As the steps we had to take to get ourselves to England continue from France to England, we have repeated the first three here in red to make better sense. 

April 23rd, 2024

Today we had many steps that all had to go well.

1. The Uber: The driver showed up a bit early which just meant we were at the train station even earlier than needed.

2. The First Train – Chalons to Paris: The train arrived a couple of minutes early which was great as we had to get all six bags (not including our backpacks) on to the train.

           They are all heavy so it was one at a time up the three steps.

3. The Second Train: We arrived at Paris East station on time and had to walk over to the Paris North station to catch the Eurostar to London. We’d read the shortest route was up a long set of stairs which we were prepared to do (one bag at a time) but there was an elevator.
   • We had to “check/register” a bag each as you are only along two onboard so our first stop was the ticket office to purchase a ticket for each bag. They cost €60 each but it was the only way to go.  After you buy the ticket you have to take it to a baggage office to drop it off and get a receipt – that was only long walk with all six bags and our backpacks.  Registering the bags probably took ten minutes and then we had to walk all the way back to the ticket office as the check was located next door.  But first we stopped to get a sandwich and a drink.
   • We then walked passed the ticket office to check in. First your passport needs to be validated and your photo is taken.  Then you get stamped out of the EU at the next desk.  Then it was to security to xray the bags.
   • Now we walked to the London Hall and waited. We were very early but we knew we would.  The website said arrive 90 minutes early if you’re registering bags and the email from EuroStar said 120; we were 150 or so minutes before our departure.   We made the train no problem, got the four bags we were allowed on board, sat down and enjoyed the rest until it was time to board.  The train left on time.

As we’ve already been to England on this trip, there will be no info blurb.

The EuroStar train from Paris North takes about 2 hours and 20 minutes to reach London St. Pancras station.

Onboard the train is information screens and periodically they show the speed we are travelling at – once it was 293 kmph / 182 mph – we think that’s the fastest we’ve ever travelled on land.

This will be our first time going through the “Chunnel”.

The Channel Tunnel, sometimes referred to informally as the Chunnel,  is a 50.46km / 31.35 mi undersea railway tunnel, opened in 1994, that connects Folkstone, Kent, England) with Coquelles, Pas de Calais, France) beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. It is the only fixed link between the UK and the European mainland. At its lowest point, it is 75 m / 246‘ below the sea bed and 115 m / 377’ below sea level. At 37.9 km / 23.5 mi, it has the longest underwater section of any tunnel in the world and is the 3^rd longest railway tunnel in the world.  . The speed limit for trains through the tunnel is 160 kmph / 99 mph. 

And just like that, we’re in London, England!

4. Getting the “registered” bags from the Train: Well this proved way simpler than dropping them on in Paris; we walked to the end of the platform before the exit, and waited about 1 minute before a nice fellow pulled up towing a wheeled basket with only our two bags! He helped us get them out and directed us to the exit.

5. Staying connected: We thought we’d need new SIM cards for our phones and had been told there were shops in the train station but saw none.  After further investigation, turns out our SFR SIMS work in the UK despite many other European SIM cards no longer allowing free roaming since Brexit – BONUS!

6. Catching the Metro to London Heathrow: This part took way longer than it should have but after asking a few people and even have one take us to the wrong lift, we found the Piccadilly line with all our bags and got on the subway. Luckily the car was not very full; it even had a space dedicated to luggage so that was super easy.  Payment was even easier; you just tap your credit card on entry at the turn styles, and the system checks you in; when you get off at your desired station, you tap again and it charges the card for the distance travelled.  Easy, peasy!

7. Finding and catching the shuttle to the car rental lot: We got off at Heathrow Terminal Two, walked for about two minutes; took another lift and found the bus stop with the rental car shuttle bus. We were the only ones onboard and the driver helped with our bags and got us a luggage cart when we got off at the office.

8. Getting the car: Europa Car Rentals was efficient and had a few counters open. We were served right away and despite a bit of a hard sell to upgrade the fact that they actually brought the car right around to the front door was much appreciated.  We got a SEAT Arona hatchback that had lots of room for our many bags.

