Crossing the English Channel

For crossing over to England, Calais in Northern France is the perfect place! Julius Caesar departed from this region in 55 BC to conquer Britain, as did William the Conqueror in 1066 and Louis XV in 1215 (though he failed) as well as Henry Tudor in 1532 to claim the throne (later Henry VIII, the guy with six wives and his own church denomination). The last story inspired Game Of Thrones, did you know?

In the background, you can see some historical buildings such as the red town hall. In the foreground, hundreds of people and cars are waiting for their transfer or another's arrival. During the trip, we felt the ferocious winds on the Channel tearing at our clothes ... we felt like we could take off by opening and spreading our jackets like wings! Luckily, no one went overboard, though some people got seasick due to the extraordinarily high waves.

Upon arriving, we saw the famous white chalk cliffs (Cliffs of Dover) towering over the island and the relatively tiny human buildings. The Roman legionaries must have had a hard time climbing them, though it was probably not as depicted in "Asterix and Obelix".

Eventually, we got some good weather with nice sunshine, so we could see the coastline and the blue water ... our bus took us along the coast for a bit before entering the mainland. A beautiful and lively city on the coast is Brighton with a beach and amusement parks: We tried fish and chips with vinegar (not for everybody) and did a ghost tour on the famous pier. However, we ended up laughing all the way because the effects were so crazy. Normally, we are afraid of the unknown, right? But also humour works with the unexpected ... there has to be a link between these two.

You have to admire the majesty of the natural cliffs ... however, even they are slowly eaten away by the constant ebbing of the water gnawing at their feet. How will they look like in a few decades, especially if the sea levels continue to rise due to the melting of the polar ice caps? The coastal regions might encounter problems sooner or later ...

Let us hope that the cliffs will be preserved for a bit (along with the iconic Cliffs of Moher in Ireland, see my other blog posts following), and let us try our best to evade pollution by reducing the number of extensive flights, cutting away unnecessary use of plastic, combatting food waste and switching off the lights and electronic devices we don't need ... it will save us money and hassle and preserve life and nature for our future and future generations!