The White Cliffs of Dover to Rouen

Gayle and I were up getting ready at 5:30 this morning.  Everything we read about the ferry to Calais warned that if you are not through the check in procedure and ready to board their bus 90 minutes ahead of time you will forfeit your ticket. There are only two ferries a day for foot passengers and we wanted to be sure and get across the English Channel today. We were at the terminal ready and waiting by the time other passengers arrive.  I understand now why you have to be there 90 minutes in advance.  At 8:30 we were all jammed onto a bus (without a luggage rack).  Gayle and I stood and assumed that it would be a short bus ride to the ferry.  It wasn’t.  First we waited in a long line with all the cars, tour busses and lorries taking their vehicles across.  Then we were all told to file off to go through passport control.  We got back on the bus only to make a second stop.  Once again we filed off the bus but this time with all our luggage so we could go through security.  We got back on the bus and were driven to the ferry.  Gayle and I agreed that we are glad we are taking the Chunnel on the return trip.  Hopefully it will be a shorter process.

Foot passengers are the first ones to arrive at the ferry and we all hurried to nab the best viewing seats.  Gayle and I chose to take the ferry across the English Channel specifically because we wanted to see the White Cliffs of Dover.  We had wished for a beautiful day but it is cold, windy and cloudy.  We asked the staff person at the ferry terminal if it is always this cold in England.  She gave us an emphatic, “No!  I don’t think we get a summer in England this year.”

Gayle and I must have scored the most excellent seats on the boat because what you can’t see in this photo are all the people standing around us snapping photos over our heads.

The ferry is huge.  It has large seating areas, a food court, a store, a bar, a kids’ zone, currency exchange booth, an information desk, and a woman dressed as a fairy tale character reading books to children.  The deck above us is specifically for truck drivers.  It has food, a lounge, showers, recliners and first aid.  

I went to the information desk to ask how it works for foot passengers to disembark because we were given no instructions.  I said to the man at the desk, “I am a foot passenger.  What do I do when I get to the other side?”  He looked at me straight faced and said, “The other side of what?”  I replied, “The other side of life.”  Then we talked for the rest of journey about heaven and hell.  It was delightful.  Of course, that isn’t what happened!  The other side of what?!  Really?  The British have been so kind and welcoming to us.  I now need to prepare myself for the French!

Foot passengers may be the first people on the boat but they are the last to get off the boat.  We waited 45 minutes at the information desk to be escorted down to a waiting bus and driven to the ferry terminal.  Gayle had reserved a car with Enterprise and, in the time it took us to cross the channel, Gayle had received two phone calls from the car rental agency asking where we were.  When we got to the kiosk for Enterprise the man ran out, locked the door and ushered us to our waiting car.  He practically pushed us into the car so he could leave.  I think he had a hot date.  Gayle wanted to add me as a driver but he said, “Just call the branch office number and set it up.”  We called the number but, of course, he was already gone for the day.  

Driving a “largish” car in France is an experience.  They drive on the right as we do in the US but they have so many traffic signs that were confusing to us.  I looked up an article on their traffic signs and couldn’t believe how many there are.  My favorite was their “car share” sign.  We arrived in Rouen before 5 pm.  We are staying in an AirBnB for the next three nights. We chose this particular rental because of its location (it is 400 feet from the Cathedrale Norte Dame de Rouen), it has a an elevator, and it has a designated parking spot. The host said she would meet us at the apartment, show us around and then take us to our parking spot.  But just to meet her we needed to park somewhere.  We went around in circles trying to find a place to park a car too large for France.  Gayle expertly pulled us into a spot but we couldn’t open our car doors to get out.  We finally found a spot.

Pauline, our host, showed us around and explained the apartment with her limited English and our non-existent French.  It is a lovely place with two bedrooms and a washing machine…..the all important washing machine.  I have been waiting to wash my clothes since I got off the narrow boat in Wales.  After the tour Pauline walked with us to our parking spot and then walked in front of Gayle, directing her through a steel door and to spot #10.  We will leave our car safely parked until we take an excursion to Giverny on Monday.

We headed out pretty quickly in search of food.  The half of a tuna sandwich on the ferry was hours before.  We realized quickly that Pauline’s expert tour did not help us understand which elevator button to push to return us to the ground floor. Did we want floor 1 or ES or RC?  We tried them all before we were back at street level.

The French don’t eat dinner until quite late.  We finally found a brassiere that catered to people who like to eat at 6:30 p.m.  We had a good but unremarkable dinner and walked over to admire the Cathedrale Norte Dame de Rouen.  I had read that they have a light show on the outside of the building on Saturday nights in June.  The theme for this year’s show is “Impressionism.”  Bryan and I had seen a similar light show in Chartres years ago and I have always wanted to experience it again.  The cathedral is so, so beautiful.  I would describe it as frilly.

We headed back to our apartment then.  I took this photo of Gayle taking a photo.  Along with impressive cathedrals she also snaps photos of trees, flowers and cranes (she is a licensed contractor).  

Back in our apartment we rested in anticipation of heading out at 11 p.m. for the Cathedrale de Lumiere.  We found a spot where I could lean up agains the wall and Gayle could sit on her cane seat and not be jostled.  

The light show was called “Star and Stone…a kind of love, some say.”  Sound and light was projected from the window above our heads.  The sound included music, poetry in English and French and a bit of it was Maya Angelou speaking about rainbows in clouds.  But it was the light on the cathedral that astounded.  

I wish I could post videos on this blog but the photos are still amazing.

In a half hour the show as over and Gayle and I were headed back home when this woman came out of the door behind us.  I have no idea why or what it signified.  It was just kind of weird.

When I crawled in bed, with images of a cheetah running across a cathedral wall, the bed was rocking like I was on a ferry crossing the English Channel.