Vaucluse Dreamer

We always knew that these few weeks back in the UK would pass by in a flash, but if I’m honest, I didn’t imagine that it would be quite this quick.

As I start typing this, 2 weeks have already passed, since we were on Mont Ventoux watching the most amazing day’s racing in this year’s Tour de France. It really was An Incredible Day

The days have slipped by in a blur of work, with 3 days at events done so far with my jewellery…

Trying to make sure that we have everything we will need for the bike ride Cycling from Devon back to Provence…

And making sure that we are fitting in some cycling too, just to keep our legs turning, before we set off in less than 2 weeks time.

Everything was thrown into sharp focus though last night, when we were sitting on the quayside in the pretty seaside town of Swanage, and suddenly realised that we could see Portsmouth in the far distance, with the Isle Of Wight looming out of the sea, infront of us too. In exactly 2 weeks time we would be passing the IOW on a Brittany Ferry, on the first leg of our long ride home.

It seemed very strange, as the last 2 weeks have flashed past and if anything, the next 2 weeks are even busier, so will no doubt, go even more quickly.

I know we bring some of it on ourselves. We don’t need to do all the Fairs that we are doing (but we enjoy them, so why not?)

We don’t need to potter around the country visiting friends and family, whilst we’re here (but we see them so rarely, it is always lovely to spend even just one day together)

We certainly didn’t need to have a night away in Swanage either, but when friends (who will be putting us up again in the Marais Breton, on our ride down) offered us a place to stay for the night, we knew we would fit it in somehow, especially as it would give us a break away from all the stresses and niggles of work.

Also, we had never visited the town, so it would be a great opportunity to see somewhere different and walk a different part of the South West Coast Path.

And it proved to be everything we had hoped for, although the walk was made slightly more ‘interesting’ with Storm Floris blasting her way across the South Coast, gaining pace as it headed towards Scotland.

We had planned to walk out from the town, through the Durlston Country Park and along the coast, before turning inland to make our way to a village pub for a late lunch. But our plans were blasted by the wind.

By the time we reached the lighthouse at Anvil Point the wind was whipping the sea (and my hair) into a frenzy, and as the rain started to hit us, stinging like needles on our skin, it almost ripped our coats away with it, as we struggled to put them on. It really was a bad hair day, as this shows!

We may be slightly foolhardy, but even we know when we’re beaten, so we turned around and headed back towards the town (on a route away from the cliff edge)

The Country Park is a beautiful place to walk, with a fascinating history and great wildlife too.

On the headland is Durlston Castle (not a vast medieval fortress, like nearby Corfe), but a Victorian building, created by the Park’s Founder, George Burt.

He was a local lad, who started life in the stone quarries there, but whose entrepreneurial skills led to him being one of the foremost quarry owners of the era. What was nice though was that he didn’t forget his roots and it appears that he returned to Swanage, bringing parts of London with him, as ballast on ships returning after dropping off the quarried stone.

As such, Swanage has a clock that sat at the end of London Bridge, the ornate front of the old Mercer’s Hall that had been designed by Christopher Wren (and is now the facade of the Town Hall), as well as a large number of iron bollards that are marked with the London Boroughs that they had been made for (and the years they were made)

In fact, so much of London came back on the returning boats that it appears Swanage was nick-named ‘Little London by the Sea’, and the more you explore the town, the more you can understand why.

He didn’t stop there though, and bought the land that now forms the Park. Originally he had the idea to create a residential development, surrounding it with paths and walks, interspersed with seating areas and quirky pieces of art.

The residential development didn’t happen, but he transformed the area all the same, encouraging people to visit and experience what he had created from this post-industrial landscape.

He included stones inscribed with poetry

Or encouraging visitors to do certain things, our particular favourite being ‘Rest and Admire’ with a beautiful view across the bay to Old Harry Rocks, and (this morning once the storm had passed,  we realised)  beyond to Bournemouth too.

He also commissioned and installed the giant stone globe, marked with the world, as it was known at the time.

A huge ball of rock that sits below the ‘Castle’ and above the sea, surrounded by poetry and stone seats marked with the points of the compass. Even over 130 years later, it is still an impressive piece of work.

And there is the castle too, which was built as a restaurant, and is still one today.

We may not have been able to do the walk that we had planned, but it was lovely to have a chance to explore a little of the Park and to understand what this local gentleman had achieved in his lifetime.

It’s lovely that so much of it has survived to be enjoyed now, although it sounds as if it would have had quite incredible exotic, botanic gardens too, at its height.

So our ‘day off’ in Swanage saw us walking just under 30km in total, ambling along the coast, exploring the town and getting utterly soaked in the downpours.

But, we ate ice-cream on the beach-front and had a perfectly lovely, albeit tiring day.

As we headed out for supper, the skies started to clear and by the time we had finished, it was as if the storm had never happened.

The bay was like a mill-pond and the seafront was busy with people, finally emerging after a day hidden away from the weather.

It was only then that we saw the Isle of Wight, and Portsmouth in the distance, as both had been shrouded in cloud all day. Then the reality hit that the next time we saw either, we would be on the ferry, on our way to Saint Malo, in exactly 2 weeks time.

I’m sure we will be so pushed to get everything done now, that we will wonder why on earth we found the time for this rather delightful night away.

But as we keep telling ourselves, we would get bored if we didn’t take on life at full-tilt, and surely it’s better to make the most of our time, whilst we’re here.

So after a slow morning and another amble out to the Castle for breakfast, we’re home and ready to go again.

We’d better hold onto our hats, as we’ll be fastening the straps on our cycle helmets and starting to turn the pedals before we have chance to breathe.

Hey ho, we’ll have to slow down one day!