, that 60 French people were just getting ready to leave
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