UK/Ireland/France holiday, 2009

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(Week 5) Sunday 6 September 2009
We left Redruth after a hearty breakfast and decided to look at a local beach first; Porthtowan. It turned out to be a surfing beach; very pretty. But, Bodmin Moors was our destination today. Drove for an hour or more (pun intended) to Liskeard, where we stopped for a break and some shopping. Or so we planned! Non tourist towns are like Adelaide apparently; nothing was open except for a nice cafe.

Undaunted, we sallied forth to a village called Minions, where there were two circles of ancient stones, called 'The Hurlers'. Less crowded than Stonehenge, and just as mystifying. And a lot smaller too! There was also a lot of ruins of old tin mines in the area. Had lunch at a local cafe, and drove on though this amazing landscape. Chose a 'B' road; one lane wide mostly, with nice looking green hedges covering an immovable solid stone wall. We avoided the walls, but apparently many others are not so lucky.

Accommodation tonight is at Wadebridge, and we arrived in the town about 3:00pm; enough time to drive to Padstow to look at this fishing town. As expected, it was teeming with people, but we found a park close to the town centre, and wandered around for an hour or so.

(Week 5) Monday 7 September 2009
Another rugged day planned for today. We are tackling the Dartmoor Forest, although it is similar to the Bodmin Moors. We stopped in the ancient, bustling town of Tiverton for morning tea. Then we drove up and up into the Dartmoor Forest, although lots of it was open grazing land. No mines here though, just wild ponies, sheep, and lots of supposed relics from ancient times, with a smattering of King Arthur legend thrown in. We were taken in by the views, and the fact that these high lands are relatively unspoilt.

We arrived at Exeter Motorway exit just before 2:00pm, but due to a navigational error (I was passing a truck at the time), we missed the exit and had to travel 15 miles for the next to turn around. We visited the Cathedral here too, and while it had the biggest and oldest of this and that, but was not quite as appealing as Wells. My one frustration is that the cathedrals all have these wonderful passages and hidden corridors, some high above the Nave and elsewhere, and we are not allowed to explore them! We negotiated the Motorway correctly on our departure from Exeter, and headed towards Honiton. We found our 'B' road, and arrived at 'The Manor' relatively easily. And a Manor it was, miles from anywhere, in a lush valley next to a river. Another wedding venue that moonlights as a b&b during the week.

(Week 5) Tuesday 8 September 2009
We have been looking for the caves where stone was quarried for such buildings as the houses of Parliament, and Exeter and many other cathedrals. A few days ago, we discovered it was called Beer stone, and was mined underground near the tiny town of Beer, south of Axminster, which we also drove through. Surprisingly, we found a large Axminster Carpet Warehouse here. But I digress. The caves were at the end of a narrow winding road, so there were no tourist buses. We arrived in time for the first guided tour at 10:30am. The stone was damp and soft when cut, and could easily be carved into intricate shaped, and then hardened over a few months as it dried out. The caves had been worked for close to 2000 years, first by the Romans in about AD40. There was also a smuggler twist, because the quarrymen used to supplement their poor pay by helping smugglers unload and hide their goods at night. We visited the village of Beer for a quick look around and a coffee.

We then drove through thick fog for the next hour or so, but it gradually improved to full sunshine as we moved East. We skirted around Southampton and Portsmouth, to the small town of Emsworth, just East of Portsmouth. We had an hour to spare before going to our accommodation, which tonight is called 'Jingles Guest House', so we went to the seaside village of South Hayling, on the island of Hayling. Here was a former resort town. Amusement arcades are shut, a Mad Mouse is rusting away, and the beach was mostly pebbles. There is still a heap of beach huts in use, and the obligatory deck chairs. Last b&b tonight - tomorrow lunchtime we have to return the car.

(Week 5) Wednesday 9 September 2009
Quiet touristy day today. This morning was probably the 'worst' breakfast so far. It was ok, but all the others were excellent by comparison. We had a very marginal internet connection too. Drove to Chichester for a look around for a couple of hours. They had a large cathedral so we had to have a look. We wandered around the town, before driving to Brighton to return the car. These places are always in obscure locations with poor directiions, but we eventually found it and returned the car unscathed. The VW was nice to drive, and roomy, but struggled up the hills.

We got to the train station and had a quick trip to London (less than an hour. A London cab delivered us to the Darlington Hotel, where we were previously. Popped over to Paddington Station for a Krispy Creme donut (or two), and then began the task of trying to fit everything into our cases. It all fits, but the weight distribution needed to be improved, and lots of brochures needed to be discarded. Done! Tonight, we are in the basement, and can hear underground trains rumbling somewhere below. It should not disturb us, but is frequent.

(Week 5) Thursday 10 September 2009
We woke to a gentle rumble of trains early today. It was quite soothing really, but was unexpected. Checked out of the Hotel just after 9:00am and hailed a taxi to take us to St Pancras station. We discovered they can do a U-turn in about half the space needed by my car. The train took just over two hours for the trip, at times going very fast, but it was a smooth ride. quite amazing. The French countryside was so much drier than in Western England.

I had worked out where we needed to go to get the underground to Gaite station and our hotel, but Pan did not mention the lack of escalators and lifts, nor the abundance of stairs. I think we (I) dragged our cases up and down the equivalent of a 10 storey building. Thankfully, a couple of kind souls helped on a flight of stairs here and there, but it is too much to repeat on the way back. Settled in to our accommodation, and took time to recover, then we wandered around the area for an hour our so. Not sure I am enjoying Paris yet, but it should get better.

(Week 5) Friday 11 September 2009
Today we did the big one - Versailles. Breakfast was first; Continental - this has a new meaning now. A roll slice, croissant, juice and coffee. A big come down after the last four weeks, but perhaps more appropriate. We caught the train(s) to Versailles, and discovered some of the metro is high above ground. We also followed and had views of the river for a while.

Our first view of the Palace gave us an inkling of its size; huge. We would have walked nearly two kilometres though the opulent rooms of the Palace. Lots of people and tour groups, but it was surprisingly easy to move around. It is not easy to describe this, but we bought a guide book to read more.

After the Palace itself, there were the gardens, and there were huge expanses of them. If we wanted to reach the far end of the Estate, it would have taken much more than an hour to walk. Instead, we caught the little train to go to the Grand Trianon, and the Little Trianon. They were no comparison to the Palace, but were still opulent. We then wandered for about two hours through the many garden 'rooms', and discovered hidden gems of all sorts. We caught the train back to our hotel, arriving here after 6:00pm. An amazing day!

(Week 5) Saturday 12 September 2009
We started late as usual, and were further diverted by the Saturday fresh food market just around the corner from our hotel. We caught the train to Notre Dame and joined the hordes of people looking at this spectacle. It was quite dark inside, but we got some good photos. We visited the Concierge Museum, which was part of a Palace and later a prison during the Revolution, including for Marie Antoinette. We saw a guillotine blade, too. We also visited an extraordinary chapel within this Palace complex, the Sainte-Chapelle. The lower chapel was for servants and the grand upper chapel was used by the Palace court. It is often used for concerts now.

Next on the list was The Louvre. We entered through the glass Pyramid without needed to queue, and paused in a cafe to refresh and consult the museum guide. We went to see the Mona Lisa first, then wandered around the galleries for what seemed hours. We left late in the afternoon and returned to base.

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