Grand Tour Blog

Grand Tour Day 9

Written by Jesse '19, Photos by Van '19, and video by Bron '19. 

As our bus pulled away from our Caen hotel at 6:20 AM, the darkness of night shrouded the beautiful countryside surrounding us. 15 minutes into our 4 hour drive to Calais, the majority of the class had already nodded off back to dreams of their soft Hawaiian beds, warmer weather, and rice. As the sun began to rise at around 8, more and more heads began to perk up and gaze at the incredible colors of the sunrise playing upon the rolling green hills and acres of farmland. This delightful sight stretched as far as our eyes could reach, dotted intermittently by small towns and rivers. 

After a short pit stop about halfway through, the class began to share the takeaways we had from the previous heavy day at the beaches of Normandy and D-Day museums. The rest of the bus ride was kept in relative silence as each person popped in some earbuds and gazed back out at the picturesque scenery and mulled over the gravity of the sacrifice made for our freedom.

We then arrived at the ports in Calais. After we went through French and British customs in Calais, we boarded the ferry that would take us across the English Channel to Dover. The 2-hour hop across the ocean passed in the blink of an eye, and we were soon on top of the famous white cliffs en route to Dover Castle. 

When we got to the castle, the class unloaded from the bus and began to explore the property. Up and down spiral staircases we went, peering into dark chambers and walking on bulwarks around the perimeter of the castle. The lush deep green foliage contrasted the pale grey walls rising up tens of feet in front of us. The blue sea could always be found with a quick glance over the edge of the bluff on which the castle was built.

Finally as the day started slowing and the sun began to droop towards the horizon, we boarded the bus once more and set off towards our new hotel for the most important part of the whole day: dinner. Thick clouds of fog hovered over the southern English countryside as we plowed down the highway on the left side of the road. The bright blue, sunny skies of Normandy was traded in for the dark ominous clouds of England—constantly suggesting an oncoming rainstorm, but never quite providing the rain.