I DO NOT OWN BRIDGERTON. TO BE HONEST, I MIGHT HAVE TO CUT DOWN THE FRENCH TRIP FROM WHAT I HAD ORIGINALLY PLANNED BECAUSE AT THIS POINT IN TIME, NAPOLEONIC FRANCE IS ABOUT TO GET INVADED BY THE COALITION.
Calais, 1st French Empire. 3 days later.
The boat that we sailed on took 3 days to get from London to the port town of Calais in Northern France. The name was familiar to me because I had binge watched Reign a couple times with my friend Nolan Ayers. At the end of season 1, Prince Francis had led the French troops to successfully liberate Calais from the English occupiers. I wondered if maybe i would see some historical evidence of the battle that would tie into Reign. However, i eventually realized probably wouldn't happen the shows were on 2 different networks.
I quickly put my friend's favorite show out of my mind as Pen, Eloise, and I disembarked the vessel. Let me tell you straight up, I will never take planes, trains, and actual cruise ships for granted ever again. We took this small schooner across the English Channel to get to the port of Calais and while i'm sure it was good enough for sea farers of the regency era, it sucked ass for me. Even though it was probably as high class as far as 1815 was concerned, it just felt primitive to me. We didn't get actual beds and had to use hammocks; not to mention that the boat could be leaky at times and that the grub was nothing to write home about.
Luckily, the scenery of Calais made up for the trip over. As Eloise and Penelope got off of the boat after I did, the excitement was radiating off of them and you couldn't help but get caught up in it.
"I can't believe that we are actually in France!" Penelope exclaimed as she looped her arm through Eloise's as they followed me out of the boatyard and into the city proper.
"I can't wait until we get to Paris. Some people say that is even more grand even than London." Eloise replied with her classic smirk as the 2 gal pals walked arm in arm. Meanwhile, I was feeling plumb lazy and decided to hire a lackey to carry our lugagge to the nearest inn. Now before you get on me for calling the guy a lackey, you should know that it was another name for servant in France; and it wasn't an insult like it is today.
The inn, which was called Le Condor Violet (The Purple Condor), seemed nice enough; for a 19th century inn. We made our way inside and I had to admit that the inside looked way more cozy than the outside. It had the rustic village tavern vibe with a roaring, but comfortable looking fire. We went up to the innkeeper: a stout looking man with hardly any hair left on his head. He saw us and i could see the franc signs forming in his eyes.
"Bienvenue, vous cherchez un hébergement pour la nuit?" (Welcome, are you seeking lodgings for the night?). The innkeeper inquired in French as I went up and placed a few francs on the counter. I had managed to swap my British currency for French currency before we had left.
"Oui, j'ai besoin de la plus grande chambre que vous avez pour ma sœur, ma future épouse et moi-même pour une nuit au moins." I replied in flawless French as he took the Francs and went to gather up our luggage. When you go to college in France, learning the language becomes a necessity; unless you're comfortable with not having a clue what the professor is saying. (Yes, I require the largest room you have for my sister, my intended, and myself for one night at least).
"At least one of us is fluent in French, i personally prefer Latin myself." Penelope remarked as she linked her arm with Eloise's as they followed me and the innkeeper up the stairway. The innkeep carried our bags up to what he referred to as the suite nuptiale, (Honeymoon suite). It had a king sized bed and a actual porcelain bath tub, as opposed to the small iron tubs; which I was told that normal hotel rooms had for bathing areas back in those days, when they had bath tubs anyway. The room was quite large with a small couch for lounging, as well as a writing desk.
"I officially claim this area of the room as mine!" Eloise declared as she immediately plopped down on the chair behind the desk as Pen and I looked at each other with a knowing smirk.
"To be honest, I would have been surprised if you had claimed anywhere else, Eloise." I replied with a chuckle as i took a seat on the couch.
"I still can not believe that we are actually in France!" Penelope remarked as she joined me on the couch.
"I still can not believe that you agreed to court my brother." Eloise replied, feigning disgust as she was still hoping in the back of her mind that Pen would come to her senses and return to their plan to do the spinster life.
"You know Eloise, Pen could do considerably worse than me." I pointed out when i thought about that old fart named Lord Rutledge. Despite how Marina's story played out and would eventually end, it was a comfort that she had, at the very least, managed to avoid being the Lady Rutledge baby factory. Despite not loving Philip Crane, at least he could be counted upon to treat Marina with the basic human decency that she deserved.
To be honest, despite being in love with Pen, I still felt like I failed Marina. The right thing to do would have been to take Daphne up on her offer and make peace with Marina. Bur the truth was that I was worried that if I had...I might have been convinced to try and make things work with her.
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