A Coastal Walk

With the sun shining brightly we set off around 10am for another walk in fantastic weather. At least that's what we thought. After a nice fry-up with plenty of choice from our extensive chilli sauce collection we headed down to the coast on veeeery narrow country lanes. Arg. I was very glad when we finally hit the A381 at the coast.

First stop was a farm shop near Torcross. With the bag full of sausages and meat we realized, that the box to keep all of it cool was still at the cottage."Luckily", it had started to rain as we left the farm shop and we decided to risk it and hope the fresh meat would stay cool enough during the day.

It was quite busy on the road to Salcombe but we made it just for 11:30am with a bit of luck and a nose for a good spot to park the car, we found ourselves not long after hunting for a cash point and a coffee.
Somehow we just got the bus to Malborough at 12:30 literally gulfing down our coffees fearing we'd miss it otherwise.

Salcombe bay

Got off in Malborough with the sun shining again from a sky that went from overcast to bright blue again during the remainder of the day. The walk on another country lane was short, before we turned onto a public footpath towards Hope.

In Hope we finally joined the South West Coast Path and walked all along the coast from Bolt Tail to Bolt Head and into Salcombe again.

Stunning weather, a good breeze a few ups and downs... what a fine day on a British coast. Just amazing! We stopped a few times to take in the fine views. Waves coming from the blue and turquoise sea, crashing onto dark rock, blue sky and green grass.

Hope

Back in Salcombe we had a pint at the Victoria Inn which won the Best Pub of the South West in 2014 and 2015. Good selection of gins and wine but only a few ales and I'm not talking about the cider. Boo. Still nice pub and the food looked nice.
However, we were booked for the Tower Inn in Slapton, so as darkness was approaching fast we drove back on still narrow but now more or less empty country lanes. Parking in Slapton was a bit tricky. Driving through is already tricky, find a parking space even more. Eventually we parked a bit outside and walked to the pub.

What a nice one that was. Liked it much better than the one in Salcombe. Proper cosy and good cider, yeah. Spoilt for choice food-wise I suggested the mussels in a cider, garlic and cream sauce. I had never eaten mussels but wanted to give it a go so close to the sea. Rich showed me the best way to eat them and they were gorgeous!!!
Mains were Braised Ox Cheek (another first for me) with Kale and veg and for Rich Barbary Duck with sweet carrot purée. Both dishes were absolutely amazing and we were completely stuffed afterwards. Drove the last two miles home under a clear sky dotted with thousands of stars and chilled a bit at the cottage, food coma setting in.

What a day! Simply perfect from the start. Good weather, good food and the best company.