We awoke earlier after a really awful sweat filled night in a room that was even hotter than the first two. Not even the fan helped. We got some breakfast at Tesco's and sat outside in the courtyard where it was cooler. We went into the lobby of the Travel Lodge to try get a WiFi connection....another complaint. They advertised free WiFi and then went.....it's only free in the lobby. We loaded the car and left with very little good will toward the Travel Lodge.
Pete drove and Neil and Jess did the navigation thing to get us out Cambridge. We headed to the motorway that would take us to the ring road around London. We saw London in the distance and waved. We reached the totally huge bridge that crossed the Thames estuary. It was very, very big.
We stopped for coffee in Canterbury. We were able to see the cathedral from afar, but we had little time for more because we had a timeline to keep.
We made it to Dover where we needed to board the car ferry that would take us to France. We saw the white cliffs in Dover and around the ferry port and were able to get a few pictures. The ferry was late in loading. We watched semis, buses, and lots of cars drive onto the ferrry while we waited our turn. Pete had to drive up this tiny and tight ramp to park, but he did it well. We went upstairs to the passenger area planning to get pictures of the white cliffs as we sailed from Dover across the English Channel. However, it was not meant to be. By the time the ferry finished loading the fog had started to settle in. It got progressively foggier and by the time we sailed you could not see the cliffs at all. The fog finally lifted as we approached Calais in France.
We were lucky and were among the first group that got off the ferry. We had done the passport thing in England before we boarded the ship, so we got off and started following the signs to the road to take us to Rouen. They had signs posted reminding drivers to drive on the right.
The road that we were on was a toll road, and we had no Euros. We stopped at a rest area. There was one cash point, and it didn't like non-French cards. Eventually, the cafe exchanged 20 GBP for 20 Euros....one really awful exchange rate, but we thought we needed the Euros to pay for the toll.....they had a credit card lane for the English. Pete pulled close on the right (British) expecting the machine to be on his side.....but the machine was on the left....many feet away. Comic action on Neil's part as he stretched to reach the machine, dropped the card, and eventually got out and did it. British and European cards have chips in them.....
We reached Rouen with Neil and Jess navigating...one using a paper map and one using an iPhone. We found the hotel and even better we found a parking spot. Just like in England they park either direction....if there is a spot, it is fair game. We did go down one street where Neil and Jess were helping negotiate between the two sides.....it was rather limited space....saw a car with a side mirror dangling. We walked to our hotel and registered. It is a small hotel...more like a bed and breakfast....called the Hotel Arts Et Seine. The River Seine is just a short distance away. We registered and were directed to our rooms on the 3rd floor (the USA 4th floor). There is no elevator. The room was clean and more important, it was cool. We are on the front of the hotel and have a balcony door with a 10 inch wide balcony. Pete, Jess, and Joey are on the back side of the hotel overlooking a garden that has been turned into parking spaces for more than one establishment.
After being in the car all day (except for the ferry ride), we went for a walk around part of Rouen. We found Cathedral Square and some very old twisty alleys with shops. We eventually found a cafe/pub with outdoor seating in the same area as the carousel which is close to the cathedral. We had mac and cheese which was good. Pete and Jess shared some of their wine. There were really only two drawbacks to a very pleasant meal....one) the French seem to smoke a lot and it is apparently still legal in areas where food is served and 2) they were having some bands perform in the square. Lets see....how do we describe them..... BAD...DISCORDANT...TERRIBLE. It was apparently some type of experimental music....either that they skipped all of their music lessons. Fortunately, they didn't play more than one set.
After dinner, we headed back to the hotel for some sleep.
However, during the night we had party central in the streets below us. They partied until 4:30 AM. They were either very happy or very angry judging from the yelling and singing.
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