Kent County

*Minding your p's and q's

After living in a large French city I was a bit surprised by a change of attitude here in Bath.

In France generous people always greet the shopkeeper with "Bonjour" when entering any store, but they can generally be rude when waiting in line at the airport or largely ignore anyone who looks lost or needs help. In Bath I have been surprised how many times people have asked me if I need help when looking for directions. To be fair, Londoners may compare to Parisians in the helpful department.

Nonetheless it's that nice feeling of community and caring that remind me of what small town life is about.

One of the best ways to relay how politeness prevails is with a true story from Bill Bryson's book Notes from a Small Island.

In 1987 John Fallows was standing in line at the bank waiting for his turn. A man rudely stepped in front of Fallows waving a handgun demanding money from the teller. Mr. Fallows, not to be dismissed so rudely, scolded the man Douglas Banks, "wait your turn like everyone else, no jumping the queue, go to the back of the line". Others in line eagerly murmured in agreement.

Manners corrected, Banks sheepishly left the bank and was arrested shortly thereafter.

Kent County

Go West young man, but we decided to go East. East to Kent County. From our frame of reference, the only way we are going to absorb this country is to get on the move.

The Kent County trip started in Bath headed SouthEast to Arundel, over to Eastbourne then up to Canterbury, next day down to Dover, Folkestone, Rye and to Maidstone where Leeds Castle is.

Henry VIII called Kent the Garden of England. London commuters and over development have changed Kent as it struggles to maintain its place losing it's foothold in the agricultural domain.

Not sure what to expect, we found the countryside and English Channel side very dramatic and beautiful.

Canterbury Cathedral

Canterbury Cathedral is the Headquarters of the Church of England.

Canterbury is famous because of Archbishop Thomas Becket. In 1170 when Knights believing they were acting on the wish of King Henry II, chopped off a piece of Becket's skull not only giving him a bad headache but ending his life, the Cathedral became a flash point for martyrdom.

Due to Beckets popularity, pilgrims immediately started journeying to Canterbury to honor him. Within 3 years Becket was canonized becoming Saint Becket and subsequently King Henry did his penance for his sins with the bishops and monks allowed to give him blows with a rod

Rumor has it he was known to utter "That smearts", old English for that smarts.

When one of my favorite actors Richard Burton was asked to play the movie role of Becket, he refused at first saying the press would have a field day with him portraying a Saint.

Canterbury wicker horse, lego version of the Cathedral and St. Martins-the oldest church in England.

Before Shakespeare there was Chaucer. He wrote The Canterbury Tales which were 24 distinctive tales following 31 pilgrims and their high-jinx adventures on the road to Canterbury. One of his tales is about the Wyf of Bath a headstrong, bold woman who was married more than 10 times. Must have been a tall tale, 10 husbands indeedy!

Dover

From Dover I can see France.

Dover is the narrowest part of the English Channel across to Calais.

I loved seeing the famous white chalk cliffs of Dover. Stunning.

Vera Lynn sang a poignant song, one that became the most played recording here in England during WWII about soldiers coming home and the war ending.

There'll be bluebirds over The white cliffs of Dover Tomorrow, just you wait and see There'll be love and laughter And peace ever after Tomorrow, when the world is free

The shepherd will tend his sheep The valley will bloom again And Jimmy will go to sleep In his own little room again

The song's writers were American and didn't know that there were no bluebirds in Dover, England.

Most of you will have read news about the challenges of refugees crossing the channel from France to England. Why not stay in France? Several reasons - a lot of refugees have some knowledge of English more than they have of the French language, they have a relative in England, they believe the English government will give them assistance that they didn't receive in France. And most importantly there is a network of smugglers making a profit enticing them to believe it will be better in England.

We wanted to visit Dover Castle but it was closed and we could only see it from a distance. There are tunnels under the cliffs that were built up in WWII with hospitals, air raid shelters, and a military command center where French and British soldiers were evacuated from Dunkirk.

Rye

Rye is the quintessential English village you see in the movies. You imagine a quiet misty evening walk on charming streets named Mermaid, Wish and Watchbell, past old timbered houses with cats flicking their tails and characters like Hugh Grant and Maggie Smith smiling from the window yelling the familiar greeting "you aright?"

Some homes even have 2 front doors.

So dang cute!

The Kentish coastline is known for its' seafood and Kent has become a center for wine, still producing beer having been a major hop growing area.

Leeds Castle in Maidstone

Leeds Castle is not in Leeds, England but in Maidstone. It is built on islands in a lake making it look like it's floating. It's called the "loveliest castle in England" by their marketing department, ahem... I would concur it's pretty magnificent due to its setting.

Lady Baillie owned Leeds Castle and for 50 years invested a large part of her fortune restoring, redecorating and maintaining the Castle. She was Anglo-American heiress inheriting her grandfather's wealth from the New York Tramway system. The Castle continues as a Foundation that Lady Baillie willed at her death.

There are quite a few places to enjoy on the property including a maze which was super fun.

Art students were given access to create some very psychedelic scenes in the grotto under the maze.

Glad we got rescued by Merlin on his cell phone or we might still be there. Peace, Man!

I love how life presents us with a box of chocolates, you never know what you are gonna get. paraphrasing Forrest Gump

Time for a musical interlude with 11 Pipers Piping after that cosmic experience!

*Minding your p's and q's. There are lot of theories where this phrase came from, several of which are quite interesting:

1. P's = please, Q's = Thank you. Be polite is what they are saying.

2. Young children often mixed up the letters p and q so they were told to mind them when writing.

3. Pieds and queues in French dancing, bowing to your feet and your huge powdered wigs could get in the way of each other.

4. In pubs drinks were measured by Pints and Quarts and the bar owner needed to keep track of who drank what.

Go ahead add your own and I'll mind my p's and q's.