Living in London

The snow on our street	The White Cliffs of Dover	We even brought a bit of the cliffs home

We didn’t work in England on December 27^th because it was the official holiday for Boxing Day. For weeks we had been talking about taking some day trips over the Christmas break, and when we awoke to big fat white snow flakes outside our window, the “white” theme was set. How about those cliffs in Dover you hear so much about?  

The city of Dover is located in the southeast corner of the country, about 80 miles from London. Knowing it would take at least an hour to get out of London, we left mid-day for a leisurely drive, admiring the beautiful snow-covered countryside. Once there, we found the Dover Castle (closed this day) and so drove to the National Trust visitor centre.

From here we set off on a short walk to see the cliffs. One thing they don’t tell you at the visitor centre is that the chalk + dirt make for some voracious mud. It was all over us, and trying to suck our shoes off as well. We walked as far as we could on the path and took a few photos. The cliffs really are white, and you really can see France from this point. We have loved to have taken the tour of the war tunnels under the castle; I’m sure this was a very important and tense spot during WW II.

Also in Southeast England, we wanted to visit Canterbury (to find out more about the tales) and Sandwich (for, well, a snack) but ran out of daylight.

p.s. The snow didn’t stick in London — although the cold still lingers.

For those of you who struggled with wedging that last bowl of salad or leftovers or dessert into the refrigerator these past few holiday weeks, we offer you our sympathy. In London, most refrigerators are less than half the size of those in the U.S. As we prepared our Christmas Eve dinner for ourselves and a few friends we soon discovered that we had more food than our little fridge could hold.

How lucky we are that it has been so cold lately (it has been hovering around freezing for the last few weeks). Our window ledge served double duty as a substitute for extra fridge space. (Note the outside ledge is only about five inches wide, so all goods must be securely anchored on the inside of the window!)

We enjoyed our second visit to Paris this weekend, again in the icy winter. Our first trip was last year at this same time! What is up with that?

Anyway, it didn’t slow us down for a
second … we spent four glorious days enjoying a fabulous walking tour of Montmartre, seeing a terrific traditional French circus, taking another Segway tour, and shopping til we ran out of money. (I actually fell off my Segway this trip, and am happy to report that no photos exist of this event).

We had some great meals and learned of a new champagne drink that has become our new favourite. The weekend was gloriously clear with blue skies and unbelievable lights at night. But wow, was it ever cold. Our next trip to Paris needs to be in the balmy spring don’t you think?