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| The bedroom was lovely and light. |
We spent our holiday in East Looe staying in an old Cornish fisherman's
cottage called 'The Puffins'. The cottage was tiny but spread over three
floors - with the top bedroom having a sea view.
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| I had to stand on the bed to see the sea! |
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| The cottage was tall and narrow |
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| Sam and Pixel outside the cottage |
Saturday
We set off at 5am in order to avoid traffic and punctuated our journey with comfort breaks - for us and for Pixel who had never travelled so far before.
We arrived around 11am, having travelled through heavy and persistent rain for much of the journey. We parked up and walked around to see if we could find the cottage. It quickly became apparent we were on the wrong side of the bridge - in West Looe!
After a drink outside a dog friendly cafe we drove back over the bridge and parked up. We set off again on foot and discovered the cottage on the other side of town. As it was still too early to get in yet we decided to have lunch - delicious fish and chips - which we ate in the rain!
After lunch we went back to the car so we could move it to outside the cottage - this involved negotiating some very narrow streets full of pedestrians who seemed unaware they were in a road! However we made it to the cottage without hitting anyone and parked in the allocated bay. We had to unlock and relock a chain across the bay each time we moved the car, as well as displaying a parking permit - or risk being fined and banned from parking there!
Sam fell asleep on the sofa while I did the unpacking - she was worn out from the early start and the long drive!
In the evening we took the ferry boat to West Looe - 40p each, free for Pixel, and took the little man for his first walk on a beach.
Hannafore beach in West Looe is dog friendly and so Pixel was able to have a good explore of all the new sights and smells. He particularly liked playing with the seaweed!
We missed the last ferry back so had to walk over the bridge - and after a quick meal we were all ready for bed as it had been a busy day.
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| Off for our first walk! |
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| Pixel loved rock climbing |
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| Bridge between East and West Looe |
Sunday
After rolls with sausages for breakfast (packing the George Foreman grill was a genius idea!) we set off for Plaidy Beach. Sam asked for directions in the ice-cream shop, and armed with these we set off along the South West Coastal way. It was about a half hour walk which ended on a lovely dog friendly beach. The sun was shining and it was lovely and warm. As there was only one other person at the other end of the beach when we got there we decided to let Pixel off his lead. He had a great time running, climbing, digging and throwing the seaweed around. Some other dogs came to swim and Pixel went to watch - but he didn't do more than get his feet wet! Sam and I had a little rest in the sunshine before walking back for lunch. We skyped up Vickie and Jerry for a little chat which was lovely!
After a nap we had a wander around the lovely town - East Looe is very quaint with lots of little roads and interesting little shops. We spent the evening watching tv (Thelma's Gypsy Girls) and then an early night as we were all still tired from the journey - and all the fresh air.
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| Pixel loved chewing the seaweed |
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| And digging in the sand! |
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| Enjoying the sun - although a little windswept |
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| Sam has a paddle on Plaidy Beach |
Monday
We spent today in East Looe town. We had a walk round the Lifeboat Station and down onto the Banjo Pier. The view from here was great - Pixel enjoyed it too! We sat on the beach for a while but as it was a bit windy moved up on to the promenade for a bit of shelter. We enjoyed a cream tea in Daisy's Cafe - the scones were daisy shaped! Later in the evening we pottered over the bridge again and had a nice walk along the beach, finishing up with some delicious but deadly Cornish cider in the pub!
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| Great view from Banjo Pier |
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| Banjo Pier from West Looe |
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| West Looe |
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| Getting the hang of this view business! |
Tuesday
Didn't do very much today - lots of reading and a bit of a potter around town
in between the showers. In the evening the weather cheered up so we went to the pub close to the cottage,The Admiral Boscarn
. It has a lovely roof garden - but we were the only people using it!
Wednesday
We walked Pixel early and left him in the cottage while Sam and I went to Fowey. Fowey is the town where the author of Rebecca,my favourite book, lived - Daphne du Maurier. She lived in a house called Ferryside before moving to Mendabilly - on which she based Manderley. It was very interesting for me to see the area that inspired her to write so many of her books. Sam and I walked along to Ready Money Cove too- which was one of du Maurier's favourite places.
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| Ferryside |
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| Du Maurier Literary Centre |
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| Ready Money Cove |
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| View from the beach |
Even without the du Maurier connection, Fowey is a beautiful and interesting town. It was a steep walk from the carpark down into the town - but with so many quaint houses to look at on the way. Once there Sam and I took the little bus tour round and saw and heard lots of interesting stuff.
Sam likes bus tours as it means less walking!
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| Car parking is scarce! |
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| View over harbour |
There were lots of shops with beautiful pieces of glass for sale - I loved some of the plaques but we resisted buying one. We had delicious ice-creams with clotted cream on top and a fudge or flake stick too.
