Day one: Canterbury to Dover and on to Calais

Gordon - We walked/rode together from Canterbury to Dover yesterday. It was about 36 km, including a few extra kilometers caused by losing our route. The way is not well signposted, and everyone who has written about the Via Francigena (VF) has mentioned the route finding difficulties.
The walk was beautiful, passing through an agricultural landscape dotted with small villages. We were particularly taken with the village architecture, which I would characterize as hobbit-homes in brick. As a fortuitous result of being lost, we also passed a charming 12th century parish church with a delightful tympanum and other Romanesque details.
We took a P&O ferry to Calais. The distance and sailing time is about the same as the trip from Swartz Bay to Tsawassen, but, critics of BC Ferries take note, the fare for a walk-on passenger is about $50. On the plus side, a plethora of bars and lounges on the boat give you an opportunity to drink steadily during the crossing, which is what many of the passengers were doing.
It's great to be back in France. We celebrated our return with a $5 bottle of robust red wine from Cahors.

Ruth- Obviously Gord wrote the bit above. Have you heard me use the word plethora and fortuitous - hey I can't even spell them without auto correct.