The car has a working navigation system with a large screen and instructions right on the dashboard for the driver.  It even says “please” when it gives directions!

9. Driving to our friends, Neels and Hille’s: This was a bit frustrating just due to the volume of traffic; after all it was 5pm and rush hour but we made it.

Considering all the steps that we had to go through, and how little went awry, we were very happy.  It was an exhausting and stressful day but it could have been so much worse.

Currency today:  GBP – $1.25 USD and $1.71 CAD

Gas price (our rental takes gas not diesel):  £1.45 a litre – about $7.02 USD a gallon (unlike France, gas is cheaper than diesel in England).

We had a lovely homemade Indian meal complete with wine/beer and a lovely time chatting with Neels and Hille that evening.  We were quite tired after our stressful day (that turned our all well in the end) and went to bed about 9:30 which for us was 10:30 as we’d gain an hour coming into the UK.

We both didn’t sleep well despite the quiet and the comfy beds; we were just too exhausted we think.  We were awake at six, showered, repacked and Doug put four of our bags in the garage – of Neels’ house.  It’s so kind of them to do this for us.  We will travel for the next two weeks with just one carry-on bag and a backpack each.

We left their house after tea, around 9am and ran into Neels on his way back to the house.  He and Hille take care of their grandchildren on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and he often comes home for part of the day.  We arranged to return on the 6^th and spend the night and the next day for a longer visit, one last repack and then we’ll stay the night before our flights near the airport.  We also did a small Amazon shop being delivered to them while we are away.

The weather is not much better here in England; grey with infrequent on and off sprinkles and barely reaching 10C / 50F so we found it cold and damp!  Will we ever warm up?

Today, we had plans to meet some overlanders we’d met back in 2015 in Baja, Mexico (and have not seen each other since but have kept in touch mostly through FB and Messenger) for lunch in Worthing on the coast.  They are there assisting his parents with a number of things and have been there for a while.  But enroute we had a stop to make to do a short hike on a piece of the Roman Road and see a historic windmill.

This was located near the village of Halnaker and it was a about a kilometre walk.  The Roman Road was in a tunneled section of the trail and to be honest, really showed no signs it was actually that, but who are we so say?

Halnaker Mill was first mentioned in 1540 as belonging to the manor of “Halfnaked”. It was built for the Duke of Richmond as the feudal mill of the Goodwood Estate. The surviving mill is thought to date from the 0. Halnaker Mill was working until struck by lightning in 1905, damaging the sails and windshaft. The derelict mill was restored in 1934 as a memorial to the wife of Sir William Bird. Further repair work was done in 1954 and the mill was again restored in 2004. 

 Halnaker Mill is a four-storey tower mill with a sixteen-sided beehive cap. The mill was originally hand-wound, and later fitted with a fantail, which was not replicated when the mill was restored. The four common sails were originally carried on a wooden windshaft, which was damaged by the lightning strike. A cast-iron windshaft and wooden brake wheel from a wind sawmill at Punnetts Town were fitted.

It was nice to get out and do a hike but we wished we were more warmly dressed – let’s just say we didn’t dawdle much!

We met Toby and Chloe for lunch at a seaside café and caught up.  Then they offered to take us do to a bit of sightseeing in the area and we followed them to Seaford Head to get views of the Seven Sisters Cliffs which are supposed to better than the White Cliffs of Dover.  We took a short hike through a field of sheep:

And then stopped in two places to get views:

And even better:

Toby then took us to a pub for a beer at the Tiger Inn near Burling Gap.  After this we went to the Gap to get more views.  There were usually hundreds of ponies at this site they said but the fence is now gone as were the ponies.

But we did see the Seven Sisters from the other end here where we took a group shot on Chloe’s phone and she shared it with us:

We went to another pub at Beachy Hill and chatted for another hour or so hour and then we parted ways.  Fran found us a place in nearby Eastbourne on Booking.com and we went to the Sheldon B&B for the night for $81.  It’s actually run by a Canadian couple and we chatted with them for a bit.  We had a room with a private bath, a small seating area, access to the kitchen fridge and good Wi-Fi.

