For a change of pace, we opted to spend a week in Calais before heading to London. We had to figure out how to move from Paris to London and decided that it would be fun to take the ferry across the English Channel as opposed to taking the Eurostar tunnel. After studying the ferry options, we decided the run from Calais to Dover, at an hour and a half, would be our best option. TGV high speed trains run from Paris to Calais as well, so that simplified our plans.
Saturday
We finished packing up in Paris and caught the 26 bus to Gare de Nord. We always like to plan for issues and we really didn’t want to miss our train, so we arrived at the station an hour before departure. Keller camped out with all our luggage (of which we have WAY TOO MUCH), while the kids and I bought sandwiches and desserts at a local bakery to eat on the train.
When our train platform was announced, we got in line, scanned in, and found our train without a problem. It was another high speed TGV train and topped out at 180 mph! Calais was the second stop on the line, after Lilles.
Once we arrived in Calais, we were supposed to catch a little shuttle train from the Frethun station to Calais Ville — near the city hall. Unfortunately, I made a mistake and we ended up taking the wrong train. And not just one little shuttle train going the opposite direction. Nope! Instead we got on ANOTHER TGV high speed train where the first stop was … Lille. Yes — the same town we were in 30 minutes before. Fortunately the kind conductor took pity on us and didn’t make us pay a fine or buy tickets for the wrong train. That being said, once we arrived in Lille, we had to change stations there (a 10 minute walk) and then take a NON-high speed train back to Calais. So 30 minutes going to Lille, plus another 90 minutes back to Calais. We got to see more of the French countryside, so there’s that! Ultimately we did get to Calais, where we were supposed to be, with all our stuff. Just two hours later than planned. Oops!
We had a short 15 minute walk from the station to our AirBNB. The apartment is great! It has more space, with three bedrooms and a large kitchen. There’s a small backyard the kids can run around in and it’s a quiet residential area. Restaurants and the city square are just a 5 minute walk from here, but it feels so different from Paris already!
After unpacking, I walked to the grocery store to get some basics. The options were a bit limited, but I found most of what we need for a couple of days. Grocery stores close around lunch time on Sundays, so I wanted to get at least some things in the fridge on Saturday. I did miss the weekly market, so grocery store produce isn’t nearly as attractive and affordable as it was at the Paris markets!
For dinner, Keller chose an amazing seafood restaurant called Oh Mouettes. We enjoyed everything that we ordered, including an assorted seafood platter, cod, and shrimp risotto. The desserts were tasty too! It is hard to find fresh seafood inland, so being on the coast is a definite bonus!
Everyone was tired and was ready for bed by the time we got back home.
Sunday
Sunday morning we all slept in! The apartment has wonderful metal shutters for the bedrooms and the rooms stay very very dark, despite the morning sun. Caden slept until 10, while Kamy made it all the way to 10:30! We were all a bit tired from traveling. As this is our “down week,” we have very little planned and will take it slower.
After breakfast I walked down to the Tourist Information center to grab some flyers about things in the area. I also stopped at the other small grocery store in town for more produce.
We ate lunch at London Bridge, a pizza place in the old part of Calais. It was decent, but nothing earth shattering either. We then walked down to the Hotel de Ville. There is a famous sculpture by Rodin in front of the city hall, called the Six Burghers. It memorializes the six men who surrendered on behalf of the city while under an English siege in order to spare the rest of the residents.
We bought the Calais Visitor Pass for the week which covers most of the “attractions” in town. One of the included sites was going to the top of the Belfrey tower of city hall. The viewing platform is 55 meters high, while the top spire reaches up to 75 meters! The Hotel de Ville was one of the few buildings in this part of Calais that survived WWI and WWII — mostly losing stained glass windows during the war. The guide was very helpful and provided a lot of little tips and tidbits about Calais from our birds’ eye view. Calais was 80% destroyed by the end of WWII, so very few buildings survived.
