Getting Around Part II, the Channel Crossing

In 1980 I crossed the English Channel and back again.  One way was by ferry and the other by Hovercraft.

Back then the trip was like this:  You took a train from London/Paris to Dover/Calais, and somehow you ended up at the terminal where you then boarded your ferry to cross the Channel.  At the other end, you got on a train and proceeded to your final destination.

Me, sleeping peacefully on the train from London to Dover in 1980

Now, I get that forty years have blurred some of the details, but I do remember that it was relatively straightforward and this was the way millions of people crossed the English Channel every year.

Now fast forward a few decades and there is a high speed train called the Eurostar running under the channel between London and Paris and there is no longer a Hovercraft crossing.  There is still a ferry, but it is mainly intended for vehicles (you drive on/drive off) and only a handful of "foot passengers" ever bother to cross this way anymore.

BUT I DIDN'T KNOW THAT!

Let me back up...

I took the Eurostar from Paris to London through the Chunnel on my recent trip.  It was about a two hour trip from Gare du Nord to St. Pancras, and about 20-30 minutes of that was actually under the Channel.  

It's a quick and easy way to go, but it can be expensive, and if you're skeevy about being 250 feet beneath the sea bed, like I am, you might think the ferry sounds like a good alternative.

So I decided to return to France via ferry.  On a Sunday, no less. (If you've spent any time in France, you know why that is significant, because almost everything is closed.) I'll just say that this was NOT my best idea, and I should have never assumed it was 1980 all over again.

The P&O Transport Ferry between England and France

My day started in London on a Sunday morning (Oct 13, which should have been my first clue as to how the day would go) when I got an Uber from the hotel to St. Pancras to start my journey.  I had scheduled my ferry crossing for 1:00 pm and left in plenty of time to make it.  Or so I thought...

When I arrived at the train station in Dover - forty years since I last set foot there - I asked how I could get to the ferry terminal.  The woman seemed somewhat perplexed by my question, and this was where they speak English!  I assumed that people arrived by train to catch the ferry from Dover every day, but from her reaction this seemed to be an unusual request.  No, she told me, there was no bus and no taxi going to the terminal.  "But you can walk, love, it's less than three miles."

Yeah "less than three miles," and I had ALL my luggage with me.  But I had no choice and set out on foot.  I walked through the rather deserted backside of town on a Sunday afternoon dragging my gigantic suitcase behind me and reached the terminal 45 minutes later only to find out I had missed the shuttle to the ferry for the 1:00 pm departure.  I was "lucky" there was another crossing at 3:00 pm, so I settled in to wait, mindful of the fact that I had already booked my train ticket from Calais to Lille and didn't want to miss it.

The White Cliffs of Dover as we left the coast of England

When the shuttle arrived to take us to the ferry, there were only about a dozen of us taking the trip.  We piled on a bus which drove us right onto the ferry and let us out.  Then I started to get the picture - there were tractor-trailer rigs, buses, and cars driving on but nobody just walking onto this ship.  The "foot passengers" as they called us were just an afterthought, the main purpose of the ferry was to transport vehicles.  People can drive on and drive off the other side and go on their way but the ferry is no longer intended to provide service from station to station, since that mode of transportation is now served by the Eurostar.

Approaching the coast of France

The crossing was enjoyable, and I'm glad I got to view the coasts of England and France, and experience the expanse in between ON the water, not UNDER it.

Docking in Calais

But my experience in Calais was even worse than Dover.  Now I had to find out in French how to get to the train station, and it turned out to be about six miles away - not walking distance - and again there was no bus running there from the terminal.

Not only that, but there were no Ubers available, and the lone person working at the terminal again gave me an incredulous look (She wants to go to the train station?  From the ferry terminal?  On a Sunday?) The best he could do was give me a number for a taxi. I had to make the call in French, and I was told that it would be a while, they couldn't tell me how long it would be, and they didn't even sound too sure they would come at all.

Here was the problem at this point:  It was late Sunday afternoon.  My train was leaving from a station across town in half an hour, and there was no other train to Lille if I missed that one.  The docks are far from the city center so even if I could get a hotel reservation I had no way to get there, the restaurants would all be closed, and the terminal was emptying out for the day - plus it was getting dark.  I was on the verge of being stranded alone with nowhere to eat or sleep. 