We had a sort of flat bread and Doug made us sandwiches with some our Dutch cheese and our left over creamed honey that we’d brought from Canada from Minou and we had a quiet night in our room.

Today, by the time we left the second pub, we had an email advising that our sale funds had reached our Wise account.  This was great news and that last bit of stress regarding the sale was gone.   We still have to sort out dissolving our French company but that’s for another day.

The gallery of photos for the above is  here.

Today was a one tunnel day.

We both slept better although we woke up on the early side due to the time change and took advantage of the good Wi-Fi before going down for the included breakfast.  The breakfast was a full English breakfast with extras and was very good.  It filled us enough that we did not need lunch today.

So our destination today was Dover Castle – we had tried on our way into England in 2022 and on our way out, but both times it was a Monday and it’s closed on Mondays.

An aerial shot from online on a sunny day – not on a day like today:

We arrived around 12:30 after stopping for a few groceries and were convinced to buy a Heritage Pass for Foreigners to save some money on tickets to sites overall.  The kind woman fudged the permit to be a ten day pass instead of nine to ensure we could see as much as possible.  We just have to visit two sites to make it worthwhile.

Dover Castle is a medieval castle founded in the 11th century and has been described as the “Key to England” due to its defensive significance throughout history. 

This site may have been fortified with earthworks in the Iron Age or earlier, before the Romans invaded in AD 43. This is suggested on the basis of the unusual pattern of the earthworks which does not seem to be a perfect fit for the medieval castle. Excavations have provided evidence of Iron Age occupation within the locality of the castle, but it is not certain whether this is associated with the hillfort.

The site also contains one of Dover’s two Roman lighthouses (or pharoses), one of only three surviving Roman-era lighthouses in the world, and the tallest and most complete standing Roman structure in England. It is also claimed to be Britain’s oldest standing building. Built in the early 2nd century, the 5-level 8-sided tower was made of layers of tufa, Kentish ragstone and red bricks. The castle lighthouse survived after being converted into a belfry in the Saxon era (c. 1000), having a new upper layer added (c. 1430), and was partially renovated in 1913–1915.

It was during the reign of Henry II that the castle began to take recognizable shape. The inner and outer baileys and the great keep belong to this time. From 1179 to 1188, the king spent over £6,500 on the castle, an enormous sum considering that his annual revenue was likely around £10,000.

Massive rebuilding took place at the end of the 18th century during the Napoleonic Wars.

With Doer becoming a garrison town, there was a need for barracks and storerooms for the additional troops and their equipment. The solution adopted by Twiss and the Royal Engineers was to create a complex of barracks tunnels about 15 metres below the cliff-top, and the first troops were accommodated in 1803.

The outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 saw the tunnels converted first into an air-raid shelter and then later into a military command centre and underground hospital. In May 1940, Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay directed the evacuation of French and British soldiers from Dunkirk, code-named Operation Dynamo, from his headquarters in the cliff tunnels. A military telephone exchange was installed in 1941 and served the underground headquarters. The switchboards were constantly in use and had to have a new tunnel created alongside it to house the batteries and chargers necessary to keep them functioning.

We spent about two hours here, taking the tour of the tunnels which was about 40 minutes – it was okay – the best part was the end talk when we learned about all the small boats and shipped that crossed the channel to help save the soldiers.  No photos are allowed in the tunnel for “security” reasons…..mmmhh.

We found a few photos online:

You watch about four different movies projected on the tunnel walls as you go through.

We visited the Henry II’s Great Tower inside the castle part and went all the way to the top for views:

We lucked out with the weather or rather the rain; it was cold and windy but the rain held off.  At 2:30 we left and made our way to a small B&B in nearby Deal for $68 about 8 miles away for the night.   It was a cozy room with a tiny bathroom and a table with two chairs.  The Wi-Fi was good as was the hot water but the room was cold.  The central heating only comes on at 4:30 till 10 and again for a couple of hours in the morning.  The bed was only a double so we found it a bit cramped but we both slept pretty good.

