When you're abroad.... ~In English~

...many things happen and there's much to see.

After having told a lot about where I was traveling, I think it is time to start telling about the things that I've seen and the people I've met. Actually, I have to admit that I spent a teeny tiny bit more time in bookshops and other places like that than in real museums - is that a problem?

"Somehow" the one or the other book found its way to me as well:

It just happened, you see? So many great bookshops and second hand bookshops, it was really amazing and so we just had to take a closer look at them. All of them. *oops* Some of them were special because of their size, some of them were very unique and amazing to look at and others...well, you get the meaning. I made photos of some of the shops which I'm already looking forward to share with you.

I must admit that at some time it became a bit crowded, we were four people and a dog, traveling in a car with a trailer tent after all. (And to make things worse - two of us were teenaged girls and their luggage... ;) )

Taking the ferry from Calais to Dover, we spent our first nights on a nice camping site in Folkestone. From there we drove over to Canterbury where we spent a very busy afternoon.

Obviously we just had to visit Canterbury, because wuite a number of books are situated there and after having done some research on Canterbury for a book presentation on my blog for a german book, I was curious and wanted to see it. Of coures there are lots of books situated in Canterbury but I think one of the most famous (though probably not many have actually read it, me included...) is

 The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer. Another book that I found when I was looking for books and Canterbury it the book The Canterbury Sisters by Kim Wright, which I haven't read yet but it is definitely on my wishlist.

Having spent the afternoon in Canterbury we went back to Folkestone from where we left
for Dorset the next morning:

In Dorset we were looking forward to the
Jurassic Coast with its fossiles but even more we wanted to see

Lyme Regis

Lyme Regis? Well, most Austen-Fans probably remember Lyme Regis and its harbour, the Cobb as the place where Louisa Musgrove from Jane Austen's Persuasion did the fateful jump that changed everything. Jane Austen herself spent time in Lyme Regis as well and obviously enjoyed her time there but she wasn't the only artist who was drawn to this place.

Another author who lived here for a long time and who was also the curator of the Lyme Regis Museum for some time, was John Fowles, whose book The French Lieutenant's Woman is set in Lyme Regis. This book and its movie adaption with Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons playing the lead roles, made Lyme Regis famous.

This book found its way to me as well - but you already guessed that, didn't you?

I must admit that I'm very curious because usually a melodrama is not exactly my cup of tea but being there in Lyme regis and there at the museum, well, I couldn't leave without the book!

The museum itself is dedicated mainly to Jane Austen and Mary Anning. Mary Anning herself as one of the first professionnel collectors of fossiles, is a very interesting character but at first sight she doesn't have much to do with literature - BUTthen there was Tracy Chevalier, whose book Remarkable Creatures, tells the story of Mary Anning. As I've loved Girl with a Pearl Earring, Burning Bright und Falling Angels by Tracy Chevalier I'm really looking forward to this book as well!

 Apart from the museum there was a lot to see not just the cafés (where you could even buy wheat free and gluten free brownies and such nice things that were absolutely delicious) and the beach but also a small book shop where you could have spent ages and still you wouldn't have seen everything, I think. A bit rustic, small, crammed, somewhere under the books there was also a piano but with a certain charme that made it rather special.

Having spent the whole day in Lyme Regis we drove back to our camping site because we wanted to be off early the next morning. The next morning we left for .... ?

~To be continued~