One of the things we could see from the Belfrey was the train station. Surprisingly, the Orient Express train was actually parked in the station! The Venice Simplon Orient Express is a private, luxury train that runs from London, through Calais and Paris, and on to Venice. The staff were readying the train for departure, but they did not mind us walking alongside the train to look at it. Tickets are $3000 per person, one way! The train was in beautiful condition though, as the 1930s train cars have been restored.
There’s a small shuttle bus that runs up and down the main street in Calais, so we hopped on for a few stops just for fun!
I’d picked up a flyer about local Brocantes (second hand sales) this summer and was told the best one running today was the one up by the beach. We wandered back through Old Calais and up to the parking lot for the brocante. Unfortunately, we were a bit too late — everyone was either packing up or already gone. Oh well!
We then walked back down the beach toward the Port of Calais and our apartment. The tide was mostly out, so there was a huge expanse of beach to explore. The weather remained cool and windy though, so we were a bit chilly!
At one point Keller hit the kids’ beach ball over their heads and they had to run, run, run to try to catch it. The wind was blowing steadily though, so they didn’t make up any ground. Fortunately, another person further down the beach saw the ball and the kids and caught it for them. Both kids were a bit irritated with Daddy and wouldn’t give him the ball back. I can’t say I blame them! =)
Monday
Another sleepy morning meant we hung out at the apartment for the morning. Keller picked out an awesome place for lunch — La Route des Epices. The food was quite tasty and different! It was a combination of Mediterranean flavors, including Greek, Moroccan, and southern Spain. It was also quite affordable. The kids especially liked the dessert — hollow chocolate balls filled with mango mousse.
Next we walked down to the City of Lace and Fashion museum. Calais was one of the centers of the lace trade and employed many people in making lace, both by hand initially and by machine after the invention of the Jacquard machines. We even got to see a demonstration of one of the large machines in action! We learned how the lace patterns are designed and how the punch cards are made. It’s no wonder lace was a luxury item! Both kids picked out little souvenirs from the gift shop.
We took the little ferry boat up the canal a bit, as Caden and Keller are always up for boats!
Then Keller walked back to the apartment for work while the kids and I checked out the two playgrounds in the area. They liked the playground at Parc Saint Pierre better.
Tuesday
We stayed in this morning and I cooked lunch at home. I’m actively practicing the sauces I learned in my Paris cooking class, so now I have new recipes to try! Today I made pork loin with a red wine and shallot sauce (with lots of butter). It was pretty tasty!
Our Visit Calais Pass gives us free admission to the Museum of Fine Arts, so we popped in to check it out. The most interesting exhibit was about Rodin, as Calais commissioned him to create the Six Burghers statue. Apparently the city liked his first plaster sculpture better than the finished product but Rodin didn’t care.
We also saw a memorial sculpture to WWII with Charles de Gaulle and Winston Churchill in the local park.
We also walked over to the Calais Lighthouse. One of the employees took the time to explain more about Calais and the different lighthouses. This one was considered “paradise” because there was an attached house for the keeper and his family to live in. Other locations are either “purgatory,” which have a small mooring for access, or “hell” which is built directly in the sea and can only be accessed via ropes from the top of the light house. No thank you! He also explained that the ferries between Calais and Dover cannot go straight across the English Channel. Not only are there shallow seas in the middle of the Channel, but there are numerous shipwrecks and airplane remains just outside the harbor. The lighthouse is one of the handful of buildings that survived the wars — the top light was destroyed but the rest remained standing.
There are 274 steps to the top of the light house! Fortunately our legs are pretty accustomed to stairs by now! The wind was really blowing while we were up there and made us feel very cold. We didn’t stay very long, it was too cold!
Wednesday
Today we went to La Moulinere to try mussels! As Calais is on the sea, we figured this was the best place to have sea food. We started by ordering two mussel entrees, to see what the kids thought of them. They both liked the mussels, especially Caden! We ordered a full pot of mussels as one of our plats and Caden happily ate almost all of them! The fish was particularly tasty too.