Another one tunnel day today.

We awoke to pretty clear sky (so the sun DOES shine in this part of the country!) and after exercise, shower and tea, we began what will be our longest driving day in England.  It’s still quite cool these days – barely reaching double digits C / 50F if we’re lucky and dipping to nearly freezing overnight.  It’s still quite windy so that doesn’t help any.

We left Deal around 8 and went a bit north to the beach town of Broadstairs to get up closer to some white cliffs and sea some white sea stacks – it did not disappoint.

Then we had to go about 300 km / 190 miles northeast to the village of Wells-next-the-sea (no to the) to check out what is raved about as a long wide beach.  There’s no way we’re going in but we wanted to see it.  Well the traffic getting past London was horrendous.  We first had to pass through the Dartford Crossing, which in the direction we were headed was through a tunnel under the River Thames – that cost us £2.50 which we had to pay online by tomorrow midnight or get penalized; the other direction has a bridge.

Then we hit almost standstill traffic about one exit before ours just to learn that the exit was closed to the M11 North and we made a huge detour with more slow traffic.  When we left Broadstairs, our maps said we’d arrived in Wells around 12:30 – now, we always take that with a grain of salt but this was ridiculous – we arrived around 3 after hitting more traffic sometimes caused by slowdowns and sometimes by construction.  Driving in this part of England does not appear to be fast – we don’t remember this from 2022.

We got parked (had to pay £3.60 for the privilege) and walked out to the beach.  While the weather was still most sunny today (we’d had a few patches of rain enroute), it was still less than 10C / 50F and being on the coast, it was super windy.

The beach is huge and the sand was nice near the cabanas but the tide was waaaaaaay out and it wasn’t as pleasant looking as it could be.  There are lots of cute colourful cabanas lining the beach. The water was so far we didn’t even want to walk out to it to “test” it.   So we really only hung around about fifteen minutes.  That was a long way to come for 15 minutes!

Fran checked out places to stay here and there was nothing under $200 a night so we drove to King’s Lynn, about 50 km / 30 mi away and stayed at a sort of guest house for $91.  The parking was not at the unit but around the corner and, of course, it had to start raining enroute but it only sprinkled.  We got a deluxe room with private bath and a fridge with Wi-Fi and hot water on the fourth floor with no elevator.  There was a small love seat, a sort of table, an armoire and a credenza.  It seemed huge after where we stayed last night.  There was also a shared kitchen downstairs with a washer/dryer machine in it but when we arrived, someone was using it and it still had two hours left on it so we didn’t feel like doing laundry as it might take four-five hours to wash/dry.

At one point today while we were inland, the temperature did reach 12C / 54F and the sun did shine most of the day.
It was a two tunnel day, one being the one under the river.

Here‘s the link to more photos of the above section.

Saturday morning after a good night’s sleep for Fran anyway, we headed out early anticipating slow driving roads once again and we had three stops on our itinerary northward today.  Once we got out of King’s Lynn, it was dual carriage way for quite a distance and we made good time.  It ended up being cloudy all day with the odd very short sprinkle of rain and the sun trying its best to come out but never quite managing it.

We pulled off that to reach Kirkham Priory ruins – another Heritage site so it was free for us.  The site is quite large and although there is not a lot left, it made for some nice photos (which could have been even better if it had been sunny, just saying…..)

The ruins of Kirkham Priory are situated on the banks of the River Derwent.   The Augustinian priory was founded in the 1120s by Walter l’Espec, lord of nearby Helmsley. The priory was surrendered in 8 December 1539 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Legend has it that Kirkham was founded in remembrance of l’Espec’s only son who had died nearby as a consequence of his horse being startled by a boar.

