Vincent and I left Paris for the Olympics and spent time in the United Kingdom. On the last three days of our trip, we were invited by our friends to stay with them in Deal, Kent, which is a seaside village where the North Sea and the English Channel meet. It’s also 21 miles from Calais, France, and on a clear day, you can see Calais from the beach.
Our friend picked us up at the train station, and even though it was only a 10-minute walk to his and his partner’s house, I was already charmed and enchanted by Deal. The village is dotted with 16th and 17th-century cottage houses of brick and colored plaster and many of them had names, some of them humorous, such as Adelaide House, Cavendish House, Fanny’s Dilemma, Christmas House, Undaunted, and Cooks Cottage. Some of the houses had historic plaques and signs of notable people who lived in them.
My friend’s house was a small, three-story cottage house from the 1700s with a working fireplace in the cozy living room, two bedrooms, and a finished attic. The biggest room was the kitchen, and our friend would cook delicious eggs every morning with either smoked salmon or mushroom, and at night he prepared two excellent dinners with homemade desserts. There was also a small backyard with a table and chairs, and we had drinks and dined out there a few times. The house was a former fish shop and behind the backyard is a storage room which was originally the smokehouse.
We went to the beach on the first day, which was right around the corner from their house. Although the inviting blue water attracted me to dive in, the daunting, large rocks instead of sand were too hard to maneuver without rubber shoes, so I stayed ashore and enjoyed the pleasurable breeze. At one point I attempted to go in the water and got up to my knees, but it was too bone-chilling cold for me, so I gave up and parked myself on the beach again.
The next two days we took long hikes to the surrounding villages, Sandwich, and Walmer. One of my friends was a tour guide in his earlier life, and he shared historic and sometimes juicy, gossipy stories about Deal and its residents. From Walmer, you can spot the white cliffs of Dover, which was the next town over.
We had fantastic weather all three days with generous sunshine and clear skies with temperatures in the high 70s Fahrenheit.
The last evening of our stay, our friends invited two other British friends for dinner. One of the guests knew Vincent from many years ago, and they caught up like a house on fire. It was a lively, fun, and stimulating evening with a great, three-course dinner, lots of wines and spirits, and went from 7pm till way after midnight.
We had such a lovely time in Deal, we were sad to leave the next day.
Deal is an hour and forty-minute train ride from Saint Pancras station in London.
The white cliffs of Dover in the background
What a beautiful seaside village you have discovered! Now I have to add it to my list of places that I hope to see.
Including quite a few of your many charming cafes!
Thank you for bringing me along!
B in Chicago
Posted by: Brian Moriarity | August 22, 2024 at 02:32 PM