I see London, I see France (almost)

We had an easy passage across the Atlantic Ocean and landed in Southampton, England this morning. It is hard to believe that a week on the ship passed so quickly.  There were lots of activities, but mostly we dressed up for meals and ate.  Bronwyn and I took a Bridge class, we saw some theatrical productions, we went to some musical shows, we played a few board games in the lounge and Joan made a friend so the days passed quickly.  Did I mention that they had an incredible amount of food, including a chocolate extravaganza on the last night. 

The biggest frustration was the high cost and slowness of internet access.  Thus, we pretty much unplugged ourselves from the world for a week ... which was not a bad thing.

Yesterday at around 5 pm we sighted the first point of land (Bishop Rock) and started to make our way southeast toward the English channel.  By dawn, we could see England and the ship was starting its way inside the Isle of Wright and eventually into the harbor for Southampton.  Both Bronwyn and I slept poorly worrying about different things relating to the trip ahead so once I felt the ship turn and change its speed I decided to get up ( at 5 am) to watch the ship thread its way up to Southampton.

The early rising was worth it.  The view of the English shoreline was fantastic and included farms, fishermen, and ancient fortifications that looked like castles to me.  Watching the ship make its way up the winding channel both made me wish that we were sailing our own boat and glad that I was not trying to pilot the Queen Mary 2 through the confusing maze of channel markers.

The ship was docked by 6:30 a.m. and by we were on a bus headed to London by 9 a.m.  The beauty of taking an ocean liner to Europe was that we were so well rested that it wasn't hard to adjust to the time.  Of course, we left the ship about 10 pounds heavier than when we boarded the ship in New York.

By 11 a.m. we were standing in Victoria Station wondering how we were going to get all of our luggage through the crowd and down the steps into the Tube (there was no elevator), which we had planned to take to our bed & breakfast.  Eventually, we opted to take a taxi.  The good news was that London taxis can hold a lot of luggage.  The bad news is that we really didn't know where we were going.

While Bronwyn searched her phone and computer for the location of the B&B, and eventually used the taxi cab driver's phone to search the internet for the phone number of the B&B so that we could call and get an address.  After a few stressful minutes, Bronwyn talked to the owner of the B&B and got the address.  It turns out that the B&B was about as far as it could be from Victoria Station and still be in London.  However, the price was right.

Once we got settled in the B&B, we ate lunch and made our way back to Victoria Station on the Tube, where we picked up a bus tour of London.  It is hard to tell from the picture, but the highlight of the tour for Joan was riding on top of a double decker bus and getting to see Big Ben.  Well that might not be quite accurate, ... the highlight of the day for Joan may have been that we now have internet access again.

Tomorrow, we begin to visit some of the main attractions.

The Beginning of our Transatlantic Journey

After an uneventful morning in Brooklyn, we loaded our luggage into a taxi to take us to the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal.  We were I was a little anxious about our luggage, as Rick’s bag was way over the 22kg maximum weight!  I never realized what a clotheshorse my husband was!  Fortunately when we arrived at the cruise terminal, we had a very strong porter who did not seem phased by the weight and was pleased with the bribe tip.

After getting situated on board, we made our way to the outer decks to check out the pools, view, etc.

After a long life vest drill, the ship finally departed from the port.

What a beautiful afternoon to set sail in NY harbor.  

As we started to pull out of the port, I started to get weepy.  It totally took me off-guard, as I was not expecting this emotion.  But the reality of what we were about to do really took hold, and I realized that I was not going to be back in the US for a year.  Since I knew that we were not going to have cell phone service once we left the harbor, I quickly called my mother to tell her we were on our way.  I held back the tears as I talked to her…. but she could hear the homesickness in my voice.  She gave me some reassuring words, and then I could not help but laugh as I looked out on the deck and saw Joanie’s skirt practically up over her head.  It was very windy, and she could not keep her skirt down.  I needed that comic relief to break the wave of sadness that had crept in so suddenly.  Fortunately, Joanie had on a cute pair of undies!!  Several other passengers were also having wardrobe malfunctions, and those were not quite so pretty!

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Ok.  The title of this post is not accurate.  No airplanes will be involved in our travel to France, but "Trains, Automobiles and Ships" didn't seem to have quite the same ring to it.  Regardless of what you call it, we are finally on our way to France.  The vehicles are all sold, the mail is forwarded, the house is rented, the bills are set up for electronic delivery, and all the loose ends at work are tied up (hopefully).

We finished the ordeal of packing up our house (because it will be rented while we are in France) and we are on our way.  The last few days were like the end of a marathon.  Each night we would push our bodies to pack until we simply could not get our legs to climb the stairs one more time.  Just to add to the difficulty, at the same time we also decided to empty out our lake house so that it could be renovated while we are in France.  I don't remember being as tired and sore since the first week of summer soccer practice in high school.  Every night we asked ourselves if it was worth it.  Fortunately, we have wonderful friends and neighbors who took pity on us after the movers took our furniture bringing us food, providing childcare, inviting us to dinner, allowing us to use their washing machine (and actually doing our wash for us), and letting us sleep at their home (one night sleeping on the floor was enough).

Mary helping to pack up the kitchen

Mattie wiped out every closet and drawer!

Amid all the chaos, we also decided to have the kitchen floors refinished!  Yes, we are definitely certifiably crazy!

The day I most dreaded came on June 15th....the day we would have to say farewell to our four-legged family member, Frankie, for a year.  I know that he is in wonderful care with my friends Susan and Luke, but I definitely shed some tears that afternoon.  Susan took some wonderful photos the week before, so I have this one to help get me through the year...

We will look forward to connecting with Frankie through FaceTime over the months ahead!

We finally finished packing, and selling our last vehicle, shortly before midnight on Wednesday, June 17.  Fortunately, our wonderful friends again came to our rescue and allowed us to spend the night with them before we started the first leg of the journey - the drive to Lancaster, Pennsylvania to visit my mother and her husband.  We also were pleased to get to see Rick's brother Robb and his wife Jennifer before we left.  They drove all the way from Media to Lancaster (a 2-hour drive) to have dinner with us on Friday evening!


After two and a half days of rest, bowling and good food in Lancaster, we set out on the next leg of our journey today - a train ride from Lancaster to New York City.  

Ready to bowl

Tomorrow, we board the Queen Mary 2.  Bronwyn plans to spend the 7-day sea voyage in the spa, I plan to read and hibernate for a week, and Joan is looking forward to the kids activities.

All aboard.....the ride from Lancaster to NYC

Thanks to everybody who helped us get on the road.  It is times like this where we really appreciate our wonderful friends, neighbors and family.