During the Second World War, the priory was used by the military in training for what became the largest seaborne invasion in history, the D-Day landings which took place on 6 June 1944. Amongst units moved to Kirkham was the British 11th armored division, the aim being to give drivers experience of maneuvering and to test various waterproofing compounds and to gain experience with equipment to be used in the landings. Tanks, jeeps and other military vehicles destined for the landings were put through their paces at the priory and on the banks of the River Derwent. Troops made use of the high wall of the Western Cloister in training with scrambling nets, which they would subsequently use to make their way from the main transport ships into the smaller landing craft during the invasion. Prime Minister Winston Churchill and King George VI visited the priory in secret to monitor preparations, an indication of Kirkham’s significance as a training ground.

Then it was on to the Aldborough Roman Site – another Heritage site that we also entered at no cost.

The Yorkshire village of Aldborough began as the 1st-century Roman city of Isurium Brigantum, the capital of the Brigantes tribe. The Brigantes were the largest British tribe at the time of the Roman invasion.  The town was founded around AD 74 close to the point where the major Roman road of Dere Street crossed the River Ure.

The city of Isurium was popular with the most powerful officials of Roman York, and many of the consuls and governors of York had their villas at Aldborough. Aldborough was one of the most northerly urban areas in the Roman Empire and wealthy residents occupied large houses on extensive hillside terraces. The town was named a ‘civitas’, an important civic administrative centre.

We do not know what happened at Aldborough after the Romans left Britain in the 5th century. One medieval writer suggests that Aldborough was sacked by the Vikings in AD 870. After the Norman conquest of England in 1066, the Ure river crossing was moved upriver, leaving Isurium to a new settlement that became Boroughbridge. With the new town at Boroughbridge, the old settlement became known as Aldborough, probably meaning ‘old borough’.

One of the Roman mosaics depicted here is a lion. The mosaic dates to the 2nd century and was discovered in 1832 when the landlord of the Aldburgh Arms pub tried to bury a calf at the bottom of his garden. The central panel is missing quite a few tesserae, possibly the result of Victorian treasure-hunters stealing pieces as souvenirs.  The other mosaic shows an eight-pointed star. The central panel is surrounded by interlace and geometric patterns.

Then finally we made our way westward to the Brimham Rocks –yet another Heritage site although while this one is free to enter, they do charge you to park – £6.80!  We came here because Doug had seen some photos online and two particular rock formations interested him.

The site is not that small with paths wandering all around the rocks, a kiosk near the back side where the two rocks were located.

Brimham Rocks, once known as Brimham Crags, is a 183.9-hectare (454-acre) biological Site of Special Scientif Interest (SSSI) and Geological Conservation Review (GCR) site, 13 km / 8 mi north-west of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. The site, is an outcrop of Millstone Grit, with small areas of birch woodland and a large area of wet and dry heath.

The site is known for its water- and weather-eroded rocks, which were formed over 325 million years ago and have assumed fantastic shapes. In the 18th and 19th centuries, antiquarians wondered whether they could have been at least partly carved by druids. For up to two hundred years, some stones have carried fanciful names, such as Druid’s Idol, Druid’s Altar and Druid’s Writing Desk.

We spent about a half hour here checking out the cool rock formations and luckily the rain held off.

Before arriving Fran had figured out where we could stay nearby at a reasonable price so we then drove 50 km / 30 mi to the city of Keighley where we got a room with a private bath in a guest house for $98.  It offered all we needed including onsite free parking.  We had hoped to do a pub for dinner but when we tried a couple, they didn’t serve dinner.  We had a drink and then decided to order a pizza to pick up and take back with us.  It was okay.

You can see more photos of this part of the trip  here.

Next morning we left after Doug’s run; it was COLD – wet and windy making it worse.  Today we were headed to Stafford, north of Birmingham to visit some overlanding friends of ours: Angela and Graham.  Our paths had crossed a few times in South America beginning in Bolivia and including hiking together at Torres del Paine in Patagonia.  They were stuck in Chile during COVID and returned home after 18 months in lockdown!  They sold their house in Birmingham and bought a small country home.

