A few days in Devon – One.

Had a lovely few days away with my favourite. When we arrived on Friday morning we headed straight down to Lynmouth and went out on the tiny strip of rock that hadn’t yet been swallowed by the rising tide. I slipped and managed to get both of my feet engulfed in the incoming waves so had to walk to Watersmeet with soggy feet. Along the way I started to realise why it is that Kate and her family love it there so much, it’s so beautiful and so tranquil, there is no hurry or rush about anything, it felt like the kind of thing I was entirely ready for, I didn’t have phone signal the whole time we were there which was a blessing. We kept finding beautiful spots along the river to take photos and Kate let me disappear off, climbing rocks like I was a kid. Along the way she pointed out the exact spots where funny things had happened when she had been there previously.

When we got to Watersmeet we sat at a cafe that looked like the Weasley’s house, and Kate bought me a cream tea. Before we ate she insisted on placing some crumbs on a post for the local birds, seconds later we were surrounded. Kate said that she felt like Snow White, I felt like a character in a Hitchcock film.
As we got up to leave it started to rain and we made the journey back to Lynmouth with our hoods up. Once again I went hopping off rocks, taking photos and dashing back to the path to show off my bounty. When we got back to the beach the tide was on its way out and we went crabbing (another favourite past-time from Kate’s childhood holidays there), turning over rocks in search of crustaceans. The sun suddenly emerged and the beach was ours.

We got back to the town and had fish and chips sat up on the sea wall, all the while glaring at the circling seagulls. It was an experience that Papa John raved about and had therefore set high expectations of, I’m pleased to say it lived up to them, it was spot on. After that we walked out along the pier and trying to show off I splashed about in the water at the end of the pier where it sloped to meet the tide.
Once my boots started to dry I foolishly threw myself off the sea wall and lost my balance, gaining yet another shoeful of sea water. Kate rightfully laughed and called me names. With sea all up my jeans we got to the car and headed to the inn to check in. I told Kate to keep me away from the sea from then on.
The Blue Ball Inn (where we stayed) is literally carved into the side of a hill on the edge of a coastal walk, there are no other landmarks for a mile, it was brilliant. We checked in and then headed downstairs to eat dinner by the open fire.
With bellies full of fresh local mussels and pan-fried duck and a bottle of red wine we stumbled off to bed ready for the next day.