THEN...

I overheard another American woman on the phone shrieking about the taxi she'd been waiting for for over an hour.  I asked if we could share it - if it ever came - and she agreed.  Thankfully that taxi finally did show up (maybe they were impressed with her screaming at them hysterically in English!) and I was able to get to the station just in time to catch my train to Lille.

Gare de Lille Flandres

Getting Around - PART I, by Planes, Trains, Automobiles

Apps are a game changer!  (Especially for those of us who have done it "old school" in the past.)

Uber is available in a lot of places in Europe (although when I was there I never found Lyft.)  However, Uber can be hit or miss.  It's not always available in smaller towns, and I think even in some bigger cities it is restricted, maybe because the state run transportation systems are supposed to take precedence (but don't quote me on that, I'm really not sure how that goes.)

BlaBlaCar is a ride share app in France but I can't really recommend it for American travelers.  The difference from Uber is that it is intended for traveling from city to city, not just around town. Another difference is that the drivers don't work FOR BlaBlaCar, it is just a platform for drivers and riders to find each other.  Therefore, there is really no recourse if you have an issue.

Proceed with Caution!

And there are issues.  Few of the drivers speak English very well so there is often a communication gap when trying to book a ride.  But the real problem is that each driver makes his or her own "rules," and they often aren't very accommodating.  Like I'd find a driver going from Town A to Town B and book a ride only to have the driver refuse to pick me up or drop me off at a train station.  Some of them insisted they could only pick up/drop off at a highway exit.  Then if you canceled the trip because they couldn't accommodate you, they wouldn't refund your money and you'd have no way of getting it back.  And good luck contacting BlaBlaCar to complain about the driver if your French isn't pretty solid.  Even then, there is limited recourse (it's all in the fine print - in French, of course!)

G7 Taxi is kind of a cross between a traditional taxi and a ride share service like Uber.  You call it up on your app, like with Uber, but it is an actual taxi service rather than a private driver with their own car.  I requested a ride to the airport the night before, and the taxi was there and waiting on the dot the next morning.  And again, with the language barrier, this is much easier than trying to CALL for a taxi in French.  ("Bonjour monsieur, j'ai besoin d'aller á l'aeroport á 10:00h, pourriez-vous me chercher?"  "Desolé, Madame, je ne vous comprends pas.")

Rome2Rio is a very useful app for finding out HOW to get around, especially between countries.  It will give you the various options, along with approximate prices of each.  You can compare a flight versus a train and see the time schedules and costs of each.  You can book some forms of transportation through the app as well (it redirects you to the booking sites, I believe.)  This is the absolute best app for planning purposes, especially on the fly (no pun intended!)

Easy Jet from Lille to Nice was faster AND cheaper than the train

Oui SNCF  is what you'll use all over France for trains and buses.  They have an English version, so it's user-friendly and a lot easier than buying your tickets in person if you can't speak French, and you get your tickets right on your mobile device.

The TGV - Train de Grande Vitesse 

Note: there are three main tiers of train service in France,

1. The TGV is the high speed train for long distance trips between major cities and makes few, if any, stops along the way. It is a comfortable and FUN way to travel and see the country.
2. The inter-city trains go between the mid-sized cities that are no more than an hour or two apart and usually makes stops along the way (where you might have to make a transfer.) 
3. The TER is regional service for short hops and runs between small towns and villages, and usually connects small towns to a mid-sized city where you can make connections.

NOW!  For the Channel Crossing!

What I Ate In Europe

I realize that for most people the highlight of a trip to Europe is the cuisine.  Many travel blogs are heavy on the restaurant reviews, but I'm just not into that.  I want to do one post about food and be done with it because, with a few exceptions, cuisine just isn't a big deal to me.

You won't find me consulting the Michelin guide for the best restaurants.  Usually, my method of dining out was to wait until I was hungry and then just walk around and read the menus posted outside the restaurants until something sounded good (and pronounceable!)  This method could be hit or miss at times, as one might imagine.  In France, where I spent the most time, I'd often just duck in the nearest Carrefour and scrounge something up.  I ate way more meals à la bonne franquette than I did in nice restaurants.

