We're All Going on a Summer Holiday...

!! Boredom Warning - this is a very long post !!

Phew - what a couple of weeks its been. Our lives have been somewhat distracted since the end of July from the move to Geneva to playing host and tour guide to our respective brothers, Neil and Philippe.

Neil was on a return 'up over' and needless to say wanted to take in some of his (and our) favourite sou'westerly spots. Then with a day of overlap, Philippe arrived to take advantage of our final few weeks in Plymouth to join us for yet more sightseeing and tourism. All of this we welcomed with open arms as it gave us the perfect excuse to prise ourselves away from the relentless roller coaster that is preparing for a move abroad, and see these places ourselves for the last time in what will be a very long while. The south west is a magnificent mix of coast, countryside and moors which is like no other place on earth - we are truly lucky to hail from this region and I will do my best to praise it up on this blog before we leave.

Neil's stay has been very well documented in his own blog, including our trip to collect Philippe from Exdurr Airfield on 7 August via the very gorgeous Fingle Bridge and its giant cream tea. It was proper 'ansome I tell ya. Philippe brought with him some real summer weather - this was the best gift he could have brought (even better then the selection of cheese he brought, but only just).

Tintagel was our first and only collective destination where all 4 of us could go out together before Neil headed back to London for the final leg of his tour of Europe. We had a great walk around the castle under azure skies and warm sunshine making for some stunning photos, although one French tourist was obsessed with filming the gulls. The enormous pasties we had for lunch were scrumptious - they were from Pengenna Pasties in the high street where you could see them being made. They were nearly £3 but you did get your moneys worth. After the walk we refreshed ourselves with yet more Doom Bar ale - sigh!

Now if you have read Neil's blog it seems like we were on a bit of a gastro tour of the South west - let me say that this was a purely coincidental and it just so happens that these places we go to happen to have top notch traditional south western comfort food and there's nothing we can do about it. One fine example has to be the local fudge shop in Tintagel - Granny Wobblys Fudge Pantry. Now to suggest this was the only reason for visiting Tintagel and not anywhere else would be quite wrong, well, uh, no. To be honest 3 of us had done the castle before so if it wasn't for the this quite simply amazing crumbly fudge we would have probably decided on going somewhere else. Vero bought over a tenner's worth and I had a fudge crumble ice cream - an indulgent mess of coffee ice cream smeared with clotted cream then dipped in the fudge crumbs.

Then it was back to Mum's for our Christmas dinner in the back garden. Don't ask. Philippe probably thought we were all crazy but it was my last home cooked roast dinner I will have for a very long time and I did not care one bit. Plus it was the last time the whole family would be together for goodness knows how long - that was and still is quite difficult to grasp and probably has not hit home yet. After we downed some fizzy plonk there were more family photos for the album.



I awoke on Thursday feeling kind of weird after the previous night's farewells, however the blazing blue skies perked me up and despite tired legs we headed up to Dartmoor for a long circular walk near Burrator. Starting at the dam we headed up over Sheepstor before heading out round to Nuns cross Farm near Princetown. We then decended all the way along the Devonport leat back into the Burrator forests. All this was about 12km and took us the best part of the day. I had never done a walk of this magnitude on Dartmoor so I was delighted to have been able to do so on such a gorgeous day.

On Friday we had a great day out, taking a very cheap and pleasant train ride to St Ives in West Cornwall. I have not been to St Ives for 15 years and the frogs had never been so we were all excited and expectant. The final leg of the journey is quite breathtaking as you sweep into St Ives bay with a view of the Hayle Towans (dunes), Godrevy lighthouse, and the golden sandy beaches.



Despite it being a very popular place that day (in more then one sense) we had a very nice day out pottering in the galleries and walking along the coastal paths. It was a crying shame that there was another Pengenna pasty shop - lamb and mint was on the menu this time. We also saw a seal in the harbour and had a paddle at Carbis bay. However the water was still pretty arctic so I only ventured in up to my knees for about 10 seconds before my lower limbs froze and fell off. A nice beer by the beach with views of the harbour topped the day off nicely before the ride home.

Saturday afternoon we returned to Noss Mayo for one final time. We took Neil there a week before and although it was a nice day this one was even better. The walk around the cliffs into the village is always sublime and this was no different, except this time when we arrived in the village itself there was a regatta on. Noss is usually a sleepy little place and normally you would think that all these boats lined up on both sides of the creek loaded with lager (or Pimms probably)-fuelled passengers would detract a bit. Not at all - the atmosphere was great and we sat in the sunshine at the Ship Inn and supped on Thatchers Dry Cider. Mmmmm. Noss is ace - we're gonna really miss this day out.

The travelling was starting to take its toll on Sunday however we did manage to sneak in a game of pitch and putt at Central Park (I was rubbish) and a walk around the Hoe and Barbican before a meal at our local pub with the remaining family members one last time before they all disappeared on holiday to the Costa Blanca. I had a massive 12oz burger which I couldn't even fit in my enormous gob. Nice!

Yesterday was Philippe's last full day and after a short trip to town to raid Sainsburys for goodies for him to take home, we took a last-minute trip to Cotehele Quay on the River Tamar to kill the afternoon. Another place we have both grown to love however this time the fatigue was a bit too much to really appreciate (and also take the camera out of the bag). It was a bit grey and overcast too which was a bit of a shock after all the sunshine.

It has been an amazing few weeks and I don't think we would have been able to enjoy it as much if it wasn't for Neil and Philippe's welcome visits - thanks guys we had an absolute blast. I don't know how many miles we have covered however its been like a holiday for us - much needed and very much appreciated.

Last night we said a teary goodbye to Mum - she should be over in Spain as I write this so will not be about for the last two weeks of our time in the UK. She really made sure Vero, Neil and I had a great send off with her roast dinner, sausage and egg pie, rhubarb crumble and so on..Thanks Mum we'll miss your cooking but we'll miss you more. See you in Spain soon maybe?

And so to today. We dropped Philippe off to the Airport this morning in near-apocalyptic rain and gales and returned (via a nostalgic last trip to Tesco Extra and a final pork pie raid) to the reality of only 14 more days in Plymouth before we emigrate to Switzerland on 29 August. There is still so much to do however we have just about accomplished all the major landmarks over the last few weeks. We have sold the flat, booked the removal, advertised the car and packing is well underway. The removers are coming in next Friday or Saturday and as we get closer and closer, our flat feels less like home and more like a warehouse. It certainly feels very strange and as much as we love everyone and everything about where we live we are ready to go now and start a whole brand new adventure.....