On the 22 nd of December we headed off from Roanne and drove to Calais to catch the ferry to Dover. It was still pretty cold and there was a lot of snow in the countryside near Calais, although the roads were clear. We stayed overnight in Calais and set off in the morning. The Ferry trip is only 2 hours and quite pleasant - a somewhat bigger ship than ours!
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| Laurel enjoying her Christmas gift...an amazing Kindle. |
We had decided to stay in Brighton at the Premier Inn, which is right in the centre of town. There was lots of snow on the downs, but the roads were clear. That evening Cordelia and Britt joined us and we went out for an Indian (our stay in France had seen us suffering Curry withdrawal symptoms).
On Xmas eve we did a final bit of shopping in Brighton and Worthing and popped into Dawns to drop off some of the goodies we brought from France and some of the presents.
On Xmas morning we headed down to the Beach to see the Xmas swim - well dip really as they weren't allowed in for more than 2 minutes, because of the cold.
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| Britt and Cordelia with Santa's helper. |
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| The girls with the winter swimmers in the background |
Then off to Dawns for Xmas day. We arrived at Dawns and had a lovely lunch, and then Mark had organised the Beaters truck to take us up to Chanctonbury ring. The downs were really snowy and we took toboggans up with us and had a wonderful time playing in the snow. Magical, just like a Xmas card!
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| On board: Wills, Matthew and Sue |
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| Britt and Laurel on the straw bails |
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| Sophie, Cordelia and the dogs |
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| Cordelia and Britt...city slickers |
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| Dawn the real countrywoman |
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| Jenny and laurel, well rugged up |
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| Sue |
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| Mark our fearless leader |
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| Andy feeling the cold |
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| Mid winter madness...Cordelia and Britt |
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| more madness |
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| final fling! |
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| Delicate ice tracery on leaves |
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| Sophie |
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| Possibly Laurel |
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| Sophie takes to the slope |
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| Brrrrr! |
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| Andrew could never resist a sled! |
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| Britt, a Qld girl, never having seen so much snow takes advice from Sophie about sledding....what could go wrong? |
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| "It's easy, just steer with this" |
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| Britt and Cordelia |
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| No really, it is sooo easy. |
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| Sue and laurel |
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| Britt, Andrew and Mark |
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| Sue, Laurel, Andrew and Mark |
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| Off she goes! |
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| Maybe adding Cordelia will help? |
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| No |
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| Happy days Cordelia |
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| It is very very cold |
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| Britt loves the snow |
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| Mathew mastering the dodgy sled |
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| These two love the camera |
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| All aboard! |
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| The family gathered around 'Terry's tree |
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| Saying Hello to Terry |
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After a busy afternoon we headed back to Dawn's for Dinner. She had laid on a magnificent feast, Turkey, vension Gammon and all the trimmings . After our day in the snow we tucked in and had a wonderful time. After an orgy of presents' tummies full and on a cold, misty night we headed home to Brighton. A perfect Christmas day, fantastic food, Dawn did us all proud, great company and fun in the snow, not to mention some great presents.
After a visit to the Xmas sales we headed back to Dawns in the afternoon to see if we had left any food! Once again we had a fantastic dinner, there seemed to be as much as on Xmas day - so we did our best to stuff ourselves silly! After dinner we had great fun playing charades and a game where you are given something to draw and the other team members have to guess what it is (Pictionary). Our team was doing really well until Dawn had to draw "Henry the Hoover". Unfortunately her Aussie team members had never heard of it! (It is a vacuum cleaner with a face on it and very well known in England) . After many frustrating minutes for Dawn, and much hilarity, we got there!
We had a delightful Christmas - Dawn and Mark should be very proud of setting up such a fantastic time - a Christmas that will go down as one of the best ever!
Then onto London where we stayed in Cordelias house in London. She very kindly donated her bed to her aging parents and slept on the sofa. We managed a day out at Windsor castle with Britt, Annie and Cordelia.
On the weekend we did a trip to the Mayors New Years parade in the city, which seemed to be mainly comprised of American school marching bands, plus a double decker bus loaded with English Town Mayors...very odd parade. We had a quick peek at Cordelia's office and a stroll down Portobello Road. Cordelia lives in Shepherds Bush which is truly a league of nations these days...all very colourful . We visited Sevilla and Mark and had a lovely lunch with them. London has not changed yet everything had changed...as it should be really in such a big city. Loved the Oyster card system for public transport, fast and easy and cheaper than paying per trip. We would like to thank Joel, Aiden, Adam and Britt for having us for the week...what a nice group of people.
We visited a few Supermarkets in our last days to buy all those things which are hard to get in France. We also had a shopping list from other English in the port - our list included Curry paste, cheddar cheese, pickles, horseradish sauce, Mango chutney, gravy powder and porridge.
Then back on the ferry to Calais where we stayed overnight before the drive back to Roanne. We had a great meal in Calais....we have to say that restaurant food in France was far better than the UK. Now just 700 kilometres in one day and we are back in Roanne. Ah it was good to be home!
