London - Day 1 - Chunnel and White Cliffs of Dover

On Wednesday, September 25th, we drove to our friend's house in Belgium.  We ended up getting a pretty late start and didn't get there until almost 11 pm.  The boys were so wound up that no way they were going right to bed, they were way too excited to see their friends Jack and Joey.  But we had a reservation the next morning for the Chunnel so we had to leave their house at 6:30 am.  So we didn't let them play too long before we sent them to bed.  But low and behold, Jack, AJ and Michael were up at 5 am!  I couldn't believe it!  Jack cooked the boys breakfast and everything.  That is when we decided to split them up for the first part of the trip so they could sleep.  Did my boys sleep on the drive?!?!  Of course not, they are stubborn ones.  But we were all really excited about going through the Chunnel.  We decided to do that instead of a ferry because it took a third of the time and it sounded really cool.

 

Here we are at the border control - we actually received stamps in our passports!!  We were excited!  I know it is silly to be excited about stuff like that, but Europe is so open that you can go to many countries and not get a stamp.

 

So now I have to do a little history lesson on the Chunnel.  I know you all love them!!  In 1802 Albert Mathieu puts forward the first design for a Channel Tunnel.   The first attempt at excavating a tunnel begins in 1880 when the "Beaumont and English" boring machine starts digging.  It is abandoned in 1882 due to concerns about compromising Britain's national defenses.  In 1984 British and French Governments announce their intention to seek promoters for the construction and operation of a fixed cross-Channel link.  13,000 engineers, technicians and other workers were employed to construct the Channel Tunnel and in 1987 the boring starts.  Eleven boring machines as long as two football fields dug 250 ft. per day.  The soil removed from the tunnel could fill the old Wembley Stadium 13 times.  In 1990 they had the first handshake under the Channel.   A Euro tunnel shuttle is 775 meters long and roughly the same as eight soccer fields.  The tunnels are kept dry by five sumps and pumping stations, three built under the sea and one on each shore.  Interesting fact, parked nose to tail, the vehicles that have travelled with Euro tunnel could reach the moon.  Also since 1994, the equivalent of four times the population of the UK has crossed the Channel with Euro tunnel.  They also decided to put wind machines on both sides of the Chunnel.  The wind farm at Euro tunnel produces enough energy to power the equivalent of 2,000 homes.

 

We are headed for our train - there are different heights so even motor homes, horses in horse trailers and buses can go through the Chunnel.

 

You can see you don't want to be wrong about the height of your car or width when you get on.

 

We are heading up to our spot in the train.

 

As you can see, they have different compartments and they bring down metal doors and seal them during the journey.   You stay in your car and have to roll your windows down half way.  Also my ears were bugging me with the drop in elevation.

 

Started moving towards the Chunnel

 

We are now in the Chunnel.  It is great, we just sit back and relax with the car off.  It is about a 35 minute trip.  We had all four boys in our car at the time and they were happy as clams playing their electronics.

 

Heading off the train onto England!  In just over 12 hours (which included sleep) we drove through five countries.

 

Following Steve and Kellee and driving on the wrong side of the road.  :-)  It is a little weird having the cars coming on my side instead of David's.

 

We passed these as we headed to the cliffs of Dover, they made me think of the rooftops on Mary Poppins and made me smile!

 

Then we made it to the Cliffs of Dover.  The boys were off and running!!!  Though I have to say, by the end of it, they weren't really running.  We walked them about 4 1/2 miles or more on uneven ground.  It was great!!!

 

The boys being boys, taking the high ground.

 

In 1884 men came here under very different circumstances than we did.  A prison once stood where the car park is and later soldiers were detained in the same buildings.  What you see in this picture is the active port of Dover.  This is where we would have arrived had we come on the ferry.  It is a very busy port.

 

The boys way ahead of us, I think they were tired of us telling them to stop complaining.  :-) 

 

AJ and Jack wandering the fields.

 

Looking back, this is the Dover castle.  It is huge and really well intact.  We decided after walking the boys so much and it costing almost $75 to go in, we passed on taking the tour on the inside.

 

The White Cliffs - simply amazing!!!

 

I could look at this view for a very long time.

 

I am not sure if you can see them very well but there are seagulls flying around the edge of the cliffs. 

 

If you look on the other side of that fence, there is an old bunker left from the war.

 

 

A little closer view.  In 1925 a tramway was built and the War Office was extending the barracks near Dover Castle.  During WWII super heavy guns capable of firing across the channel were installed on the cliff tops. 

 

I am not sure what this plane was doing, but it made a ton of passes.  We figured it was doing some training.

 

Look at the mountains in the background - that is France.

 

They put this sign up so you know what might happen if you get too close to the edge.  :-)  In case you didn't know already.

 

The lighthouse at the end of our walk.  Usually it is open and you can go up to the top, but it wasn't this day.  Of course that caused more grumbling from the young boys.

 

The lighthouse outside the fence.

 

The boys taking a snack break.

 

The eight of us at the White Cliffs!!!  It is so much fun to travel with friends!!!

 

The four of us at the cliffs!

 

Then we started the little over 2 mile walk back.

 

The kids decided the wanted to go down in this deep valley and then head up these "stairs" to where Steve is pointing.

 

Check out how steep they are - they are almost straight up in spots, sure had my quads working overtime!

 

Check out the colors in the water - they are a little muddy by the cliffs, but the different blues are amazing!!

 

Looking down at the cliffs from above.

 

AJ found this hole and wanted to get a picture right close to the white cliffs.

 

Steve and David celebrating with a beer that we made it back to the cars!!

 

We packed a picnic lunch to have here.  The boys were just glad to sit down for a little bit.

 

The group enjoying some lunch!!

 

So I thought this sign was great!!!  They are not playing games in England that is for sure!!  After that we headed to our hotel which was about an hour and a half drive.  We arrived and needed to get a few things, luckily Kellee booked us in one that was right across from the mall, so we did our shopping and then back to the hotel for dinner, where the kids eat free!!!  Also a good thing.  We enjoyed dinner and then hit the sack by 9:30, at least the kids and I, since we had been up so early and did a ton of walking.  It was a great first day and we were looking forward to going into downtown London tomorrow!