I see London, I see France...

After a few days with Andy and Kaye, we went to the south side of London to spend a day or two with our boss and his wife, Mike and Julie. Glenn spent one day in the London office with Mike, asking questions, going over budgets, making plans for the future...

and then the day we were to fly out, they took us to the British coast to see the cliffs! We didn't go as far as the famous white cliffs of Dover, but almost. We saw some pretty impressive white cliffs!

The cliffs are chalk (pure calcium carbonate with black flecks of flint) and the water close to them is a whitish green because of all the chalk "dust". It was quite an awesome sight for miles and miles.

The cliffs, 10 miles long, drop as much as 107 meters down into the Strait of Dover, which separates England from France.

I was not about to trespass beyond the wire fence. Going to the edge of the cliffs is very dangerous as it can break off and plummet into the water below. This is also where some folks have committed suicide. I preferred to go down to the water's edge and look UP, rather than go to the edge and look DOWN.

We had taken a sack lunch and found a nice roadside park next to a sheep pasture for our scenic picnic. It was quite lovely. And quite a surprise to see a phone booth out in the country!! Who makes calls from out there? The shepherds??

And before we left London, Elaine (who used to live down the street from us in Budapest) and Julie took me to Costco! Can you believe it??? It was like I had walked into America. Even though I had recently been to America (three times, actually), I managed to buy a few items. Surprised, are you?

Then we got on a train and went to France via the Chunnel. It is called the Chunnel because it is a 50 kilometer tunnel built underneath the English Channel. Even though evidence shows the first mention of building a tunnel connecting France and England as early as 1802, construction did not begin until 1988. Yes, 180 years later. The Chunnel was 80% over budget when it was finally completed in 1994.

I love riding on trains. I think they are my favorite mode of transportation. I would love to go on a long ride to some exotic place, but I've slept in their sleeper cars. They aren't very comfortable!

We stayed in Gentilly, a suburb of Paris, with Jerry and Kathy who also do member care with us. They took us out to see the Chateau de Fontainebleau, originally built in the twelfth century. While there, I got to enjoy great Middle Eastern kebabs. Yum!

Chateau de Fontainebleau, a gorgeous castle about 55 kilometers south of Paris, has been inhabited by many, many kings and emperors throughout the history of France. Each king or queen has either built additions or remodeled sections of the castle according to their own taste or needs. It was interesting to see what was important to each leader, and the egos some of them had.

After visiting the chateau, we walked through the quaint little town of Fontainebleau and enjoyed the stroll among the shops.

And the pastry shops, called patisseries, were incredible! Truly edible!

We saw London, we saw France, but when we got home, we did our happy dance!

We love to travel to see our co-workers, but home is always a good place for us to be, even if it is for just a few days. How long? 6 days. Next stop? Germany. Auf Viedersehn! (That's "good-bye" in German.)