London Bound

Bournemouth Shoreline

Despite the squall that bore down on Cherbourg, the Channel crossing was calm and the four+ hour transit sped by.  I wandered out on deck envisioning the hundreds of English ships that sailed in 1346, many of them one-sailed cogs with little, if any, maneuverability. I imagined the horses whinnying and the shipmates' calls.

The ferry docked in Poole just before 10 pm and after an extremely stressful day, I couldn't wait to get to our hotel and into bed.

The morning brought sunshine and blue skies, a welcome delight after many overcast days in Normandy. Our hotel perched on the clifftop above the Bournemouth shore.  With no pressing travel schedule, we enjoyed an extravagant buffet breakfast and then strolled along the clifftop frontage road, miles of sandy beach stretching below us.

Just ahead I spied a small, square building with a sign "Westcliff Lift."  I wondered if this might be some sort of stop for local beach shuttle.  I wandered closer and the purpose of the building became clear to me. I've never spent much time at a seashore so this was a new experience for me.

Westcliff Lift 

Can you guess?  It's an elevator to the beach!
Wow, no grueling stairs!  How handy!

The day's plan was to catch a morning train to London, stash luggage at the hotel and hot-foot it to the British Museum.  Although my third trip to London, it would be my first visit to the BA.

The taxi ride to the Bournemouth train station was brief. It was Saturday, the day after Black Friday, so the station was jammed with folks headed to London. Adding to the mahem, a train in another part of the system had broken down necessitating rerouting and delays.

Busy Bournemouth Station

Our train was only a few minutes behind schedule and we arrived at Waterloo Station shortly after noon. Rather than maneuver our ever-more-cumbersome luggage through a crowded tube station, we opted for a taxi.  Waterloo Station was just minutes from Russell Square where our White Grange Hotel on Montague Street awaited us.  Montague, the family name of the Earls of Salisbury during the fourteenth century and the name of her second, bigamous husband! One charming boutique hotel after another, decorated for the holidays, lined both sides of the street. The BA was just around the corner.

We made it through the bag-screening security process pretty quickly; not visiting during peak tourist season has some benefits!  Our destination was the Medieval Collection on the 3rd floor.

This highly decorated shield may
have be an example of a tournament prize. 

Many of the displays triggered recollections about the period and the people; especially poignant were the jewelry pieces from Edward IV and Richard III.  I found several displays particularly relevant to my book.  A jewel-embellished gold 'lover's broach' caught my eye.  Might the BP have given something similar to Joan?

The BP had one known illigitimate son, Roger of Clarendon. Not much is known about his mother except her name, Edith de Willesford. Who was Edith? How did Edward meet her? Was their relationship a one-night stand or did they have an ongoing affair?  The only clue was in Roger's name, Clarendon, likely his  birthplace.

My research had revealed that Clarendon Palace boasted the largest deer park of all the royal residences, so it was plausible that the BP might have gone there to hunt. Also, it had been a favorite residence of Edward's great-grandmother, Eleanor of Provence.

Queen Eleanor's Mosaic Floor - Clarendon Palace

Glancing up and around the gallery, a memory surfaced. There, displayed on the wall above me was the mosaic tile floor from Eleanor's rooms at Clarendon. It must have been truly magnicent in its original setting, adding color and beauty to what might otherwise have been drab stone rooms.

Nearby, a pair of mosaic tile medalions caught my eye. One depicted Richard I (Lionheart) riding a destrier with lance lowered; the other, Saladin pierced by the lance. King Henry III had this scene painted on the walls of the Antioch Chamber at Clarendon. Might the BP comment on this painting in a scene in my book?

Lionheart (L) Charging Saladin

While Mary shopped, I meandered through a couple of the Egyptian galleries. The mummy display room was jammed with strollers and noisy children obviously enjoying their outings with doting grandparents.

I wandered into the Egyptian sculpture gallery where massive stone Gods gazed down upon us mere mortals.

My energy flagging, I located Mary, carefully selected a few lightweight, easily-packable items and paid for my treasures.  A short walk and we were back in our cozy hotel happy to have fully functioning high-speed internet once again.

The only thing left to do was to completely repack my luggage, transferring some of the heavier items from the tote to the suitcase. I made certain my laptop was fully charged for the flight back.

It's been an incredible adventure and I hope you have enjoyed traveling along with me and maybe learned a bit about the BP, too.  Thank you for your company.

I bid you ȃbientot, my friends.  See you all again soon!

P.S.  I discovered a Meet-Up group in Tucson for people who want to emprove their French! What fun!