The crossing

I wanted to cross the English Channel and see the white cliffs of Dover and I did. We took a bus from London to Dover and visited almost the whole way with a talkative Englishman. I asked how he liked the nationalized health care in the UK and he said he, and everyone he knows, loves it. He was glad to pay the taxes to support it and felt the care he received was timely and topnotch. He really could not understand our position in the US as the last first world country to not provide this to the populace. It was an interesting conversation.
In Dover we boarded a ferry and took the one and a half hour journey across the thirty nine miles to France. The water was beautiful, so blue, and the cliffs were striking .







Calais was prettier than I thought it would be with a wide white beach and a quaint town center.





We walked out on the beach though it was a bit cold and windy. Everywhere there were little huts that I suppose people use when they come to the beach.



We drove on in our rental car through the rain,seeing many sites where the evidence of WWII. was still very visible.

Location:Dover to Calais

The Earl's Court

I know it may be hard to believe but this is the only picture I took of the hostel where we stayed in London. We lamented the fact that we did not take our picture out in front but we just forgot! That's how stimulating London is! It is so atmospheric though my pictures fail to capture it. This window is looking out from the front lounge where a lot of people gathered. I really enjoyed meeting all the folks there. There were plenty of people who did not fall into the category of "youth". One lady we met was 76. Another guy was in his 60's and a big rugby fan. He drove a taxi in Sydney, Australia when he wasn't traveling. I hope to run across more places like this, but Versailles only has one hostel and it is not near the city center. Madrid hostels seem pretty oriented to the partyiers of which I am not one. Earl's Court Hostel is in a gorgeous leafy neighborhood that is one street off all the shops and subway. They told us Madonna lived up the street. Could that be true?


The nearby tube station. Mind the gap!



M. and I both wanted to see the Tate Modern Museum which we had heard so much about. We were underwhelmed. Here is a pic of one of the object d'art. Seriously. What is this about?


And this? Rocks on a stick?


It was overcast and rainy but we persevered and walked around the neighborhood. Globe theater and colorful spots and the Thames made it all worthwhile.










As it turns out, the queen was out of town and so her palace was open for public tours. Pretty awesome!
Sorry no pictures inside, so you will have to take my word for it that we saw about 19 state rooms, the royal collection of fabrege items, as well as Kate's wedding dress. We were allowed to take pictures of the royal carriages.


Backyard of Buckingham Palace


The horses and riders are fake FYI





Completely carved of wood and weighs two tons. They have to take down a wall to get it out.



Lastly we had a lovely picnic in the St. James park.



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Location:Londontown

Le Cheval Rouge hotel

The Cheval Rouge (red horse) hotel is a nice quiet, safe little spot tucked away in a corner of one of the main squares. We found it thanks to Rick Steves' book. It is a former stable and carriage house and is probably pretty old. Margaret and I stayed in one of the larger rooms and now that she has gone home : ( I decided to stay on here for a few days.
Our room looked like this



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Now I have a smaller less expensive room for one person. Here is my video tour.



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Location:Versailles

Le food

The food in France is one of the main attractions. We have been eating a lot of grocery store food to save some euro. Here you see our latest repast which we purchased at the neighborhood Monoprix yesterday. I had a lovely salad with dried ham and goat cheese while Margaret had a pasta salad with basil. We shared a delightful caprese salad and a baguette with cheese they sliced from a big round for us. Tres Bon!


Last night we ate at a crepe place. Here is a picture of the dessert crepe. If you look carefully you may see the flaming rum on it!



Here I am enjoying an omelet at the harbor in Honfleur . M. Had the mussels which many people were ordering.



We have had many a picnic in France.



Among the best desserts was the creme brûlée with mint.



Finally, I have to include our English Pub Grub we ate in London . It in included steak and kidney pie, steak and ale pie, and Shepard's pie as well as fish and chips (fries) and some ale of course. The green stuff is mushy peas which I happen to like. Yes there are only two pies visible because we ate one before we thought of taking a picture!

Location:France

Mont St Michel

It was kind of an overcast, misty day when we went to Mont St Michel. It has been a mystical place of pilgrimage for about a thousand years and is pretty amazing. The tides were out the whole time we were there so we did not see it come racing in "at the speed of a galloping horse".


You had to climb up some small winding streets and then up an unbelievable number of stairs to reach the top where the view of the tidal flats was awesome.





Those little dots are people walking are around looking at what I do not know!



Margaret and I look happy but we were about to pass out from all the steps.

Up near the top was a cemetery for the monks who still live there. W toured the ancient Abby and of course saw some churches and chapels.



By the time we left through the draw bridge most of the tourist were thinning out and it was a very wonderful experience. A holy place for sure, it was built after a monk was directed by the angel micheal to build it. It is amazing it could have survived so long through all the wars etc.

Location:France

Chateau Cheverny

We visited a chateau that is still inhabited by the same family since the 1600's. It has a lot of the original furnishings which made it interesting.






The most unusual thing about this place was the fact that it had a working kennel with about 100 hunting hounds which you could visit. There were signs everywhere which said "please don't excite the hounds" Of course the hounds were very excitable and barked like crazy at just everybody! The guy in this vid who comes in with a whip around his neck is the trainer/keeper. All I can say is I feel sorry for the foxes when these guys finally get out for a run. by the way they had a bigger area to their pen than you can see in this video.

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Location:France

Chenonceau Chateau

Here is the chateau we visited yesterday. It is the third most visited chateau after Versailles and Fontainebleau and with good reason. Somehow it made it through the French revolution and WWII without being destroyed. Originally it was a gift from the king to his mistress but after the king died the wife took it over.



We visited the rooms of the castle and viewed the gardens.



One really awesome room was the gallery that was built on the bridge that spans the river Cher. They had some great parties there I am sure.


Here are a couple of pictures of the rooms. Tapestries were everywhere as well as many other object d'art.

Location:Chenonceaux France

Chateau de Chaumont

The chateau Chaumont is a lovely place right on the River Loire with a stunning view. You pretty much have to have a car to get here. We were lucky to be here on a nice sunny day when the "festival of flowers" was being held in the gardens. It was a collection of about twenty gardens displays around the theme of conservation.







This was a display of compost bins. The mushroom caps were made of aluminum mesh.







The chateau had a wooden drawbridge and the oldest parts dated back to the 1200's. It was pretty impressive!






I liked the porcupine with a crown which was above the fireplace. Not sure what it signified.












The view of the Loire valley was just so lovely as were the gardens.

Location:France