Hi England

This past weekend we had Monday off from school (Armistice in France - and Remembrance Day in Canada!) so Yann took the long weekend as an opportunity to visit his sister who lives in England.  Well it was magnificent (here's me trying to describe things that I enjoy without using the words "cool" or "awesome." I will probably last less than 3 paragraphs without using a thesaurus).

Yann's sister Anais (??? I hope I spelled that right.. I have about as much trouble with French names as the rest of the world does with mine) lives in an adorable neighbourhood in Folkestone, England.  Picture a big, cottage-like home that has lots of trees and vines around it, in a neighbourhood of adorable brick houses and bright green, grassy lawns.  I felt like I stepped into Wendy's house from Peter Pan! They live within walking distance of the ocean, and after taking a somewhat woozy ferry ride over Saturday night, we got up Sunday morning and went for a nice long walk. It actually lasted all day, and I got to see so many different beauties of Folkestone while we were out!

Getting face-whipped by my hair and the weather on the ferry

Like I mentioned the daughters of Anais and her husband, Richard, are gorgeous girls.  Here's a few of my favourite photos of them.

Margot!

Isabelle!

And some photos of our walk along the sea:

Anais on the left and Margot!

Folkestone, aka the most homey and loveliest English town ever

We stopped at this hilarious and amazing place for lunch called the Cabin Cafe, where all the semi-truck drivers stop in for refreshments and some good hearty English cooking.  It had the coolest ambiance, and I had a "Full House" English breakfast while listening to a bunch of weathered old English men talk (not really understanding though, they had thick accents!) back and forth.

hilarious old english guy had quite the character, I wish I'd had the nerve to ask him for a better photo

~~~~~ BEHOLD ~~~~~

After our lunch we explored some more.  It was getting cold and we'd been walking all day, so Theophane and Richard took the girls home by taxi, while Anais showed Yann, Marie Jo and I some more of Folkestone on our long, but lovely walk home.

Remembrance Day yarn bombing: AWESOME 

There was this really interesting abandoned railway Anais brought us to that had this neat statue right in the middle of it.  Anais said it's currently her favourite place in Folkestone, and I can see why! It had such an eerie but cool feel to it.  They're going to be building homes or something there soon though which is a shame :(

Stopped for an afternoon espresso and tea!

AWE SIBLINGS

This was on a big read phone booth on which each little window had something written by a kid.  This was one of my favourite ones. "Art is for everyone not just for smashing!" You tell 'em Kevin.

Then Anais brought us to one of her favourite artworks you can find in Folkestone.  I'll let Folkestone fill you in on that:

so stunning 

We walked through an artsy part of town on the way home and I was loving every minute of it.  It really made me want to move to Folkestone.

hahahahaha this is just funny I mean come on

I GOT A TATTOO

The window into one of the most amazing thrift/vintage stores I have ever seen: "Skylarks"
ps. totally kidding about the tattoo ;)

Brb just wishing I was good at graffiti

"Women hold up half the sky" made me think of my Mum 

The next day we took the ferry home at 4pm, but Anais brought us to this awesome (it's my favourite description word I can't help it) English "desert" right on the edge of the sea.  The weather was the total opposite of the day before: freezing wind and sprinkly rain, but it was really fun all the same!

When I grow up I want a black cottage with yellow trimming with an illegible Olde English paragraph on one wall

One of the few legible words on the wall, and also a relevant photo for life right now. 

New tourist pose..?

Words and knick knacks on an old fishing cabin

weeee I'm cold

Yann exploring the beach

Anais takes shelter in the boat

Our wonderful English weekend was finished with the traditional fish and chips (seen below in which the chips are being obnoxious and you can't even see the poor fish) and it was the most perfect and scrumptious end!

MMM

Here's a funny story to finish the post: the time in England was one hour behind that of France, so my iPod, and therefore alarm clock for this morning, was not at the proper time.  So I woke up as usual and spent a few minutes resting in my bed before looking at my phone, only to realize that the time on my phone and iPod were different... and I had therefore slept an extra hour and had class in 30 MINUTES!!! Thus ensuing the fastest shower/dry my hair/get ready/stuff my face dash I have ever undergone, and I made it to school on my skate so speedily I shaved 6 minutes off the average 13 minute walking time.  Felt like a hero when I made it through the entrance gate just in time to get to class.  I ended up arriving to my class waiting outside the classroom.  After all my panicking, I was earlier than the teacher.  Figures.