Experiences in England

Our time in England was a wonderful mix of adventures. While we didn’t have time to do everything that we wanted (or see everyone we wanted!), we were able to accomplish quite a bit.

We asked the kids for their highlights and here is what they wrote:

T:  Moments marquants de notre séjour en Angleterre

1. Marcher dans le champ et trouver de la potterie et autres choses. J’imagine que ça aurait pu être un dépotoir ancien du village Chipping Campden ou  des restes des maisons historiques!
2. J’ai beaucoup aimé rester chez les amis de mes parents, pour m’en faire un de nouveau! On est restés chez nos amis S, J, J et D pour un week-end. J’était ravi de jouer avec J- jouer à Clash Royale, à Pokémon et j’ai aussi aimé parler avec lui! Dans le futur j’aimerais leur rendre visite de nouveau!
3. En Angleterre, il y a une série de livres que j’adore appellée Horrible Histories. Il y  en a plein que je n’ai pas lus encore. Quand même, j’en ai déjà acheté beaucoup pour une livre (argent britannique) chacun! Parlant de passe-temps britanniques, un autre ami m’a montré un jeu de cartes que j’ai beaucoup apprécié. Maintenant j’ai plusieures versions du jeu Top Trumps. Cela s’achète pour une livre aux magasins de charité.A: Les moments marquants

1. J’ai beacoup apprécié “tea time” et j’ai mangé une part gigantesque de gâteau au chocolat, des crumpets avec de la confiture aux fraises et du thé.
2. Nous avons bien aimé se promener dans les champs près de notre village de Chipping Campden. On a marché à travers des moutons (et à travers de leurs crottes!!) C’était comme si on jouait à un jeu vidéo où  il fallait naviguer afin d’éviter les crottes de moutons.
3. C’était très agréable de renouveler notre amitié avec S, J, J et D. J’ai particulièrement aimé jouer avec ma nouvelle amie, D.  Le samedi, on s’est promenées le long de la rivière de Guildford à Godalming.

For us, our highlights included:

The Cotswolds — this was high on the wish list and it was certainly worth it for such picturesque landscapes. We really enjoyed being based in Chipping Campden and a cute, little cottage just off the High Street. The town did a wonderful job of creating a brochure for children aimed at spotting the unique architectural features of the homes along the High Street (the “decrottoirs” to scrape off dirty boots just outside front doors, sundials on the south facing walls of many homes along the High Street, and the significance of the initials carved into the second floor masonry).  We enjoyed exploring the Cotswold Way and we spent several hours walking along the numerous public footpaths enjoying the beautiful scenery.

We were lucky to visit the workshop of Hart Silversmiths, one of the few remaining workshops that was started by Charles Ashbee. We even got to see Cotswolds Tourism filming a short video and we heard the current owner, David, talk about his craft.

Bath — this was on the recommendation of several friends and colleagues who praised the Roman Baths as a unique and fascinating place to visit. The city itself was also a pleasure to visit, although we had to contend with Storm Doris, which apparently blew off a slate shingle that decapitated someone! Fortunately, nothing so dramatic happened to us, but it was incredibly windy.

The Baths were an excellent experience and well worth the visit (although none of us particularly cared for the taste of the “healing waters”). The museum has been well-designed for families and the kids were fascinated learning about Roman times. The city itself was also full of beautiful Georgian buildings.

London — so many things to talk about here! We filled our time and filled it well, with trips to London Tower (and the Crown Jewels), the Globe Theatre (we had read a book about Shakespeare which really helped prepare the kids for the visit), Tower Bridge, walking along the Thames, attending the musical  “School of Rock” in a Covent Garden theatre, Greenwich and the Royal Observatory (straddling the Prime Meridian!), the Emirates Air Line cable car over the Thames, taking the Thames Clipper as well as a visit to Selfridges (we watched the entire series of Mr. Selfridge on Netflix so it was a must visit). We also got to see some (but not all) of our friends who live in the UK, so a repeat visit will be in order in the future.

Louth — where is Louth, you may ask? Good question! While it isn’t usually on the typical tourist itineraries, we added it to ours because of a family connection. It is near the east coast of the middle of the UK (in Lincolnshire). We rented a car in Stratford-upon-Avon and drove out for a few days. It gave us the chance to explore the coast (which we otherwise wouldn’t have seen) and it gave the kids a chance to see where their great grandfather (and great, great grandmother) lived. The house (“Rose Cottage”) is still there and hopefully the current residents didn’t mind us sneaking a surreptitious photo in their front yard.

It was a packed trip and we could have easily spend our whole six months just in the UK. But, the continent beckons….next stop: Paris!