Monday 21 December

The last day of our tour started with a wake up call at 6am and the coach leaving at 7.30am. 12 of the 48 on tour are staying here, so we said goodbye to those who were awake, and were leaving Paris by 7.32am. 

Now for a stocktake of what has been lost: Belle left her neck pillow in Hong Kong under a table, we think at the airport, and dropped a little pink Eiffel Tower souvenir key ring someone on the tour gave her on the cruise last night. And Jarrod realised he left his neck pillow in the hotel in Venice…as we were driving out the driveway of said hotel 😕. Two of our suitcases have also not faired so well – a wheel broke off Ross’ and both handles snapped off on mine (and I’m using the Samsonite bag we bought in the US to bring home all our souvenirs! …..I guess they were lighter than all the clothes I’m travelling with this time…). However, all iPods and other valuables are in place, and for that I am thankful! 

On the way to Calais to catch the ferry across to Great Britain, we took a morning stop amongst the battlefields of the Somme, and almost 100 years later it is still mind boggling to think young men were made to climb out of trenches and face certain death (like at Gallipoli). Apparently military personnel are still on hand every week as items from the First World War are still regularly being dug up as the local farmers go about their business.

   
 We were scheduled to be on an early afternoon ferry to Dover, but made such good time and cleared customs so quickly, we were allocated to the 11.55am ferry instead. And that was even with the Joneses holding up quick passage through customs! We were given departure cards to fill out once we arrived at the border, but that is a process that always takes us some time to complete for a party of eight.

On the way in to customs, we drove past high barbed wire fences and a tent city that houses refugees. It was so sad to see. Over 7,000 people live there, some have been there for the last 18 months. They have no education, jobs or hope. The barriers were constructed once they started arriving because they were trying to jump on coaches and on backs of cars to sneak passage over to Britain, where they would be given 60 pounds per week by the government. Our coach was checked over closely including the baggage compartment before we were allowed to drive onto the ferry.

  
The trip to Dover was an hour and a half. We had lunch (sandwiches and paninis, but not as good as Italian ones!) in the food court on board and then moved to the front of the boat so we would have a good view of the white cliffs of Dover. Jarrod and Zac felt progressively worse with motion sickness as the trip went on, so they were extremely pleased to be back in the coach and driving off the boat! 

  
We then had another two hour coach trip before we arrived in the city of London. We said our goodbyes to everyone on tour and caught two taxis to our hotel. We are staying right near Oxford Street, so explored that…along with a cast of thousands! Ross barely coped with all the crowds 😬 – in a moment of weakness he even agreed to the kids having McDonald’s for dinner! He just couldn’t stand searching for a pub or restaurant amongst all the people. Abi bought some little key rings for her friends and we bought a suitcase to replace one of the broken ones. Today is the shortest day of the year, so our exploring which started at 4.30pm was all done under a pitch black sky! It gave us ample opportunity to enjoy the Christmas lights in all the streets. It is hard to believe it is four days until Christmas 🎄.