The Continent Looms

Took the 7.34AM train from York to Kingscross London thanks to Judith dropping us at the station. Said farewell to Judith and Brian the night before with a good bottle of Marlborough Pinot Noir. Sainsburys own but really Withers Hill. 9 pounds and worth it. Thanks J&B!

Trains are incredibly fast and we arrived in London around 11.00am, got the underground to Victoria and were in Dover at 2.00 ish. Caught the Ferry to Calais at 2.45 and in Calais at 4.00. A smooth crossing thanks to the ships stabilisers but really quite rough. Spray being thrown up and then suddenly changing direction to absolutely horizontal in the wind. Left UK and entered France with no customs at all.
Calais pretty bleak, but found a nice hotel and a great restaurant; Escargot followed by beef stew or Salmon and then Creme Brulee: cheeses and Coffee; With a bottle of wine the bill was about 120 dollars. And excellent service. The cheeses are to die for! lots of locals eating and drinking too.
Caught the high speed train to Lille this morning and then another to Marseille where er are now; So the length of France in 5 or 6 hours. The trains fly!
Had a small altercation on the train today with é jumped up guards. They demanded our seats for their office. We had to give them up after an arguement. One of the passengers is going to complain about them for us.

The Green of England

Firstly I apologise for the spelling mistakes over the next 2 months. We are now in France and the keyboards are subtley and devilishly different!

Forgot to mention that last Sunday , while walking to Cousins Prue and Ted's that we came across a marvellous ceremony. The Royal Engineers, who had just come back from Iraq have the freedom of the city of Ripon in North Yorks; As we got to the town square so did the Engineers complete with arms, brass band and a welcoming party of the Mayor, councillors and the Bishop and congregation. Very impressive but I was shocked at the youth of the soldiers; The closeness of the church and state was also writ large.

Later in the week Ted delivered information about the site of my uncle's grave in Milan; If you read this Ted, many thanks!

On Friday went into Manchester and got our national insurance numbers and visited an ESOL dept at The Uni College of Manchester. Could be jobs in teacher training;big emphasis on literacy and numeracy and esol seems to be lumped into that basket:. Oh Dear!

Visited Wensleydale and the old pub where we spent our honeymoon.

The richness of the green of England is almost unbelievable. 60 million people here and often in the country the only sounds are the birds and the wheat growing; The RAF is never far away and military bases and jets tend to shatter the solitude. But it's still a great place.

Spring is here!

Having said goodbye to most of you over the last week or so (thanks for coming to the Cavalier!) we said farewell to Sam and to Janice, Julie and Bill, Lindy and Gary and Christine and then.......

Arrived at Manchester Tuesday morning at 7.00am and 9 degrees. Thanks Carmel! The spring has sprung and the weather welcomed us with clear blue skies and a final temp of around 24 degrees. Caught the trans-Penine Express to York and were met by Gina's sister, Judith. Got to Copt Hewick and promptly went out for a walk and a beer with Brian and Judith. It was really like coming home.

There followed 2 days of glorious weather and visits to old villages in the Dales like Hawes which is the highest town in Yorkshire.
The narrow lanes and streets of this town typical of the area. What is most outstanding is the pleasant, helpful nature of the Northeners. Had a wonderful lunch at a cheese factory. Deep fried Wenselydale feta, with local chutney and salad. Simple.
Went to another pub the next day and couldn't get a drink because the bar staff were playing cricket.

At 9.30am on Friday went to a local phone shop in Ripon to pick up a new Sim card. The shop was closed and as we knocked on the door a bloke came past and said, "She's always late opening up. Come back at 10.00." All without eye contact or a break in his step.

The early dawn chorus is much more strident than at home and starts about 4.00am when light comes. Dark returns at about 9.30.
Today (Sat) the mist has come down and the drizel has started. May be a frost tonight they say. Walked to a local pub and had a Theakstons and a Guinness. Ran into a wedding party intent on getting blotto before the wedding.

We have delayed our departure for Greece until next weekend so that our British Credit Cards come through before we go. Still plenty of time to be there by 1st June and it means we will have more time after the course for travel.

I'm on dinner and a risotto is in the offing. With 2 bottles of Aussie red.
Will not post many pix on this blog as it slows down the loading time, but will put some up on photobucket.com and will let you know when.

Cheers
John & Gina