We’ve already apologized (tongue in cheek) for giving the kids high standards for food. So far this trip they’ve tried everything from raw herring to escargot to frog legs, to tripe and sweet breads, to froi gras, to mussels. You can’t accuse them of not trying something new!
We then walked to the Museum of Memories, which is focused on Calais during WWII. It was a small museum but had a lot of interesting photographs and posters from the war. It’s been really interesting to Keller and myself to visit these places that were significant in the war. We learned some about WWI and WWII when we were in school, but it always seemed so “long ago” and so far away. To realize and internalize that this was only seventy years ago adds another layer of understanding. The kids have had some great questions about the bits and pieces of history we’re crossing, and I’ve had to admit several times that I just don’t know the answer. But that’s okay. Not knowing isn’t a problem, not being willing to understand is. We should definitely return to the Normandy area in a few more years once we’ve studied that time period.
After the museum, Keller took the kids to the apartment and I walked over to the Calais Ferry Terminal. I rented a car for the next two days so I could drive to Posterenk for my grandmother’s memorial service. While I rented a compact automatic, they ended up giving me a “huge” Ford Galaxy minivan / SUV thing instead. Gas mileage wasn’t as good, but Keller was happy that I was in a bigger car. I put huge in quotes because it’s all relative. After spending the last two months looking at European cars, this one looks big to me. Of course, our truck at home will seem massive in a few more weeks!
I used the rental car to visit a larger grocery store farther away, so I stocked up on food and snacks for Keller and the kids over the next few days. I cooked dinner back at the apartment and got packed up after the kids were in bed.
Thursday
I left early in the morning to drive to Roelof’s house. Google maps said best case would be 3 hours 45 minutes, so I was pleasantly surprised to be there in 4.5 hours. I’ll take it! My parents arrived the day before, so they were already there. We ate a light lunch with Roelof and Jose before the rest of the family arrived. As I have a big car, I was drove to the funeral home and then to the memorial chapel for the service. I was able to follow most of what was said during the service. After the service, we placed the flowers on Opa’s grave and then everyone met up for dinner at a local restaurant.
It was nice to get to see most of the family again, though obviously for a sad reason. I am glad my Oma is at peace now.
Meanwhile, Keller and the kids ventured south from Calais to check out the Nausicaa National Sea Center aquarium. It has one of the largest tanks in Europe and was brand new. The facilities were pretty nice, but Keller thought it was a bit lacking in the whole “fish” category.
They struck out at the lunch restaurant. The food was a disaster, with raw meat with no seasoning for Kamy and way undercooked pizza for Caden. The photos turned out nicely though! 😉 The kids and Keller left scathing reviews on Google Maps for their trouble.
While I was having a big family dinner in Wilp, I asked Keller to forward me the photo of the kids eating mussles from a couple days before. Instead they sent me this photo!
Late that night, Greet and Ap’s cow delivered a little heifer calf. She looks so precious!
Friday
I got up and rolling first thing Friday morning to drive back to Calais. One of my Alpha Gam friends was actually in Belgium at the time, so we managed to meet up for lunch on my way back to France. It was great to see her again and catch up with all the big things going on in our lives! Otherwise my drive back was uneventful. For some reason, the French really like to hide their gas stations, but I was finally able to track down a station to fill the tank. After returning the rental car I walked back to our apartment.
Keller and the kids hung out all day. Keller cooked fajitas for lunch and then everyone went down to the beach.
The weather was a bit warmer and the sun was out, so the kids happily played in the surf and on the sand for a long time while Keller sat and read on his Kindle. If you ask the kids, it was a perfect down day.
Then back to the apartment for showers and dinner. We ate dinner at Aqua Aile with a spectacular view over the beach. The food was a bit disappointing, but the setting was beautiful regardless. We finished packing and got ready for a full day of travel to London!
The kids decided they really liked a lot about Calais — the larger apartment, quiet streets, minimal traffic, and the close beach were all popular elements. We continue to learn more about what choices work best for our family as we travel and are taking close notes for “next time.” =)