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| Lovely ice-cream! |
We spent some time looking over the harbour at the boats and the lovely views.
There was lots of knitting on the harbour rails - and it seemed there was a mystery knitter on the loose. ( It was actually crochet).
A regatta is held in Fowey every year - and it is the one place in the UK where you can watch a red arrows air display from above!
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| Red Arrow display held below! |
We headed back after a lovely day - the climb back up to the car park was a killer!
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| The old Customs House |
We decided to eat out in the evening and had a really lovely meal at Mawgan's . The menu was great and really well prepared and cooked. I had some delicious Fowey mussels and Sam a prawn cocktail to start. I had sea bass and Sam a sea food rendezvous which had three types of fish in a crab bisque. We had a nice bottle of sancerre and a Cornish cheese platter to finish - but no room for pudding sadly! The whole meal was very reasonable at £76.00
Thursday
Really heavy rain today - it was rushing past our front door like a river! We pottered about indoors for a while, reading and checking emails and stuff but decided to risk going out in the afternoon. We kitted up with rain coats and a brolly and set off in the car for Polperro.
Polperro is a lovely little town - but I don't feel we saw it at it's best due to the persistent rain. Vehicles are not allowed into the town so we parked in the car park and hopped on the little bus which took us right into the centre of Polperro. The first shop we saw was a little hardware store which sold pet items too - so we purchased a new waterproof coat for Pixel as he had outgrown his puppy one. He was much happier once wearing this - he gets cold very quickly. We then walked up the high street looking in a few shop windows - there were some particularly beautiful pieces of glass, locally made, which I loved. The rain soon drove us to seek shelter so we popped into the Three Pilchards pub for a warming drink - I had coffee and Sam had a hot chocolate. After our second drink the rain had eased so we wandered about a bit looking at the views and checking out some shops. Sam nearly bought a watch but didn't in the end as the lady in the shop was unable to resize it for her. We decided that it was time to head back so got the bus back to the car park. There was a big diesel spill along the main road - which caused the bus driver to moan loadly to all and sundry. He took the bus back but was refusing to do any more trips until the fire brigade came to wash the diesel away.
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| Wet, wet,wet! |
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| The harbour in Polperro |
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| Funny river between some houses |
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| The three Pilchards |
We ate out this evening - we both fancied a
steak and so found a little wine bar place called
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| Lascares Wine Bar |
Lascares
that was serving a very reasonable earlybird menu. It was not as flash or as nice as last night meal - but we both enjoyed it.
Friday
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| On the Ferry - earlier in the week |
Our last full day before going home - the week flew by! Did some last minute gift shopping - Cornish items for everyone! It is good to support local trade. We had a fish and chip lunch and then took Pixel for a last walk on Hannafore Beach. We managed to time the tides right today to get the ferry both ways.
Pixel really enjoyed himself both walking to and on the beach.
The path leading along the sea front is narrow and for part od the walk you are on the road. There are lots of good view point to take photos from. We watched a fishing boat coming in - followed by lots of seagulls.
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| The pathway floods in parts when the tide is in |
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| Nelson the one eyed seal who used to live in Looe Harbour |
We finished the day with an ice-cream for everyone - even Pixel!
Sam cooked our dinner - potato bake with chicken and bacon, it was delicious. There was a portion left that we popped in the fridge for later. I did the packing ready for the off .
Then we went out to a little pub that was advertising life music for later. We were drinking Rattler Cornish cider - which slipped down real easy - too easy from the hangover the next day!
The live music was provided by a young guy called Marc Rice - he was very enjoyable to listen to. Check out his facebook page
here. We stayed till about 11.30 then headed back to the cottage - both rather merry! Sam decided she would eat the rest of the potato bake and I told her to put it back as I wanted it for a sandwich tomorrow - needless to say I couldn't face a sandwich in the morning - certainly not one made with potato bake!
Saturday
Going home day! Sam woke to a bit of a hangover - but the room was still spinning for me! We packed up the car and went for breakfast at The Rusty Bucket. Sam had a full Cornish but I could only manage a yoghurt and granola fruit thing and a large black coffee. We parked up in the carpark as we had to leave our parking space and bought some Cornish pasties to take home and a small watercolour painting to remind us of our stay in Looe - it was a bargain at £15.00.
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| Waiting for breakfast in the Rusty Bucket |
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| Goodbye East Looe |
The journey home was uneventful with just a little traffic in Bristol. We got home around 5.00 and sat out in the garden to enjoy some late sunshine. We popped the boys out in the run - and sadly whilst there Barney had a stroke or heart attack and died in Sam's arms. Charlotte said he had been very spry all week but he was very old and we had expected him to go soon - it was a bit of a sad end to a lovely week.
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| Barney - a real shoulder rat! |