We had a pleasant afternoon visit – the sky had cleared and we sat on their glassed in patio staying comfortable.  We all went to the pub for a drink before having dinner at their place.  They made a lovely English dinner of a roast, Yorkshire pudding, roasted potatoes and veggies with a cheese and grape tray for dessert.  We drank and ate too much but none of us were suffering the next morning.

After some tea and a chat, we left their place before ten on Monday under cloudy, cool skies with no promise of sunshine for a few days.  We made our way towards Liverpool to spend two nights and cut down some driving days.  We contacted the studio we booked and asked to check in at noon instead of 3 and they obliged us.  Enroute we stopped for a few groceries and then we got parked, put our things inside and went for a walk into the city to check out Bold Street, a pedestrian area where we hoped to find some lunch.

City Nights Studio apartment had a full kitchen, sitting area, a private bath, Wi-Fi and  free street parking – we paid $108USD for two nights. It’s located just outside the centre of Liverpool and everything we wanted to see was within walking distance.

Just outside the neighbourhood we’re staying in, is a memorial to Florence Nightingale at the Central Home of the Liverpool Queen Victoria District Nursing Association building:

Walking into the city, we passed the large Liverpool Cathedral with its Roman Doric looking mortuary on the outer grounds.

We passed the arch into China Town:

And we then wandered the pedestrian area finally deciding on “Johnny English Traditional Fish & Chips” for lunch.  Not a bad decision but we should have share a dish rather than order two; it was filling!

It was now after 2 and we wanted some time to get a few things done online (including attending to the dissolution of French “societie civile” that owned Minou).  It’s still rather cold feeling although the temperature did reach 13C / 55F this afternoon.

Doug spent a few hours downloading and filling in forms as best he could.  Next step is to print them and mail them off.

Tuesday we awoke to a drier, albeit mostly cloudy day with some wind but the temps reached 16C / 61F so we’re getting there.  The sun peeked out several times in the afternoon but never lasted.

Fran reached out to Julie & Marcus, overlanders we met in Colombia, whom we thought were currently back home in England.  Turns out they were and and she found out where they are and as they are on our route back to Neels’ house, we’re going to try and seem them on Sunday.

Around ten o’clock, we headed out to see more of the city of Liverpool.  First stop: The Beatles Story museum.  It cost us £16 each to get in at the ticket machine:

We got the seniors rate (which is 60 here not 65) and you are given a headset and you walk a path through the various rooms learning about their beginnings, their career, the big welcome in the USA and more.

Here a just a few of the things we saw:

Near the end is a room dedicated to each member and what they did after the break up and at the very end, very fittingly, is the White Room where John Lennon created “Imagine”.

We both thought it was well done and at the Fab 4 shop, we bought a souvenir for the Christmas tree.

We strolled the River Mersey waterfront, checking out Albert Dock,

wanted to see the Tate Museum but it was under renovation,

passed by a few large buildings like the Port of Liverpool, the Liver Building and Customs House

and made our way to the Cavern Club area where the Beatles played in their early days.  The original club was demolished that the area of Mathew Street has been built up to a  music hub area full of clubs and pubs and restaurants with a cool vibe.

We made our way back towards our apartment, stopped for lunch (KFC for Doug).  We tried to find a print shop to print the documents we need to mail to France regarding the dissolution of EU Escapes and the first one was a bust, so Fran returned to the apartment and Doug continued the search.

He returned with all the documents printed, with an envelope and stamps too.  Then as went online to make sure we had the right mailing address, we discovered that as of last year, these things can be done online!  So we began the process only to hit a snag with having to use an electronic signature – we cannot get such a thing for France as we are not residents!  Doug has sent a help message so we’ll see how long that takes to get a reply from.

Here‘s a link to ALL our Liverpool photos.

Tuesday night stayed dry and Wednesday promised to warm up and be partly sunny so we were happy to hear that.  We plan to leave early as we hope to see a few things in the better weather.