A snippet of my long weekend in Devon

If you've been following along on Instagram you'll have seen some of my Devon photos from the weekend. We left London early Thursday morning, and spent a good couple of hours on the M25 in traffic. There was nothing good about them, but with some hasty journey replanning along the way after the M25 we avoided traffic for the rest of the journey. The weather wasn't great (read, it was chucking it down so much the wipers were going double speed) so instead of heading to Lyme Regis for breakfast, we thought about Marlborough, another favourite.

Somehow though we missed Marlborough - no idea how - and stopped instead in Wincanton, for a coffee at the local Morrisons, which I promptly drizzled onto my chest. Thankfully it wasn't so hot, so a blessing really. The day could only get better hey?!

Cramming a lot into four days

Our first stop was the National Trust property Montacute House in Somerset. I've written before how I much prefer to stop somewhere like this rather than a motorway service station, and with views like this it's easy to see why. Our first stop though was the cafe for breakfast - and a cheese scone and a sausage roll hit the spot nicely.

It was a lovely place to explore, and even better when I discovered the wibbly wobbly hedges. I'll share more from my visit but the photos above are just a snippet to keep you going. Back in the car we decided to head towards another National Trust property nearer to MOH's aunt's house, who we were visiting.

So our next stop was Castle Drogo, who were having some work done. I don't think we could have chosen such a different property, there were some fun exhibits though. We'd visited here many years before, and all I remembered was the garden and even that wasn't exactly how I had in my mind's eye. It was good to go back and put my memory straight.

Friday we headed further south and towards Overbeck's, the Devon weather completely spoiling us and the sandals and summer dress I'd packed on the off chance got an unexpected airing, but I'm not complaining.  The views here were stunning.

It's a small place though, and there's a lot of ups and downs in the garden as it's built into the cliff. There is a house but I found it a bit odd and wasn't a fan of many of the collections there. After a quick tour round the house, we were done and on our way. We decided to head into Salcombe, again somewhere we'd been before, but not for a while and the last time there was traffic there too. 

That was clearly earlier in the year as this time was completely different. We also left the car out of town a bit and walked into the centre, which was a much better idea. Lunch was on our agenda, and that quickly became fish and chips on the quay, there's nothing better. Well maybe apart from these pretty pastel buildings.

Not done for the day, we stopped off at the South Devon Chilli Farm on our way back towards Newton Abbot. You'll not be surprised to learn I left with some seeds and some chocolate - chilli flavoured of course. As it'd been a while since we'd eaten(!), we also sat for a while in the sun enjoying a chilli chocolate crisp bake and I had a chilli hot chocolate. It wasn't really hot chocolate weather, but they are good.

I'm always fascinated by the number of varieties of chillies and their colours. I've had a good chilli crop this year, but next year I'm hoping I'll have grown prolific plants from seed. We'll see...

Saturday saw a solo visit to Killerton for me. MOH was keen to stretch his legs on Dartmoor and conquer Haytor, which I believe they did, although the weather had its revenge on them. So ahead of meeting me for a pub lunch, his group had a swift trip home to change into dry clothing before heading out again.

Somehow the rain passed me by and I had my own encounter with a wasp to deal with, after settling down to read a book in the library, explore the fashion exhibitions upstairs, a wander around the gardens and find a bench in the sun, under a tree that didn't attract the rain. Quite a feat, but entirely do-able it seems. And I can tell you first hand that vinegar works like a dream on wasp stings.

When we're in Devon our Sunday morning jaunts are usually relatively close to the house. Often they're to nearby Shaldon, Dawlish or Teignmouth, but this weekend we set off to Cockington Court, in the pretty village of Cockington near Torquay. There's plenty of easy walks there and it's a magnet for tourists and locals alike. I like to visit the craft studios in the old stables and since our last visit, we discovered there's also a walled art garden. A quirky place and definitely one for another day.

Later on Sunday while speaking to mum and recalling our adventures I mentioned Cockington to her. And would you believe it, but it turns out that as a girl she'd walk down through the fields through Cockington and onto the seafront (a walk that's signposted today, and is probably through less fields than it once was) while her nan cooked Sunday lunch. 

I knew mum had family around Torquay and that she'd been evacuated there during the war, but I had no idea it was near Cockington, so that was quite a coincidence to discover for us both. It just goes to show it's a small world doesn't it?

So that was my weekend - although it was twice as long as normal, we still managed to cram a fair bit in, before heading back to London after a traditional Sunday lunch with family.  

How was your weekend?

A wet and windy cycle to Amboise

After spending a good few days in Blois looking around the Chateaux de Blois, de Chambord (twice) and de Cheverny and much more beside, it was time to pack up our panniers and head back along the Loire à Velo and onto Amboise. But with the car in the car park at Blois, it made sense to leave the clothes we knew we wouldn't need, as sadly the weather had changed.

So leaving flip flops, vest tops, some clean clothes for the last day or so of our trip along with the wine we bought at Chambord, we left Blois in our waterproofs. And typically this was our longest cycle. I wasn't looking forward to the next 43km.

After a good breakfast - well a girl needs fuel - we cycled over the river and turned right cycling along the banks of the Loire until we reached this.

Yes, that was the path. It looks quite wet, doesn't it?  While we were contemplating our next move, I was distracted momentarily by the poppies. Realising that wasn't going to help us progress we turned back to the path, and the map to see what our next move should be. In the distance we could see people approaching from the other direction, getting so far, turning back and heading along what looked to be the road on our map we'd identified. We had a plan, so we were off again.