France

Picnic on the coast of Brittany which I enjoyed better than any restaurant

But I did have a few favorite go-to restaurant meals which were simple, and suited my tastes (I'm not a picky eater at all, but I am happy with food that is simply prepared.)  I admit that I often defaulted to basics like poulet rôti in France because it is easy to order, and it's plain but good.

Poulet rôti.  Just about as simple as it gets, and suits me perfectly

Another go-to was Salade au chèvre chaud.  It's on almost every menu, and is simple but tasty.

(I borrowed this photo, but the rest are my own)

This was another type of meal I ate frequently.  These are variations of blanquette de dinde. With the haricots verts and salad this meal is healthy and satisfying.

If you look closely, you'll notice my beverage of choice, I drank a LOT of Perrier in France - way more than wine.  I'm not much of a wine connoisseur, and drink it only occasionally.  

Whenever possible, I liked making meals out of what looked good at a market.  I'm happy with something perfect but simple like the olives in this photo - I mean this is like DIED AND GONE TO OLIVE HEAVEN!  A handful of those with a baguette, a fruit or vegetable, and a hunk of cheese and I'm happy.

A Saturday market in Provence

This was some really gorgeous food! 

And while sweets are the least tempting foods for me, I did indulge in a few crêpes caramel au beurre salé, the very best being in Brittany.  They have some DAMNED good caramel au beurre salé there!

Crêpes caramel au beurre salé, for the occasional indulgence

 Italy

For some reason, I didn't get pictures of the best meals I had in Italy, although I couldn't resist taking a picture of this beautiful dish of fried anchovies served freshly caught from the Mediterranean.  

Fresh, fried anchovies in the Cinque Terre

Otherwise, we had some plain meat and vegetable meals that were good, but nothing special.  (I probably chose this because I could understand and pronounce what it was!)

My first meal in Florence.  This is the same kind of thing I eat at home, good but nothing special

This one looks awful but it was actually pretty tasty. Chicken Piccata and sautéed spinach

Second meal in Florence.  It tasted better than it looks.

England and Belgium

One meal I really enjoyed was - surprisingly - in London, and it was - even more surprisingly - BREAKFAST!  (I think the little place where I got this was actually some kind of chain restaurant.)

Breakfast in London.  And it was delicious!

And of course, you have to get Fish & Chips in London.  I was only there three days, but I had it twice.  It fits the bill for being simple, tasty, and filling.

An afternoon in Bruges, and I had this lunch, which was some kind of Flemish beef stew with applesauce, and the frites - always the frites.  (And after all the hype about the frites in Belgium, I didn't think they were any better than the fries anywhere else.)

Now For My Dirty Little Secret...

Here it is: I ate at McDonalds.  A lot.  Like a few times a week, even.  I never eat at McDonalds at home - no need to - but I tore it up in France. 

Let me explain:

1. It's cheap and quick
2. They're easy to find - there are hundreds, if not thousands, of McDonalds in France.
3. It's easy to order - McD's in France have kiosks where you can place your order without talking to anyone. And even though I can speak French well enough to order a meal, sometimes I just don't WANT to.
4. The "McChèvre Wrap."  And no, I'm not even kidding!  (You can't get that in the U.S.)
5. Free Wifi! (Not always easy to find in Europe)
6. Free restrooms!  (Ditto)
7. COFFEE!  You can get something a little more like American coffee and at a reasonable price. 

But again, the French do us one better.  I got this latte at a "McCafé" and they serve it in a real cup with the fancy barista touch.

Coffee à la française at McDonalds in Paris

Two Days in Rome

Sept 19-20, 2019

A good night's sleep and we were ready to hit the road.

We spent the next two days visiting the usual "must-see" sights. We were close to a metro stop which took us to the Colosseum and Forum, and it was about what I expected it to be - long lines of tourists waiting in line to tour one of the world's greatest ruins.  Here's what I have to say about that:

DH in front of the Colosseum. 

There are sights in the world that I call "Once and Done."  The Grand Canyon was one of those in the U.S. and the Colosseum is one of those in Europe.  So I'm glad I saw it, but now I can cross it off my list.

Pretty good shot of the Roman Forum for an iPhone!

