The evening before setting off with the car packed and destination planned, Egmond aan Zee said goodbye to us with a raging downpour and gale force winds. Fortunately by morning weather had cleared. Our drive to Calais, France and the Euro-tunnel was via major highways with the only stops; a draw-bridge open to allow several Dutch sailboats to cross and once for petrol. Calais itself was a much smoother drive this year as the “jungle” of “migrants” has been removed and the roadways are now free of blockades and fences. The check in area for us was the special pet area. Clean and very well organized this facility allowed us to check in and roll out faster then expected so we could board an early train then originally booked. The train itself seemed to be quite empty and boarding was simple a quick 20 minutes. Across the channel, England welcomed us with a typical grey damp atmosphere and a clinging mist that fogged our views of crumbling old Blighty. Aside from now driving on the “wrong” side of the road, there was quite a culture shock coming from ultra clean and super organized Netherlands. Our first planned stop was Leeds Castle. Unfortunately road work blocked every road we could find into the castle. We found ourselves on a muddy broken up trail barely wide enough for one car that was intended for two way traffic. Passing areas were little more then slightly less wooded areas where people decided to dump their garbage. Giving up on the Castle, we set our navigation system for the highway and our destination for the night. In the village of Bletchingley is the Whyte Harte pub and inn. A very rustic building with a crumbling rock front parking area only a few feet from the local traffic racing by through the damp roads.
