Yesterday we left the apartment early and headed down to St Michael 's Mount,one of Cornwall's best known landmarks.
It is an island abbey connected to the mainland at Marazion by a cobbled causeway,and completely cut off at high tide . The first church was believed to have been founded on the island in the 5th century,although most of the present day abbey derives from a 12th century chapel constructed by the same Benedictine monks who built Mont St Michel off the Normandy coast in France.
The mount became an important place of pilgrimage throughout the Middle Ages and briefly served as a fortress during the Civil War.
Since 1659 the mount has been the home of the St Aubyn family and has been open to the public since 1954 under the stewardship of the National a Trust.
It is possible to walk across the causeway at low tide but we were unable to cross until about 3.00 ish.
We caught a very efficient ,and may I say lucrative ferry.
The weather was wonderful and we were able to see the area at its best.After a seafood lunch at a wonderful restaurant overlooking the Mount we decided to move onto Land's End.
We drove through Penzance with its winding streets,old shopping arcades and grand seafront promenade. This town is an authentic place ,less polished than Padstow and without the desire to attract the tourists .
From Penzance we continued on to Land's End the last stop on the journey from John O 'Groats to Land's End.
The crumbling granite cliffs of west Cornwall tumble into the Atlantic Ocean.
As you enter the site there is a plethora of tacky tourist multi media shows but you walk through and take an exhilarating cliff top stroll along the headland instead.
Land's End is 9 miles from Penzance and 886 miles from John O'Groats.
We had had a huge day and whilst parked at Marazion a flock of gulls with obviously upset constitutions flew over our car and relieved their ailments.You have no idea how comprehensive the coverage was and we were a cause for amusement wherever we parked.
We needed to clean it off and luckily a wrong turn at a roundabout facilitated the finding of a high powered jet spray cleaner. It took some work but we felt happier after the removal!
We headed home,collected some supplies and returned to the apartment.Oops the door was jammed and we could not get in.
The lock mechanism had broken and a locksmith had to be called.
By this stage it was around 7.30 ,no food since our light lunch in Marazion and we were marginally pooped.
Our neighbours brought over some wine and glasses and we chatted and socialised while the locksmiths strutted their stuff.
At 8.30 we were able to enter our room and our neighbours and the owners of the establishment invited us over to the local wine bar .
Over we go and enjoy an enjoyable evening,we return at 11 and raid the fridge for cheese and biscuits and make a cup of tea!
What a day!