The Spanish Steps

Sunset over Rome from the Trinità dei Monti

Early the second morning, we did a Breakfast at the Vatican tour, which was well worth booking in advance because the breakfast was actually good - and yes, American style! - and we got to go through the museum before it was open to the general public.  We got a good head start to see the museum and get to the Sistine Chapel without any crowds.  (We saw the LONG lines we missed when we came out a couple of hours later.)

A fresco from the Vatican Museum

The rest of the day we wandered around,  and tried to see as much as we could without overdoing it.  After all we saw, though, I have to say that my favorite moment in Rome was this one, when we just happened to wander into the Piazza Navona and enjoyed a cooling moment by the Fontana del Moro while nearby buskers played an up tempo version of Pachelbel's Canon.

Arriving in Rome - Sept 18, 2019

I don't like to fly - I'll just say that right up front.  But when I checked on cruises to Europe, this wasn't the right time of year to get there, or trust me, I would have done it!  However, this Delta flight on an Airbus 330 was just as smooth as could be, not a single bump for the 9-1/2 hours from Atlanta to Rome.

The good part of flying TO Europe is that you are mostly on the plane during the night - you leave in the evening, have dinner on the plane, sleep (more or less) for a few hours, have breakfast on the plane, and land mid-late morning.  So somehow it's just not that hard to adjust - for me, anyway.  I get lots of issues (car sickness, for example!) but I have never really suffered from jet lag.  

Arriving in Rome after 9-1/2 hour flight

We arrived in Rome about 11:30 am local time, and breezed right through customs and baggage claim.  DH had had a rough flight because he got sick with a migraine, so he was following me through the airport in a daze. We found the man sent by the hotel to pick us up, and without speaking a word of English, he motioned for us to follow him, chucked our bags in the car, and proceeded to take us on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. DH turned shades of green (even worse than ME) as we lurched and swerved through the streets of Rome, before we were finally deposited at an nice little Inn on a shady street in an improbably quiet, residential neighborhood.

And here I will have to note that the nicest place we stayed at, in the whole three weeks we were in France and Italy together, was this very first hotel, the Suites Farnese Design.*  As soon as I booked the reservation a couple of months before our trip, the manager sent me a personal email, in English, asking for our flight number and offering to have a driver waiting for us when we arrived (for an extra fee, but at the going rate for a taxi.)  The room was huge, with a small private balcony overlooking a little courtyard where we were served cappuccinos and a light breakfast in the morning.  

We took a short nap, then hit the streets - we were in walking distance of Vatican City, right in the heart of Rome, and just a couple of blocks from a main road where found plenty of restaurants.  However, we ended up defaulting to a "touristy" place because - face it - we were tired, hungry, and went for the easiest option, the one where they spoke English and you didn't have to think too hard about what you were ordering.  The quality of the food wasn't great, but we didn't care.  (More on that HERE)

We did a little walk about, but didn't venture too far that first day, and got a good night's sleep.  Day 1 in Rome.


*NOTE: all reviews are strictly from my own experience, I'm not shilling for anyone, or getting anything for clicks on these links.  Just adding the links FYI if you're interested.

INTRODUCTION

This is a blog for personal remembrance, but it's public so anyone can take a look.  This is my own personal adventure, and my own personal opinions about hotels, restaurants, museums, points of interest, method of travel, etc. that I liked or didn't like.

It is also a place for me to explore what DID work on this trip, and what DIDN'T work so well, so I can fine-tune it for the next trip.

The eight-week trip I chronicle here is my third trip to Europe.  The first, in 1979-80, was for a three-month stay in Paris for a Study Abroad semester (my spouse's, and I went along as a newlywed.)

January 1980, my Student ID for L'Alliance Française

The second trip was in 2014-15, for a five-month stay in France for another Study Abroad semester (mine own, this time!)   I blogged about that trip here, from the viewpoint of a student:  2nd Chance in France

January 2015, with a classmate

I didn't wait so long to go back for the third time, which was in late 2019 - not very long before the COVID pandemic!  How fortunate that we were able to have this adventure before the outbreak began, and now have some great memories to look back on.

This time I wanted to include Italy, so my spouse (or "DH" for shorthand) and I started in Rome and spent three weeks working our way up to northern France.  Then he went home, and I spent a few weeks mostly soloing through France and England, and meeting up with friends along the way.  This is the journal of that trip...

Sept 2019, at the airport with DH, read to depart