FourFirths: From France to England and the White Cliffs of Dover

June 21, 2012

Today we are off to England and that much closer to returning home to Missoula. I think we are all a bit tired of living out of a suitcase as we have been doing it mostly since the 18^th of May when we had to go to England unexpectedly. It was nice to stay in this bed and breakfast last night because it was quite different. We were not given keys to our rooms, as there were no locks, just like visiting your friends and relatives. This is the Chateau Guillard.

We had a lovely breakfast in the dining area.

The owner’s girlfriend is a professional singer who just returned from a show she did in Los Angeles. She is also a chef and made the breakfast for us. She made this wonderfully fresh bread that was hot out of the oven. She also made all of the jams.

We had reserved the rooms online with a credit card. When we finished breakfast, we asked if we needed to sign the credit card receipt and she told us they don’t take credit cards… Uh Ohhhh… Did I mention that we were out in the middle of nowhere and there are no ATMs around? Also, we had been using up our Euros because we were returning to England and wouldn’t need them anymore. So, we did not have anywhere near enough Euros to pay for our room.

We didn’t have time to drive a half an hour to get any because we needed to catch our Chunnel train back to England. What to do??? You will not believe this, but she went in the other room and got and envelope and wrote her address on it and put a French stamp on it. She told us to try and find an ATM in Calais before we got on the train and then we could just send her the cash. She also said that if there weren’t any ATMs, then we could pay in British pounds and send it from England. Yep, we left without paying L

It was an hour drive up to Calais, and we were not able to find an ATM before we boarded the train. So we ended up taking the Chunnel to England, going to an ATM there and posting the payment. Whew…

Once in England we decided to take the kids to see the White Cliffs of Dover. The forecast was for rain, and it rained the entire drive through France. Somehow the weather broke for a bit for us to hike the trail along the cliffs that leads to the lighthouse. The trail begins near Dover Castle.

The hike takes about 45 minutes and the views are wonderful.

Looking down through a break in the cliffs…

Our first view of the lighthouse…

When we reached the lighthouse we went into the little tearoom and treated ourselves to some typically English scones…

While we were sitting there, we noticed that there were newspapers lying about and decided to look at them. Imagine our surprise when the first one we spotted was from 60 years ago and the headlines were the crowning of Queen Elizabeth II. We couldn’t believe that they would just put a newspaper that was that old out for everyone to handle.

The next newspaper we picked up was when the Americans landed on the moon…

Here are a few other examples…

After our treats, a closer look at the lighthouse…

Before setting off back down the trail…

Once we were back at the car, the rains began. We drove the coastal route and went in and out of little hamlets…

We stopped for lunch in Hastings, and it really started pouring for the rest of the drive to Burgiss Hill. David’s best friend from Batley Grammar School, John Donegan, lives there with his wife Becky, son Joseph, and daughter Charlotte. The last time we had seen them was when we were visiting five years ago. Surprisingly, the kids remembered each other. Danika and Charlotte…