Easter in South Devon - April 2012

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IN ENGLISH

London to Torquay, Devon, UK: 219.4 miles on the way out & 197.4 miles on the way back 6-9 April 2012

As I (Nelly) wanted to gain more riding experience, we decided to travel on two bikes for this long bank holiday weekend. The first leg of the journey was going to be on the M4 west to Bristol and then on the M5 south to Exeter + a bit of A roads to Torquay our final destination. All went well, despite tiredness and feeling achy; we stop several times to rest and arrived in Torquay at 6pm.

We had made a reservation at the Robin Hill B&B which turned out to be a lovely place. One small inconvenient: the driveway to the hotel entrance goes up on a steep hill and John had to ride my bike for me as I was too scared to attempt the climb. After a well deserved rest and wash, we went out to dinner by the harbour. By chance we found the restaurant Man Fridays, specialising in locally sourced fish. Our meal was truly excellent. This restaurant is worth the trip by itself.

The next morning we rode - two up on the Suzuki 1250cc - around Dartmoor National Park and visited on the way Lyford Gorge. We did a two-hour walk in the park through woods and across small rivers. The main sites there are the White Lady Waterfall and the Devil's Cauldron.

In Dartmoor we saw a few wild ponies and tores. Back in Torquay we had pizza for dinner.

No motorbike on Sunday. The sun was out and we decided to walk part of the 630 miles South West Coast Path. This is the heritage coast: beautiful landscapes, cliffs, the sea, seaside resorts, dog walkers and mother nature. It was just great.

This is what is called the English Riviera. That day we walked about 5 kilometers from Torquay to Oddicombe and Babbacombe beach to Paignton. Following the South West Coast path we saw the Cliff Railway, Hope's Nose and Thatcher Rock.
For dinner we booked a table at the Marina Restaurant in Torquay. Nice food and good service.

Monday we left Torquay around 10am, and this time took the A roads back to London. It rained constantly all day long. We made it in 8 hours, tired, wet, cold but happy with the weekend. Devon is a gorgeous county worth returning to... one day perhaps. 😊

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EN FRANCAIS

De Londres a Torquay, Devon, UK: 353,1 km a l'aller et 317,7 km au retour 6-9 avril 2012


Comme je (Nelly) voulais gagner plus d'experience en moto, nous avons decide de partir pour le weekend de Paques a deux motos; chacun la sienne. On allait prendre l'autoroute a l'aller direction ouest vers Bristol, puis sud jusque Exeter et ensuite routes nationales jusque Torquay la destination finale. A part fatique et courbatures, tout c'est bien passe, en s'arretant plusieures fois nous sommes arrives a Torquay vers 18h.

Nous avions une reservation au Robin Hill B&B. Un leger obstacle en arrivant: l'entree de l'hotel est situee en haut d'une cote, et John a du prendre ma moto parce que j'avais trop la trouille d'y monter. On s'est repose apres la route, douche et sommes sortis diner sur le port. On a trouve par hasard le restaurant Man Fridays, specialite de poissons. On a super bien mange. Ce restaurant vaut le detour.

Le lendemain, samedi, nous sommes partis a deux a moto dans le Parc National de Dartmoor et visite en route la Gorge de Lydford. On a fait une promenade a pied de deux heures sur les sentiers et vu les principales attractions touristiques de White Lady cascade et le Chaudron du Diable.

A Dartmoor on a aussi vu des poneys.

Dimanche nous n'avons pas pris la moto mais plutot decide de faire une ballade a pied sous le soleil. Nous avons emprunte une (petite) partie du sentier pedestre cotier d'un total de 630 miles: le South West Coast Path. Magnifiques vues, falaises, la mer et Mere Nature. C'etait super.

Cette region est surnomme la Cote d'Azur Anglaise. Ce jour la nous avons marche environ 5 km de Torquay a Oddicombe et la plage de Babbacombe et Paignton. En suivant le South West Coast Path on a vu le funiculaire, la pointe de Hope's Nose et Thatcher Rock.
Le soir nous avons mange au restaurant Marina.

Nous sommes partis de Torquay lundi matin ver 10h, et cette fois ci avons emprunte les routes nationales jusque Londres. It a plu des trombes tout le trajet. On a mis 8 heures, trempes, fatigues, froids mais tres contents du weekend. le Devon est une bien jolie region qui vaut la peine d'y retourner... peut-etre. 😊

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