October 6 (Richmond, Yorkshire)

Saturday is market day in Richmond. On their website, Richmond is described as: “An historic market town, with Norman castle, Georgian architecture, cobbled market place, monuments and abbeys, the fast flowing river Swale, and breathtaking scenery -- a town that inspires painters and poets, past and present.” We took a tour of the Richmond Castle, including a trip up the narrow staircases to the top of tower. The view was spectacular! (See my photo link below)

Or course, I got hungry around 11AM so we headed to the local chippie for lunch. Rob’s Dad told us later that we went to the better of the two in town. All I know is the fish and chips were great. I decided I wanted that bracelet after all so we went to the HSBC bank and I withdrew £100. The cost was $205CDN plus a $5 service charge. I bought my bracelet and Rob bought some flowers for his Mum. We returned home and drove the car to the Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle. This is an amazing place with way too many artifacts and antiques to absorb in one visit. The vision of a grand French chateau in the middle of North Yorkshire was very disconcerting. One exhibit we did enjoy was a tribute to Emile Gallé and the origins of Art Nouveau of the early 20th century. Only then did we realize that the iron sign we saw in Paris was done in this style.

We stopped in Middleton St. George, where Rob spent some of his childhood, as well as Middleton One Row, where his father grew up and finally, St. George’s Ancient Church Cemetery where his grandparents are buried. It was a lovely old place, with headstones tipping over from centuries ago. We saw a daughter cleaning her father’s grave and working on the flower bed there. Her mother, a wee, frail, white-ahired lady, was perched on a neighbouring headstone, supervising her progress.

That evening, we went out for dinner to The Traveller’s Rest in Dalton, near Richmond. A simple country inn, with a roaring fireplace in the front room, the menu was posted on a huge blackboard so we spent some time there, trying to decide what we wanted for dinner. Once seated, we order a bottle of Spanish Rioja to complement our meal. Dinner itself was such a surprise – it was one of the best meals I’ve ever enjoyed. I had goat cheese salad with an entrée of salmon/prawn fishcakes. Rob had chicken wrapped in bacon with gruyere cheese. Rob’s parents had the pork tenderloin. We split two apple tarts four ways and enjoyed a lively discussion about the difference between a tart and a pie. According to Rob’s Dad, a tart has no “roof”. LOL

The cost of dinner was £110 with the tip and well worth every penny. While Rob was up paying the bill, I went around the corner into the kitchen and adopted a Dragon Lady stance, with hands on hips, demanding “Who is the chef here?” Three people turned to look at me with the fear of God in their eyes and two of them pointed to the young woman in the middle. I proceeded to tell her that our dinner was fantastic and after four days in Paris, it was better than anything I had tasted there. After many smiles and thanks, we were on our way, back through the hilly country roads, past sleeping sheep and home to bed.

Enjoy My Yorkshire Photos Here