Welcome to France- how soon can we reasonably expect you to leave?

After seeing the London sights, we did what independent Britons have been doing for centuries: looked over at the Continent to see what was going on there. Rebecca found this darling B&B in Dover to stay in before and after.  It's called simply "24", after the house number.  Unlike the TV show, it is a calm and relaxing place, where you are well taken care of.   We felt like princesses on our lightly scented and very comfy beds (well, a princess and a servant at least, since Rebecca took the twin in the corner.)

Well rested and hopeful, we set out on this enormous ferry for Calais, France (say Cal'-ay).   The French were completely apathetic that we made the effort at all.  There was no information about the destination city on the boat, no ATM or money change inside the terminal, no one looking at our passports or asking if we were planning to stay, no maps or city recommendations anywhere near the port, no busses to neighboring cities.  We saw quite a few people trudging through the streets with luggage because they didn't have the 2 Euros to take the bus.  Most of them were lost because maps were extraordinarily hard to find, even on the internet.  When we did find maps, they were not very helpful.  We walked all over one quadrant of town looking for a major shopping center before realizing that the picture was connected by a tiny line to the actual location in another part of the city.  Who hides a shopping mall on purpose??

In spite of the apparent disinterest in our well-being, the city was full of unexpected highlights.  We had delicious pastries and curry and chips that put English food to shame (not that it's difficult).  We stumbled upon the most amazing high speed animal photographs in an open air exhibit in a park.  It started to rain, but being sensible English travelers, we had our umbrellas.  We visited a WWII museum for the "Occupied" perspective.  The beach was beautiful with fair sands, although you could hardly see them for the cabanas. We found really fun handmade jewelry at an artisan display.  And although they may not care whether or not the tourists came, the French were very courteous about not running them over while using the crosswalk.

Still, we had more than our fill by 6pm and took an early ferry back.  Au revoir, Calais.  I would rather eat English food than stay on your side of the Channel again!