Beaufort House Dover

... by 2 days...and as we arrived early, we managed to get onto the 7am ferry, which ended up leaving at about 9:45. This was no problem however, as the sign up time for the start of the rally wasn't until the evening, meaning we had all day to find our hotel and do a little exploring.

After getting off the ferry, we proceeded to get lost in Calais...on unfamiliar looking roads...driving on the right...
Fortunately we found a map and somehow found ...

... all our technology and man made world. They had created somewhat of a car park and garden. It is much easier if you look at the pictures then if I explain but I found it to be a fun art piece that was both thought provoking and easy to understand at the same time.

A nice little French town like all the rest. I'm starting to forget which town was which. Thank God for pictures and blogging or I would never remember!

... but after being unable to find a place to sleep in Boulogne or the internet we made our way once again back to Calais. This time we grabbed some food at a little seafood restaurant and then when we were out of ideas we went back to the campsite for another night. We were dirty but at least we had a place to sleep!
Calais gave us food and a place to stay so what else could we ask for!

... 9 Oct:
Take Train – Bareilly Express to Abu Road
Departs 15:40. Arrives 23:41
Take cab to Mt Abu – 27kms
Night in Mt Abu

Sat 10 Oct:
Visit Mt Abu
Mid afternoon take RSTC bus to Udaipur – 4 hours
Visit Udaipur
Night stay in Udaipur

Sun 11 Oct:
Leave for Jaisalmer via jodhpur
Night stay in Jaisalmer

Mon 12 Oct:
Visit Jaisalmer
Night stay in Jaisalmer

Tue 13 Oct:
Visit ...

We set off to France today for a new period in our life in Europe.
Work still chugs on, but with only 12 shifts in 42, we have plenty of time to ourselves.
We decided those "spare" 30 days should be spent in Europe.

I'll skip over the months of research and prep work and bring us up to today where we are now on the 4pm ferry instead of the 2pm ...

... We found a great Fish and Chips place for lunch and then walked up to Dover Castle. Not an easy walk. We decided not to go into the castle but had a look around and then headed back into Dover. Annie and I went Shopping and Madeline, Elvis and Eli went back to the hotel. that night we had dinner in the hotel, good food, and took another, very long walk along the board walk. we called it a night about 10:00pm..

... get a little cooler as the clouds moved toward the town. We decided that it was a good time to return to the shelter of the White Lady in case there was a rain. So back the path that we came into town, we returned. Back to the old cruise terminal and the White Lady that was there waiting for us. Today marked a special day for us as we reached the Elite status on Princess Cruise Lines' Capitan Circle. It is a milestone for Princess Cruisers and has a lot of special benefits for ...

... telephone, drinks in the bar. I wouldn't describe this hotel as terribly refined though. I have seen the word "want" used in the literature in the room (instead of "would like"). There is a laminated piece of A4 headed notepaper with some blurb on it, introduced by "Dear Guest". The modern art painting in pastel shades, and the chocolate and beige tones of the furnishings, are tasteful though.

Ok, Dover it will be today! No wind, nothing, not even a little breeze...for me, I admit, some relief. This will be an easy trip, I will rest a little. Very strange though, the water is like oil, not even a little shiver. Frank cuts the engin for a while, strange, spooky, no sound nothing, and this, surrounded by this still water! We can see the sun reflected on the plancton 2m below the surface.
I enjoy, this feels like holidays! We follow the coast a little until we ...

... the terrible cramped conditions they worked and existed in - another reminder to me of just how lucky we are. One thing that made me smile though was the history they gave about the WRNS (Women's Royal Naval Service) - it told of the regular "knicker inspections"!!!! Yes you read that right - they were regularly called to line - particularly if they were leaving site for a knicker inspection - only regulation knickers were ...