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Dover to Calais
Entry 4 of 6 | show all | print this entry |
Day 3
Wake early this morning and board the coach to Canterbury, where we have a brief stop to explore the Cathedral and grounds. The walk to the town is most interesting as we find ourselves walking along the top of a wall that seems to be the remnants of an ancient town fortress or something. The town itself is very cute, with lots of outdoor vendors offering the loveliest things. There are pastries and fresh bread, candies and cakes. I am having a serious cheese craving by this time, but I guess most people don't sell cheese in outdoor markets. Tell that to the folks in Wisconsin.
The Cathedral is quite awesome, as cathedrals go. I guess it's difficult to be impressed after visiting St. Paul's, though. Still, there are some impressive historical figures entombed here, but I can't remember who they are right now... I am lame. The Cathedral's history goes back to 597AD when St Augustine, sent by Pope Gregory the Great as a missionary, established his seat (or 'Cathedra') in Canterbury. In 1170 Archbishop Thomas Becket was murdered in the Cathedral and ever since, the Cathedral has attracted thousands of pilgrims, as told famously in Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. For more history, check this out: http://www.canterbury-cathedral.org/history/history.aspx
I have just enough time for a brief look in the gift shop where I find a very nifty bracelet which I have not taken off since. The woman behind the counter is terribly slow. She is very polite and makes me giggle when she calls the manager in to check something that a young man did behind the counter who is apparently either a trainee or retarded because the woman asks the manager to check this transaction "without being rude to Simon," she said, which I found really interesting. Simon did look a little wonky.
We are waiting for part of the group who is WAY late, so Matthias suggests we start back to the coach and they will catch up. We work our way back through the town, wanting very much to explore the myriad shops and stands. I stop and grab some fresh bread covered in seeds at one of the stands. Delicioso!
We work our way back and are confused that we are the only ones on the path. We are hoping that the others did not get lost or mixed up. By the time we get back to the coach, everyone is waiting for us! We never saw anyone pass us, so we are very confused, but I suppose that will just remain a mystery.
Another hour or so on the coach and we are viewing the white cliffs of Dover. I imagine they would be more impressive if we were not seeing them from the perspective of the industrial section of town, but they are pretty cool. The castle on the hill is nifty as well.
While waiting for the ferry, we rub elbows with another EF tour group that is basically doing the same tour we are. We ride the ferry to Calais with them. There is some weirdness about getting a cart upon which to place our luggage. It gets sorted out in the end and the ferry trip is relatively uneventful as we work our way across the English Channel.
The ferry takes about 2 hours and our French coach driver is waiting fo us when we arrive. His name is Eddy, and despite being a little greasy looking, he is quite personable. The ride to Paris takes about 4 hours, so we stop along the way for a snack/ bathroom break. I am seriously craving dairy products after several days of carbohydrate breakfasts, so I get some kiwi yogurt, a bag of "baby bells" and some other cheese thing. There is no spoon available for the yogurt, so I go into a restaurant and snag a little metal one. I was desperate, ok! I sit out on the grass and eat my dairy feast.
As we arrive in Paris, through the insect-flecked windshield of the coach, the Eiffel Tower rises above all other monuments of Paris, welcoming us to the city of light. We drive directly to our dinner before checking into the hotel.
Afterwards we go the hotel in La Defense, which is essentially a town connected to Paris that has been built for the purpose of trade. There are skyscrapers and hotels and that's about it. We are hoping to check in quickly, drop our bags in our rooms, then run back out to Montemartre to see the Basilica of the Sacre Coeur, and the twinkling lights of the Eiffel Tower. The check in takes forever, however, as the people behind the front desk do not clearly tell us how many people fit in a room and so the rooming arrangement we carefully planned has to be totally redone, and then it turns out that we had done it perfectly the first time, which we would have figured out had the people behind the desk had their heads out of their southern anatomy.
Unfortunately, that takes so long that we can not get up to Montemartre quickly enough to see the twinkling. Eddy drops us off lower on the hill than we expected, so we have to climb the hill to get to the basilica and the shops. It is unfortunate, because many of the older folks would not have gone had they known it was going to be such a strenuous walk, and I don't blame them. Curse the stupid hotel people! On top of the time issue, there is a HUGE solstice celebration going on on the hill, so the crowds are insane. There is no way Eddy could have gotten the coach up that hill if he wanted to. The streets are packed with people and some of the girls and I race up the hill and through the mad crowds to try to get to the lookout in time to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle. There are live bands playing and so many people to dodge through that I am little nervous about losing the rest of the group. My fear proves to be unfounded, however, as Matthias stands on a cement pillar to gather everyone together despite the swarming crowds. The basilica is closed due to the celebration, but it's no big deal. I remember that the inside is cool, but nothing too amazing. It's really the outside that is so gorgeous anyway.
After the insane, sweaty, crowd chaos, we work our way back down the hill to meet Eddy. He is right on time and winds us skillfully through the crazy streets back to La Defense and our much needed beds.
Latest Comments (2)
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MISS YOU SO MUCH (reply)
Jul 5, 2008 15:51 EST by theatreguru
Tanya I am SO not surprised that you are off to Europe YET AGAIN this summer! Wow, you always get to do the very best things. How jealous I am of you. School is going so well and I can't wait to get back there. I am now in Washington with my parents because they moved in January to a little town outside of Seattle. Speaking of which, I LOVE Seattle.
Well my dear, I feel as though you shou... show all
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