Torquay, England...

I went out for sail-in for about an hour and a half before our arrival and it became obvious the we would arrive ahead of schedule. A very scenic sail into the Torbay with town of Torquay in background. We got the tender to town and met our guide Alex at the pier. This was our first visit to Torquay, England. Torquay is a lovely seaside town known as the English Riveria as well as the birthplace of Agatha Christie. Our tour guide showed us around the town before we headed for Dartmouth. Our route took us by way of the Scenic Devon coast passing Babbacomb, with its spectacular coastal views, Paignton a seaside town with its colorful beach houses and Brixham a quaint historic working fishing village. We took the tug boat ferry from Kingswear to Dartmouth crossing the river Dart. In Dartmouth we walked around this lovely bustling town flanked between the Royal Naval College and Dartmouth Castle. Dartmouth was a hive of activity with its narrow streets, exquisite medieval houses and old quays. With the beautiful weather, it was a great day to walk around discovering the gems of Dartmouth. We meandered through the streets taking in all Dartmouth had to offer and stopped in to see St. Saviour’s Church. The picturesque scenery, narrow streets and striking historic landmarks certainly left an impression with us on our first visit to the area. We had a delicious fish and chips lunch at the Rockfish. From Dartmouth we drove along the scenic Devon Coast. We stopped at Slapton Sands to see the Sherman Tank Memorial to US Soldiers lost in a 1944 wartime exercise which was covered up and the true story was finally revealed in 1984. The story is that German reconnaissance planes reported increased Allied activity off the English coast. As a result, 9 German torpedo boats were sent to the coast and in the early hours of April 28, 1944 discovered boats involved in Exercise Tiger, one of the Allied Forces D-Day rehearsals conducted at Slapton Sands. In all, 946 American servicemen lost their lives. The Sherman tank was recovered from the sea and serves as a reminder of and memorial to this tragic loss. Next, we had a brief stop in the hamlet of Ashburton to take a photo of a lovely thatched roof cottage. We started our trek inland to the middle of Devon County to Dartmoor National Park. This drive was the quintessential narrow English country road experience plus a beautiful drive along the countryside. Inside the park you see tall granite "tors" standing out atop high plateaus. On these plateaus, the famous Dartmoor pony’s graze. Dartmoor is also blessed with an abundance of prehistoric remains as standing stones, hut circles and hill forts dot the landscape of the moor. The majority of the prehistoric remains in Dartmoor date back to the Bronze Age and Dartmoor contains the largest concentration of Bronze Age remains in the United Kingdom. We returned to Torquay with lots of time to spare. Alex was a top-notch guide with extensive local knowledge, we thoroughly enjoyed our day in Devon.  I certainly would recommend him if you’re planning on coming to the area.  www.uniquedevontours.com or www.uniquecornwalltours.com  Tomorrow will be a long day, we arrive into Le Havre at 0700, after setting the clocks forward an hour tonight and head for a roundtrip tour to Paris…  It will be a very long day!