We opened our eyes and hotel curtains to a glorious day in Lille so all was looking good for the 90 minute train trip to Calais on the Inter-City train and the Channel Ferry crossing.
Having made sure we stamped our train ticket to avoid a fine, we settled in and we must have looked like we were locals as we even had a French youth ask us for directions.
We enjoyed the trip again across mostly flat country and having reached Calais set about finding an Internet cafe to skype Mat which we were able to do. The price for this was a 'grand' cappuccino which in Europe seems to mean a double strength not a bigger cup, and a cheese sandwich which turned out to be a Subway roll full of Camembert - cholesterol levels must have gone through the roof!
We made our way on foot to the ferry terminal and were amazed to see the number of cars, trucks, motor bikes and buses disappearing into the bowels of the ferry - while we were 2 of only 7 foot passengers.
The crossing took about an hour. We were amazed to realize how close France and England actually are - you can see the shores, buildings and White Cliffs across the channel.
After making our way to our cute English B & B we went for a lovely walk in sunshine up to Dover Castle which had lovely views across the channel. The day ended with a seafood dinner in a restaurant at the local marina which brewed its own ale called Jimmy's Riddle which Bill enjoyed.
Thought I'd also mention how brilliant the iPad has been. We've skyped, e-mailed and Facebooked on it as well as banked, obtained directions, googled and GPS'd. And of course we're using it for our travel blog. Great for storing our photos too. A very handy little travel companion!