After about 20km we were approaching Chaumont-sur-Loire, which our guide book told us was "well worth the effort required to climb the outcrop on which it is perched" and originally it had been on my list of chateaus to visit. But as it coincided with a long cycle we'd decided against it, and with the weather on the day we were cycling past I was pleased. And it was up the top of a hill, so while it looked pretty with blue skies in the book, our reality was much greyer.

I was keen though to try and get some decent photos, so I parked my bike under a tree - I didn't want a wet saddle - and went off in search of some photos. It wasn't long though before I was back and keen to get going again, it was just too misty and bleurgh to capture the postcard shots.

The path was directing us back down towards the river. I didn't like the look of the path down, and hesitated. That's before we realised that too was flooded. So we stayed on the quiet road and cycled parallel to the path instead.

It was slow going that day. And actually the rain wasn't that bad, it was warm - or warm enough at this stage of the ride and there was plenty still to see. Another stop had me wondering about this forest. It had clearly been planted, as each tree was equal distance apart. I was fascinated because whichever angle I stood, there were lines...

But there was still more cycling to be done. The guidebook warned us that the next section would be "almost completely deserted" and "exposed to the wind and the sun."  Sadly there was no sun, but it was right on the rest of it. This section was wet and windy, and now I just wanted to be in Amboise. There were hills too, mostly but not always up. 

But we got there and arrived in Amboise above the town, so the good news was that it was all downhill from here.  For most of that I had my brakes on though as there were a few sharp bends. The Loire à Velo path led us into the car park in the town and we opted to head towards the pretty town centre. 

Having seen the main street and the Chateau d'Amboise it was time to locate our hotel. There was a handy hotel locator map outside the chateau, and it was then we realised we still had some cycling to do. Out of town, uphill. Up three of them to be precise, but by the end of our stay in Amboise I was mostly cycling up them. Slowly, but cycling nonetheless.

We walked back into the town that evening, and it took us twenty minutes, so we were quite a way out of town. But it was a pretty town - just look at the charm of those gates and that wall -  and well worth that walk, even in the rain. And I even spotted a passionflower. I really must get one for my garden, they are the strangest looking flowers, but still beautiful. 

So after our five hours on the road, with a moving time of just under four hours, I was pleased to be in the warm and dry. And pleased to have secured the ok from MOH to introduce some tactical pannier packing for our next "with luggage" cycle. But first I needed to recover as next up was our trip to Chenonceau. And yes, another chateau. But more on that next time.

Ceilings, fireplaces and fancy floors

So my last post from the Chateau de Blois was of gargoyles and stonework, this one is, well just a bit fancier. We're inside the Palace and for some of this post inside the Royal apartments, so they should be fancier shouldn't they? 

But before we get there, let's enjoy the ceiling in the Great Hall. It reminds me very much of the ceiling at Saint Chapelle in Paris, and this google search (if the link works) should tell you why. Interestingly enough I was quite taken with the gargoyles outside there too. Yes, I really do have a thing for gargoyles. And ceilings.

Anyway, one of the things that struck me about our visit in Blois was how accessible things were. I mean in this fantastic room there was a pretend throne, which all of the kids - and MOH - tried for size. I'd share that photo here if it wasn't so blurry. I have to practice giggling and taking pictures.

The fireplaces throughout were pretty spectacular. As well as large and highly decorated. They looked similar - and these are just a few of them - and on more than one occasion I found myself popping back to the one I'd just visited to check if it was the same or not. And mostly they weren't.

Some though were more fancier than others.

In the photo below you can see the decorated ceiling too, as well as glimpses of patterned wallpaper around the tapestry. I've said before they really did do pattern and colour didn't they in days gone by?

The lady in the bottom left of the photo above had ten or so school children with her, all drawing elements of the room. And I can tell you they were all so well behaved and polite, and that was great to see too. We kept bumping into them around the chateau as they rushed to the next room for their next activity and having sussed out we were English some tried their English out on us, giggling as they did so.  Hence quite a few more blurry photos.

But anyway, I haven't shown you any fancy floors yet and I promised you some.

Just look at the shine on that.

Shiny huh.  And fancy obviously.  I was lusting after tiled floors on our visit here, but then realised I'd need another house to put them in so that plan's on hold for the moment. 

How about this for a party room? Yeap, I'd be pretty happy with it too.

Apparently most of the entertainment would conclude in the King's bedchamber, which I guess if you can you would, wouldn't you? And that was, as you'd expect, more lavishly decorated than the rooms before it.  The wallpaper in the shot below and the patterned panel on the fireplace are fantastic patterns which would, I think, translate to a modern setting. They might need to be on a reduced scale, but their geometric and repeating patterns don't look outdated to me.

I think I might give this floor a miss, but I can't say it's not fancy.

There's even wallpaper with his initial too.  And an alternative floor H pattern.

Seriously though the decoration throughout the chateau was great to see and at times mind blowing. The ceiling below was so very different than any we'd seen before. But then the more I looked at it, the more I could see a kaleidoscope pattern and couldn't help but wonder, what came first, the ceiling or the kaleidoscope?

Who knows...

So all in all the Chateau de Blois, the Royal Apartments especially were a feast for my eyes. With colour and pattern overload - even for me - but such a great experience. I've more to share from here, but I think my next post in the Loire Cycle Tour will involve a long cycle in the rain, so look out for that one!