Traveling in January--post 2

White cliffs of Dover

Day ten, we left Belgium. The air B&B that N rented was so family/kid friendly. There were shampoos, cribs, serving ware that were kid oriented. Outside there was a great running area. We were in the car at 7:50AM so that we could catch the ferry from Calais, France. Only there was a problem. The hybrid car wouldn't start. There were a lot of warning messages that came on the screen. . .brake system failure seek repair; transmission failure seek repair and there were more. The driver tried to turn the car off and tried to restart the engine; but, the same messages occurred.

Approaching Rye from the community parking area

The driver solved the problem by disconnecting the batteries and then reconnecting the batteries. This action rebooted the car's computer system and we had no problems for the remainder of the trip. While relieved finding the solution only delayed us about an additional 15 minutes, no one died and no one was injured during the process. Had the battery disconnect not worked, we would have had a different sort of adventure and in the end, it would have all worked.

Clothing shop in Rye

We arrived at the ferry about an hour before departure. Allowing plenty of time is important because you go through the French check point, the English check point, then a search from the English security, then the ferry company checks you in and you wait in a designated area until the ferry is ready to receive the cars. A ferry employee directs the cars to load and another employee makes sure you park close to the car in front of you so the space is well used. After you are parked, you exit your car and go to one of the public lounges for the trip. This was an hour and half ferry ride to Dover. We read, played cards and walked around. There was an area for kids to play, a duty free shop and a restaurant to purchase hot foods. We noticed a lot of people purchasing breakfast foods.

Rye Tapestry celebrating the millennium 

As we approached Dover, the sun was shining on the cliffs. The cliffs looked pristine white! When I visited a couple of years ago, it was an overcast day. I was surprised to see the cliffs were gray! I was also surprised to see how much vegetation was growing on the cliffs. It was great seeing how much the sunlight affected the color!

One of the restaurants in Rye

Bob snapped a few photos as we were coming in to dock. As we approached the dock, we are given the signal to go to our cars. Then, we waited until we were given the signal to start the engines. Soon after the start your engines signal, we drove off the ferry. Exiting is quick; but, before you leave the dock area, there is one more immigration check via cameras as you drive by. We weren't selected for an additional search. This process is played over and over again throughout the day!

We drove to Rye which is in East Sussex. I had just finished reading, "The Summer Before the War," written by Helen Simonson which is set in Rye. Having the opportunity to poke about a place I had read about was special!

Rye is a little town which began as a port city. One of the buildings, the Mermaid Inn has been around since 1176! In St. Mary's church, I spied a hanging that all in our party called a quilt; but, the information posted next to it said it was a tapestry and not a quilt that parishioners made to celebrate the millennium in 2000. We walked around town and popped into various shops. I found a store that had clothing, children's toys, yarn, cards, beads, embroidery thread, laces and even some bolts of quilting fabric!

A home in Rye

We lunched at a little cafe that supports people with disabilities. Nicole and Bob approved of  broccoli cheddar soup. I enjoyed my roast ham panini and we tried their cheese chips which were French fries with cheddar cheese melted on top. (The chips were worth the extra calories!) Some streets are river rock which makes walking on them more challenging than cobblestones. The river rock makes for a cool looking street! As I walked around town, I thought about how many past generations of people walked on those same rocks!

After lunch we returned to London arriving about dark so it was a long but fun day!