I like to think that I'm a well travelled kind of gal but then when I realise that I've never even been to Cornwall it makes me laugh at myself and think, maybe not! We're very lucky that the Man's family have a caravan in the lovely village of Coombe Martin in Devon, so on the last bank holiday when we were there, we decided to day trip to Cornwall so that I could see what I'd been missing out on.......oh my goodness, it was so lovely. How I've never been there is beyond me!
First stop on our list was the very lovely Padstow. Driving down from the top of the hill and passing all of the regular houses it just looks like another seaside town but when you come down towards the hair pin bend, you start to get a bit more of the flavour of the village. We parked in a rather scary car park right alongside the harbour where you could see right across the beach and down through the Estuary, toward the sea:
I love being beside the sea, I think it's a throwback to living next to the sea when I was growing up. There's just something so calming about it and it seems to put things into perspective for me, probably the vastness of it making me feel smaller and putting my worries into insignificance!
Anyways I also love to sit and watch how the other half live, some lovely boats to sit and dream about going on for an adventure. It always makes me wonder at the stories of the boat owners. Where have these people travelled from and what is their story? One lovely boat was all the way from America, not sure I'm brave enough for that sailing adventure!
Obviously this is also one of the best places for people watching and munching on amazing fish & chips. I wonder why they always taste so much better by the sea? Yum!
We happened to be in Padstow on Mayday weekend and they had one of the coolest maypoles I think I've ever seen. It was just so colourful and vibrant and my photo really doesn't do it any justice:
I think one of my favourite things about Padstow was meandering around all of the little crooked streets and passages in the sunshine, looking at shops with very beautiful clothes, pottering in many lovely art galleries, glimpsing the sea every so often and oh my goodness the food. I very stupidly missed out on getting a traditional Cornish pasty but I made up for it at Stein's Patisserie. I was totally drawn in by the window display:
As well as these HUGE meringues (which we managed to split between four of us) they also sold the best tasting scones I've ever eaten outside of The Ritz! I may have also consumed a couple of very dainty macarons and cornish clotted ice cream! Yes, I did come back from the day about 5lb heavier as we also bought some fudge to take home with us!!
Padstow was such a lovely vibrant place but with a very family feel. The Adventures of an English Mum family will definitely be back for a return visit!
