Goodbye, Paris; Hello, Bath!

Okay, so you've seen the pictures, but I realized that I forgot to specify that this trip replaced the one I was planning to Paris. I had planned to take a trip to Paris through the Eurostar railways the week of September 22, but two weeks before leaving, there was a fire in the channel tunnel (chunnel) that these trains went through. I kept up with the news, and trains were going through just a few days later, but a week before the scheduled trip, I got an email stating that the tour was canceled with a full refund. Paris was out!

I moped about it for a bit. It is hard to be here without transportation of my own, and trying to arrange all my sightseeing alone, and I'd been looking forward to seeing Paris and having an arranged, guided tour. But then I remembered that I'd been considering Bath as a side-trip. I found out that the month of September was Bath's Jane Austen Festival. That was the clincher. After a few minutes of looking at the tourism website for Bath, I knew that's where I wanted to go.

There were really too many coincidences to ignore. I hadn't bought train tickets to London or booked a hotel for the Paris trip, so I didn't have that to worry about. With the refunded money, I was able to spend an extra day in Bath that I wouldn't have had in London or Paris. I found a hotel in Bath, close to the city center and not too expensive, and was able to book even though it was a little last-minute.

I had felt overwhelmed about trying to arrange a replacement trip to Paris, but I felt calm about finding my way to Bath. I was nervous about the trip, but I caught every train and boarded the right tube line in the right direction. I had a wonderful, busy few days in Bath, and I took every opportunity I could to see what could be seen there.

And there was a lot to see!

The Hotel and Bath Routine
I stayed in a tiny single room at the Kennard Hotel bed and breakfast. There was a sink in the room, but the toilet and shower were down a flight of stairs and shared with the person in the other single room. I knew about this before I checked in, but it was still a little strange. The shower stall was so tiny, if I'd been a little fatter I would've had to hold my breath to stay in. The room itself was narrow and small, but well and carefully furnished, and perfectly adequate for my needs. I was paying for the location close to the city center, and not for a huge room. (They had those too, for much steeper prices.)

Every morning I had breakfast around 8:30 in the gorgeous dining room in the basement (you have to go up or down several flights of stairs to get anywhere indoors in Bath). It had been the kitchens of the building in Georgian times, and still had the inset structure where the fireplaces had been, but that was the only reminder. It was painted bright teal and decorated very prettily, but I kind of wished I could admire it invisibly, because every time I walked in I felt like a tall, weedy, American thumb sticking way out. The tables and chairs were so small and crowded that I found it extremely awkward getting my long legs around them. Eating there by myself did nothing to lessen my self-consciousness, but the hostess was very polite and never spoke above a demure murmur, and quickly learned to just offer me hot chocolate.

The actual breakfast wasn't as good or fancy as the decor, but decent. And I learned that posh people don't say "ketchup," they say "tomato chutney."

Nothing in town opens until about 10 a.m., so after breakfast I'd go back to my room and write or figure out what I wanted to see that day. Then I'd head out, get lunch at midday, and come back at 5 p.m., when everything closes. The restaurants don't open for dinner until 6 or 6:30 p.m., so that was an hour to put my feet up, write some more, look over the souvenirs, etc. Then I'd go out for dinner, get back around 8 p.m., watch some TV (I'm addicted to The Restaurant), and get to bed.

If you're interested in night life, Bath isn't the place for you; it was very quiet where I was after 9 or 10 p.m. Since "night life" often means "drunken carousing" here, I didn't miss that. I didn't see many children or young adults around at all, but school was in session, so they were probably there (suckas!). There were a lot of old people though; the old people do a lot of touring here while most of the young people I've talked to don't have their own car or, astonishingly, don't even have a driver's license.

Touring
I had two full days in Bath, so I tried to break it up evenly between tours and museums and just exploring on my own and looking into shops. I took a free, two-hour walking tour, which I highly recommend, around the city center, then a boating tour on the river Avon, which I don't recommend because it was very boring. If you ever go, just sit by the river near Pulteney Bridge and the weir; that's the most exciting part the tour covers. I visited the museum at the Jane Austen Center, the Victoria Art Gallery, and then loads of interesting little shops.

The next day I set up an appointment to take pictures in Georgian costume as part of the Jane Austen Festival, so that afternoon I went up to the highest floor of the center to get dressed up. The ladies working with the costumes were very professional, they had long racks of gorgeous dresses and jackets and such. The photographer was . . . less professional. But it was okay; I had a good camera and some of the shots turned out, haha.

Then I took the tower tour in Bath Abbey, climbing some 212 steps to the very top, stopping in between to visit the bell room, the belfry, behind the clock, and the lower roof. That was really neat! The Abbey itself, with all its stained glass, was also very lovely.

After that, I went to the museum at Number 1 Royal Crescent, which was a house all furnished and decked out as it would have been in Georgian times, a lot like Mount Vernon. A docent stood in each room of the house to explain what everything was and how it was used. After all these Georgian museums, it was really interesting (refreshing!) to go to the Roman Baths, which focused on the Roman history of Bath and the hot springs that made Bath famous. I wasn't expecting the Roman Baths museum to be so large, so I kinda squeezed it in my last morning, but it was really neat.

The only thing I regret is not seeing Sally Lunn's famous "refreshment house" and museum. Supposedly it's the oldest house in Bath, and the restaurant is famous for a certain kind of bun. Maybe next time!

Eating Out
The hotel didn't have a restaurant, so for lunch and dinner I hit the town. There weren't many casual dining places, but Pret a Manger was the best I found (loved the chicken avocado sandwich!). Other than that, I ate at a French restaurant, a Thai, and two Indian ones. I looked around for a nice, fish-and-chips joint (and . . . no, I haven't been brave enough to enter a pub by myself), but couldn't find one, so I've yet to have a decent fish-and-chips meal! This will be remedied soon.

Eating out in England was a little different. I've mentioned here and elsewhere that water was hard to come by. Every restaurant I went in had a pretty long wine list and the waiters all looked taken aback when I simply requested water. That wasn't a big deal, though; the harder part was that British/European culture values privacy in dining a lot more than Americans, i.e., the waiters leave you alone as much as possible. Too shy to just talk to people in the street, I was kinda looking forward to conversation with the servers at dinner, but no go. In America, your waiter will give you a little speech telling you who they are and welcoming you to the restaurant, and if they walk by and don't fill up your drink, that's grounds for lowering the tip. Here, the servers don't speak unless spoken to, and if you want something (like a refill of your drink) you need to hold out your hand and snag someone. I was sitting in a restaurant once and watched a lady come in. The head waiter just looked at her, watching her glance around for a free table or a clue of what to do, and didn't speak or move until she tentatively said, "Uh, I'd like to . . . eat . . . here . . . ?"

I knew it was a cultural thing, they didn't hate me or anything, but I still felt extra lonely and exposed whenever I dined out. It was okay, but I'd definitely recommend not going it alone if you possibly can. On the plus side, tips here are just 10%, and often optional.


All in all, Bath was a lot of fun. Plenty to do and see, and history everywhere you turn. I'm glad that I went!