After a very relaxing and necessary break time at the Cherwood Hotel in Paignton I moved on to the house where General Eisenhower once looked out from the same window.
Pauline and James took me along for the twenty minutes ride to the Southern little town Dartmouth, only it took up to 45 minutes to get there, because James did not want to go with the ferry. So we had to drive all around the bay and got into hills of Dartmouth.
When we arrived in Dartmouth on this sunny Sunday, Pauline suggested to have a final beer in the local pub. What a lovely couple this was! And it was for the first time in over a months to have such a long connection with my hosts, too!
At the bar we had some nice talks with the barman about running your own business, licenses and the time you don’t have to go on a holiday.
After two beers, my hosts dropped me off on top of Mount Boone, actually just a little hill, where the Barrington House is located.
At the front door I said goodbye to my Paignton hosts and met my new hosts Simon and Lizzie with their two young kids, who were really glad to see me in real life.
Simon and Lizzie bought the Barrington House in 1999 and restyled the complete house into a colonial style quality Bed & Breakfast, which is refreshingly different than anything I have seen until now. It almost comes close to the memories of the French ‘castle’ I stayed at in Paris…
The house dates back to the 1860’s; and I am told it was originally built for a member of the Peake-Frean families (established biscuit makers). More recently General Dwight Eisenhower – former 34st President of the United States – used it as his billet in June 1944 prior to the Normandy Landings!
So there I was, given the ‘superior double room’ on the second floor, where once General Eisenhower must have looked out of the window, predicting the weather conditions for his 160,000 soldiers, with a big cigar (just imagining this), thinking about when, how and where to land his men at the French West-coast.
With the sun on the other side of the house and the port and the sea at my window side, I had a great view to sailors coming in, boats leaving the port and the ferry going up en down the little passage.
After relaxing a bit (just because I like relaxing, not that I am tired after three days in a hotel in Paignton) and looking out of my window for a long while, I met some other guests in the lounge.
It’s nice to be in a Bed & Breakfast Hotel, instead of a commercial hotel where almost nobody knows you. In a Bed & Breakfasts the hosts really talk with their guests and enjoy the conversations with everybody.
So there I sat in this beautiful lounge with the whole family, and some English hotel guests, talking about travelling and about Dartmouth, while drinking some delicious white wine. On the background I hear some jazz music.
After the wine, I was invited to the dinner party in the dining room. Normally Simon & Paul only do breakfasts, but because some guests requested a dinner with everybody, Simon got into the kitchen and was a chef again!
Before getting into business with the Barrington House, Simon had worked himself up as a cook in the kitchen (he even worked in restaurants in Paris!) to the management of six hotels in southeast England.
But that life was just too exhausting. All the traffic jams in that part of England don’t really make a human being happy and when he met Lizzie, they sought a nice and peaceful place to raise their kids and run their own business.
And they found a great place in Dartmouth, I must agree! In England Dartmouth is primarily known because of its Naval College. Every marine soldier in the UK has been here!
After dinner Simon took me out into the little town, to show me around at the most interesting things. Walking down the hill was easy, but after the tour around the port, a beer in a pub, another little tour, the walk up the hill was really difficult again, ha.
I understand why the Dutch are known for having so many bicycles. In England you just can’t ride a bike! Everything just goes up and down all the time! You must hate yourself pretty much, if you decide to go cycling in this part of the country!
But eventually, totally out of breath, I got back to my room and enjoyed Dartmouth by night. While watching some Kurt Russel-movie on English television, I filled the bath and around midnight I had my first real hot bath in almost 40 days. I am spoiling myself!
Tomorrow I’ll be on the road again, hitchhiking again and not only visiting hotels that have invited me – don’t worry!
Heading up to the upper North of England, I still hope the weather stays like this.
Goodnight Dartmouth!
