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| Dover's White Cliffs |
We bid adieu to Canterbury and caught a 6 am taxi to Dover for our 8:30 am departure on the P&O Ferry to Calais.
The sky was clear and the sunrise beautiful over the Channel. Surprising was the amount of ship traffic on the Channel. Seeing so many ships in close proximity should not have come as any surprise but it did.
Calais is only 17 miles from dover and the white cliffs slipped by quickly. We chose to cross by boat as that was the way Edward would have done it ... the crossing was calm and we were grateful.
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| The "point' of cliffs as we sailed. |
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| Arriving Port of Calais |
I had always heard that one could see England from Calais if the weather was clear but I was not quite prepared for it ... when I looked back, there it was! I wish my camera was of a high enough quality to share that sight. So close and yet a world away.
We picked up our Hertz rental at a gas station not far from the port and were happy that our request for an automatic transmission came to fruition. And the English-speaking GPS system was a plus since Mary's Garmin, preprogrammed for France was non-functioning. We made our way to the hotel, stashed our bags and headed out on foot, but unfortunately the weather changed and we were met with a bitter wind and misty rain. I thought of the English soldiers encamped in Villeneuve le Hardi for ten months during the siege of Calais and shuddered. Bear with us ... we are doing the chevauchee in reverse so our starting point in Calais comes after the English victory over the French at Crécy on August 26, 1346 where the Black Prince won his spurs.
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Hotel Meurice
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The battle devastated the French nobility and left Philippe VI's government in chaos. From there, Edward III marched north to Calais and after ten months the fortress surrendered.
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| Rodin's Burghers of Calais |
Queen Philippa pleaded for their lives and King Edward conceded. Robin captured the moment and the bronze full life statue is prominently displayed outside the city hall.
Many scenes of my book occurr in Calais and I had hoped to gain a sense of the place but I must admit, it's difficult to imagine the army's encampment around the fortress walls given the contemporary city that now exists. Although, the bleakness of the area and the bitter wind are much the same, I suspect.
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| Fortress was surrounded by water. |
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| Fortress bell tower. |
Looks chilly. Speaking of which, our family is going for chili at Iron Door on Mt. Lemmon tomorrow. Daughter Julie, grandson Colby and their mates. The usual mid-80's and no rain in sight. Stay warm. Watch out for chivalrous knights in shining armor.
ReplyDeleteHope you're having a good time! I like all of the pictures...the historical parts are a little foreign to me, but maybe I'll pick it up through the blog!
ReplyDeleteCheers!
I regret never having made the channel crossing via ferry...those cliffs certainly look a sight to behold! I’m afraid I always made my way under the Channel, via the Chunnel! Next time though! Love the Rodin statue! I’ve not spent any time in Calais and I must admit it’s a disappointment to hear much of the history has been modernised. I wonder if this is simply due to innovation itself, or if Calais was severely damaged during the war, as so many cities were, and they were forced to rebuild. I admit, that’s not really my period of study!
ReplyDeleteAmi, you're so right. Calais was razed to the ground in WW II according to what I read recently. The part of town in which we stayed had been the locale of the original fortresse, surrounding by water on all sides. King Edward could not use siege equipment because the ground was too marshy.
DeleteKatie B. here: It's fun "going" on the adventure with you! I had to bring up some maps to get a visual of where you have been and are headed. Fun to sail the the channel; something I would like to go back and do. It's so amazing and wonderful to see the history still present (fortress tower, statues, etc.)
ReplyDeleteThe fact that you were prompted to get out maps lets me know I'm at least encouraging curiosity on the part of readers. Go Katikins!
DeleteI'm enjoying greatly your tour and history of southern England and northern France. Makes me want to go back even though my traveling days are over. The Burgers of Calais is a powerful bronze. Did you know the White Cliffs are made primarily of very tiny (about 2 microns) fossils composed of calcium carbonate. These fossils evolved over time and are used by geologists to date rocks
ReplyDeleteThanks for adding your geology expertise; how interesting. I did not know that the cliffs are composed of fossils. I had always thought they were just chalk!
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