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| Paris In Sites Newsletter Direct From France Edited by Linda Thalman Travel & Leisure Articles |
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Kent - London Great Britain
July 2008 By Linda Thalman
We booked a ferry with P&O leaving from Calais to Dover and its famous
white cliffs on a Tuesday mid-day.
The crossing on the Pride of Dover only took 75 minutes which gave us just enough time for lunch in
the restaurant.
The restaurant really is more pleasant than the self-service option, much quieter and fairly priced.
The service was excellent as was the lunch and the Australian wine we had.
While not in a wheel chair, walking isn't getting any easier. We had parking in the lane
that was right next to the elevator. Wheelchair access was also available.
Note: the British use "disabled" as the designation for handicapped, less able, other able, etc.
You'll see it on signs for parking around the country.
I found a most lovely bed and breakfast - on the web, of course - near Ashford in the village of Pluckley.
Our hosts were charming, helpful and made our two-night stay ever so pleasant.
Originally the house was used for processing hops!
Lois made sure we had a reservation at the best local country pub for dinner and gave us lots of
ideas for garden centers and things to do.
The only 'problem' was we didn't have enough time to do them all.
We learned that many pubs use catering services for their pub food, but not the Smarden Bell.
The chef is French and he did perfect English pub food: fish and chips, lamb, goat cheese,
chicken, duck and more!
We had errands to do in London, so off we went anticipating a stop and go commute. It was.
Driving into and out of London was a royal pain. Traffic, traffic, traffic, plus an 8 pound
congestion charge.
We paid the parking fee by phone with a credit card. Don't try to get out of
paying it... they'll get you even with a rental car if you try and cheat.
Buisness in London taken care of we had a so-so lunch at an Italian restaurant with Spanish
waiters. Overpriced and not particularly good. It will remain unnamed.
Traffic going out of London was worse than coming in...well, it was rush hour.
Tip: take the train from Paris or elsewhere if London is all you want to visit.
Tip: drive around the countryside if you want to visit gardens, garden centers, stately homes,
country pubs and do not go into the big cities.
Heading for Dover to catch our ferry we stopped at the Tesco for Maldon salt, some vinegar and
sherry. Short shopping list this time.
The Tesco shopping center just outside of Dover had an astounding 30 parking spaces for the disabled.
The parking spaces were wide and all as close as one could get to the main entrance of the store.
The Pride of Kent which we took for the return trip has a lovely restaurant with staff as pleasant
and efficient and funny as the Pride of Dover.
The plus on the Pride of Kent is that there is a view right onto the Channel without the life boats
blocking the view.
We had breakfast at noon - Paris time - and turned it into brunch in a traditional English style.
When it is noon in France it is 11:00 a.m. in Britain... so breakfast it was and so delicious.
The short crossing time left just a few minutes for some shopping and then back down the
elevators to our car and back to Paris on Thursday.
Two nights and three days of a quick break. Doable. Enjoyable. We must do it again to explore
more of Kent and Sussex.
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A quick trip by car over to England is easily done from Paris.
We greatly appreciated the disabled access as my 88 year old mother-in-law was with us.
Lois and Andrew and their two Irish Setters, Hamilton and Wellington welcomed us
at their beautiful house which dates back to 1740.
An official document for the disabled is to be displayed on the car's dashboard to use the
designated disabled parking. Bravo Tesco and the UK for priority parking for folks who can't
hoof it 300 meters from the car to the shops.
General Information
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Linda Thalman
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Email – Linda@wfi.fr
Web Address – http://www.parisinsites.com/
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