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Hilary and Jackie
At home in Romsey Saturday, June 7, 2008
Amiens, France to Romsey, England
Today we planned to cross the Chunnel into England. We had a reservation for 9:50am, but had to arrive at 9:20. By my calculation, we had about one and one-half hour drive from our hotel in Amiens.
As we checked out, I complained about the state of the hotel. It was being renovated and we felt that they should have either closed the place or at least given us a big discount. So, the desk clerk gave us free breakfast. Wow! Free cereal and hot milk.
Anyway, we walked a couple of blocks to the parking garage and got the heck out of Ameins. I think this city was location of war battles and a college. Nothing else is happening in Amiens. We were out of there. Amen!
The drive to Calais was okay but we had overcast skies and light rain. Our challenge was to determine how to fine the Chunnel entrance. Greta did not help. She wanted us to take the ferry. But we followed the signs and voila! We were there.
As we entered the security zone, Jackie started taking photos and a video. About this time a nasty
Tom & Hilary
They're smiling but trying to decide who's going to have the hammock for a nap,. French security guy came up and tried to take our camera. He made Jackie delete the pictures in front of him. So, we can’t show you anything. I think he thought Jackie looked like female terrorist. Later on we have some video in the train that will be good to see but can’t upload.
The experience was very interesting. We lined up and when ready followed a line of cars into the train. There was one door for the lower level and another for the upper. We were directed into the upper. Once up, we drove through about four or five train cars and finally stopped. Doors were closed between each train car. We were the front vehicle in ours.
After a few announcements in both French and English, the train took off. It was very smooth ride and about 15 minutes in an announcement was made that we were half-way through. He said that we were traveling at 140 km/hr or about 85mph.
Then, we emerged out into England. It wasn’t long before the unloading started and we were on our way. The entire trip was less than 30 minutes.
Of course, now in England, we were driving on
Jackie and Hilary
In the back yard on Warwick Place the left. The first 45 minutes we were on the highway which isn’t hard to do. Only, when it was time to exit did the fun begin. Fortunately, driving all those years in the Bahamas gave us an advantage. Even then, it required lots of concentration. We needed petro so I picked a stop south of London to pull over. We had to pass several traffic circles, always going around clockwise, towards the station. By the time we did this we were back in the saddle again. The only challenge we had was buying a coke. We only had Euros, no pounds sterling. So, back to the ATM for more money.
Greta did a wonderful job getting us to Peter and Hilary’s home. Pete had sent us some directions too and Greta matched his exactly. When I turned the corner on Pete’s street, I spotted his MG in the driveway. I knew we had the right place.
Hilary and Pete were our friends in the Bahamas. We had lots of fun there and couldn’t wait to see them again. It had been more than five years.
Right away, Pete set up his hammock and gave me a Sudoku puzzle to
Jackie, Hilary and Peter
We went to the New Forest National Park to see the wild horses and deer. work on. For the first time in weeks, I was relaxed. It was great. About thirty minutes later, I woke myself with a loud snore.
We had a nice lunch, then we went to see a huge nature park near their home. There are wild horses and deer all around. The park is 400 square miles! It was used by William the Conqueror for hunting during his reign.
Later we had a wonderful steak dinner. The best we have had since we arrived in Europe.
That’s it for now.
Tom & Jackie
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jjdorsey
non-member comment
nice to relax and hang with friends
sounds like a blast seeing old friends. It's neat to see how the locals live. Enjoy and write again soon. Love ya. jj