Our last day in the company of
some of the tour group! It was a very early start today as our departure was
8.30am. Farewell to a few friends at the Paris Hotel – especially our ‘Aussie
Chick’ friend Sue who headed off to Copenhagen.
Today was a very LONG day of traveling indeed. First leg of it was in our coach with Ferdinando and
Patricia to a station just on the edge of Paris, were another sad farewell was
said to these two. They both made these last 10 days such fun, packed with knowledge,
safe driving and laughter. Memories Michael and I will treasure!
We joined up with some members of
another Cosmos tour and together on their bus we headed off to Calais. This was
only interrupted by a quick coffee break then onto Calais Wharf. Here, we had
to go through UK immigration before we boarded the ferry. We had been warned
about how unfriendly this could be however it all appeared to go very smoothly!
We boarded the P&O Ferry which would take a couple of hours to cross the
English Chanel to Dover. We still had Claudia, Margaret and Walter with us for
this journey and our aim was to ensure that our good friend Walter managed the
crossing safely – which he did! However he did go AWOL for a moment when
Michael minded his bag while he was headed off to the toilet and then was a
very long time in returning back. We all ended up searching for him and finally
found him upstairs happily eating fish and chips in the restaurant – clearly
unaware of the panic he had us all in! He was a dear man, and for some reason
he reminded me of my Nana (don’t know why). He had been very courageous to
travel over the other side of the world by himself, but he dearly wanted to see
it and was so happy he had done it (even though Michael had been an absolute
saint and ensured he got through each and every day safely).
Arriving in Dover we then boarded
yet another coach which our luggage was delivered to and we departed off to
London. The journey was somewhat boring as we had no guide to explain what we
were seeing nor did we have any toilet stops, and to top it off, we got stuck
in very heavy traffic which made for a very long journey. We didn’t arrive to
the Cosmos meeting point at the Novotel Hotel until 5.15pm. It was here we said
a final farewell to the last friends we were leaving here and jumped into a cab
off to the ‘Quality Crown Hotel Hyde Park’ where we are staying for the next
four days. Another tiny Hotel room with
loads of English character. Michael and I are becoming very cleaver in
manoeuvring around each other, cases, beds and chairs with NO room to spare. I
guess this is just all part of the experience, one you would not miss for
quids!
We decided to wander out and
explore the streets close by to discover what we could find for dinner. One
street away we found so many different cafes – Italian, Indian, American, Greek
and not to forget – Macdonalds and Burger King! We decided on a Pizzeria where
we had a delicious pizza followed by coffee and then strolled back to our
Hotel.
A very tiring day of traveling, but a lovely end to it!
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