And So To France.......

On Thursday 7 April 2011, at about 8.00pm my Mum, my friends Eve and Al and myself, set off from Saltash to the Ferry terminal at Milbay Docks, Plymouth and boarded the Ferry Armorique bound for Roscoff in Bittany (France) and we arrived next morning and disembarked at about 8.00am.

This link is the website for the ferry

http://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/fleet/armorique

We headed off towards for a little village called Saint Genies near a town called Sarlat in the Dordogne/Perigord region in Southern France.  It took us two days and we arrived at our destination at around 7.00pm on Saturday 9 April.

We didn't have much time for sightseeing but we stopped off at the following places on the way down

Quimper, Brittany

More Information via this link

http://france-for-visitors.com/brittany/quimper/index.html

We stopped at Pont Aven in Brittany for lunch

More information via this link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pont-Aven



Later that day we visited St Nazaire at the mouth of the river Loire which was the site of a British raid during World War 2 during which an old British Destroyer HMS Campbelltown was sunk at the lock gates to lock up German U Boats sheltering in the huge Pens constructed to protect them from bombing raids.  Today there is a memorial to those who died and the U boat pens are a tourist office.

The U Boat Pens

The Lock Gates

The Memorial

A gun from HMS Campbelltown

Some Links

http://www.combinedops.com/St%20Nazaire.htm

http://www.stnazairesociety.org/Pages/index.html

and some more general info

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Nazaire

We stayed the night in a rather strange hotel in Nantes and after breakfast we proceeded south

Breakfast in Nantes

We stopped for coffee in this little town called Chiche

It took us the rest of the day to get o our home for the next seven days.















Out and about - South East Cornwall Around Plymouth

Boconnoc House near Lostwithiel and venue for the Cornwall

Spring Flower Show

http://boconnocenterprises.co.uk/

We visited Cothele Quay on the River Tamar and also visited the mill

The Shamrock drawn up on the Quay for refitting. Later we

saw that she had been put back in her berth

Lime Kilns near the Quay

Cothele Mill

The Water Wheel

A Poster up in the Mill

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-cotehelemill

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cornwall/content/articles/2008/10/27/history_cotehelewalk_feature.shtml

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-cotehele?campid=PSCTHL

Cotehele House viewed from Calstock through the railway viaduct

At Calstock near Cothele we visited the remains of the Okel Tor Tin mine

2 views of Calstock

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calstock

Okel Tor Mine, Calstock

Views around the mine site

http://www.aditnow.co.uk/mines/OKEL-TOR-Mine/

We also visited Mount Edgecumbe Park at the mouth of the Tamar which was home to the Earls of Mount Edgecumbe unfortunately the House was destroyed in the bombing of Plymouth during the war, but has been partially rebuilt.  The gardens are now open to th3e Public as a Park & Gardens.  The earls also owned Cothele House.

The House

The Gardens

The view towards the Naval Dockyards in Devonport

The view towards the Saltash Bridges from Mount Edgecumbe

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Edgcumbe_Country_Park

Buckland Abbey started off as a Cistercian Monastery In the Middle Ages.  After the dissolution of the Monasteries it became the Family home of Sir Francis Drake and stayed in his family up to the 19th century.  It is situated near the River Tavy between Tavistock and Plymouth near the edge of Dartmoor.

The House

The Abbots House (Now a farmhouse) with the medieval

Great Barn in the Background

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckland_Abbey

A Bridge over the River Tavy near Buckland Abbey

Lopewell Weir on the River Tavy

Finally on Mothers Day......

My Mum, Vivien, Nina and her Mum Rosemary