Cornwall

P&E at Lands End

Padstow Crowds

Padstow Marina

Today has been a Cornwall day. Set off this morning in patchy sunlight for Lands’ End. Had a good run and were there in about an hour. When we got there it was not very busy but by the time we left the tourist coaches had arrived.  It is quite picturesque and we were glad we had gone there. It was however cold and windy.

Next stop was Penzance and it is a lovely town. Had a cup of coffee and a look around the shops but unfortunately there was not enough time to linger in the 3 shoe shops in the area we were in. Phil was not unhappy with this outcome.

Moved on then to Long Rock to see St Michael’s Mount which,  at low tide can be reached via a granite causeway. No low tide while we were there and people were lining up to be ferried across on small boats.

Lunch was next on our agenda and we had heard that although Rick Stein’s Restaurant in Padstow required booking well ahead, you could eat at his Café.  We hadn’t done a lot of reading about Padstow so we motored into the centre of town to be greeted by a sea of pedestrians all over the roads. There had been no signage to say cars were not allowed but the pedestrians were a bit hard to budge. Found no available parks and managed to crawl through the crowds and tiny streets back to the Park and Ride outside of town. Jill had suggested this earlier but we had become accustomed to driving through the centre of towns and cities but nothing like this. This was on a Wednesday, hate to think what it is like on a weekend.

Lined up outside what we thought was the Café to get a seat. Ended up we were at the Fish and Chip Café - still the fish and chips were good. Walked down the road and saw the real café. Seems the Steins own most of Padstow so it’s hard not to be confused.

The women had a quick look around the shops while the men explored further around the inlet and the bay. It was stunningly beautiful even though the weather was not that great.

We came home via the coast road. It was of the narrower version of roads and on many occasions not room for two cars to pass each other let alone a tractor and trailer (yes we met one coming towards us). The view in parts was lovely but was mostly obscured by the hedges beside the road.