Day 3 Canterbury - Dover - Ferry English Channel - Rouen

There are no wasted moments on our trip...today we visited cathedrals in two countries/cultures, and plied  the water that separates them. First stop on our final day in England was Canterbury and its ancient cathedral. Built in 1070-1077 and the preeminent cathedral of the Anglican Church , it was the scene of the murder of Thomas Becket (as he prayed at the altar) in 1170. We learned about "Flying Buttresses" for construction of cathedrals, using a demonstration orchestrated by our Tour Director Emma Pask, and a dozen or so volunteers from the trip, then visited the interior of the Cathedral. The town of Canterbury surrounds the Cathedral, so we took some time to explore, buy some food, and prepare for our journey to Dover. Had a few problems we soon overcame, and headed off in our bus.

At Dover we saw the famous "White Cliffs", and the Dover castle built in 1066(?). We saw all this from our vantage point below the cliffs at the Dover docks, as we unloaded ths bus and transferred our stuff to the Channel ferry. It was a huge ship, carrying a full load of semi-trailer trucks on two decks, with three or four decks above for passengers witn shops, restaurants, louges, etc. The crossing took about 1 1/2 hours, and was really pleasant. What a busy shipping lane; we constantly saw other big passenger and cargo ships as we sailed.

We arrived in Calais, France, and loaded our gear into another bus for the trip to Rouen. Beautiful French countryside all the way, with a stop for snacks at a Shell "Arie" along the way. It's a French version of our Turnpike rest area, but nicer, less crowded, and cleaner. Back on the bus, we motored another two hours to Rouen. Its cathedral is the former tallest building in the world, later surpassed by the Eiffel Tower and a German Cathedral, but still having an impressively high spire. We headed directly for supper at a hidden-away restaurant in the middle of the old city, It turned out to be our best supper so far. Wonderful meat and potato entree (with alternate veggie meal for some), with a surprise chocolate desert we loved. The staff were accomodating to us, and we were grateful to them. Kudos for this wonderful surprise end to our day. On the way back to the bus, we checked out the spot where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake, another sobering reminder that European history is not all pleasant. Tomorrow another reminder: Normandy

 Pics posted at  http://picasaweb.google.com/jlphil7584/2010EnglandFranceTrip02#