Banjo the evil cocker denies me a pint

And so the first walk began. From Croyde to Saunton Sands, clad in an immense amount of rubber gear, which in one way I found very rewarding. One is nowadays, at ones current age, rather pleased with a semi,  They say that a hard on does not count as personal growth, but I say who cares!

4 miles later, up many a hill and with the Saunton Sands Hotel in sight and the thirst nicely poised on the wrong side of desperate, it happened. No dogs allowed in the bar!

By now my antipathy for the dogs accompanying us on this trip (well, one of then)  should be well-known to regular followers, based on cost and quality of life, so this confirmed my worst nightmare, those dogs and particularly Banjo were going to deny me a pint.

In equal measure I am appalled that this could happen. Saunton Sands Hotel is apparently a 4 star establishment. It is an unpreposessing building but in a superb location on a bluff at the end of the massive Saunton Sands beach, only a complete imbecile would design something so white and square and hideous, totally lacking in charm whatsoever in such a splendid setting, and then deny a thirsty customer sustenance because of his dogs.

The lack of even a modicum of common sense makes me so angry.  Is it not obvious that many of its clientele might like to enjoy partaking of the famous coastal path walks that pass its doorstep? do the owners have so little imagination as to be unaware that some walkers might just have their dogs with them? Perhaps they are also stupid enough to prohibit swimming in the sea, or the building ofsand castles? Ridiculous, the place should be bulldozed immediately and a customer friendly institution erected in its place, something with charm, a sense of what the customer may want, rather than what is there at the moment, a hideous white monstrosity of no use to man nor dog, or indeed man with dog. A picture of the view (in the lovely English summer weather) is shown below.

View of Saunton Sands taken directly above the rather nasty Saunton Sands Hotel, luckily not in shot

Of course had they felt able to have serve us, I may have been able to accept that architecturally it was perhaps one sandwich short of a picnic, and had a certain charm because of its position, but in no way do I accept that my lucid and vitriolic judgement given down in the last paragraph above was anything but the absolute truth according to Chris.

Moya Janko and Simon Barrett both take me to task for yesterdays comments about my beloved but lost country, saying effectively that there is much to appreciate here, and there is. However, much more has been lost, or could be available with a bit of wisdom or is available in France.  Also the implication has been made that I brought the rain, but as everyone reading this in France knows, the barbecue summer depicted in the press and on TV prior to my 3 week prison sentence in England, is a fallacy.

They suggest that I might need and seek their help, and indeed I do, I am considering faking illness so that I can get out of prison early, can either of you suggest a suitable malady that will get me flown home to sunny Valbonne on the first plane? I am now better off than I have been because of the recovery of the euro against the pound, so I am ready to leave right now

Chris France       

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