I have been bursting to tell you that my son and daughter took me (and my daughter-in-law) on a trip to England which included Port Isaac! We picked up a rental car at Heathrow which had a GPS on board (thank goodness!) For the purposes of this forum I am only going to tell you about the Port Isaac part of the trip. My son and daughter had been planning this trip for almost a year. As we drove into Port Isaac from the top of a hill we came upon a parking area and stopped for awhile. I am assuming this is the Clunes parking area as it looked very new. From the parking area we could see part of the village and the other part is obstructed by a hill. Then drove down a steep hill, through some narrow streets, to the Old Schoolhouse Hotel. When you actually first see the village from the vantage point of the Old Schoolhouse Hotel parking area (where we stayed two nights) you are struck by the beauty of the harbor, the small and large old homes several hundred years old; the shear height of the green hills behind the homes and the height of the cliffs at the entrance of the harbor---nothing prepares you for what lays in front of you. It is a feast for your eyes. What I noticed is how small the Surgery is, about one-third the width of the Large Restaurant just a few steps downhill. There was a blue car parked in the doc's spot. It was a cold & windy late day & night on Thursday, May 8th when we arrived so we ate in the restaurant in the hotel. Good food, two wonderful waitresses. Interesting about the hotel: there are 12 rooms, each w/ a name: English, Latin, Religious Studies, Physics, Geography, French, Mathematics, Biology, History, Chemistry, Music & Art. My daughter & I stayed in the English room, second floor the top half of the cathedral style windows overlooking the parking area (school playground) and my son & daughter-in-law stayed in the Latin room, second floor the top half of the cathedral style windows overlooking the harbor, and from their king-sized bed can see the doc's surgery. The hotel (circa 1854) had two entrances from the parking area, my son thinking it was built in stages. About 10 steps up to the second floor, the doors have very old-fashioned door handles, latches, (probably late 1800's) but was told not original to the building. The next day it was sunny-- somehow Port Isaac turned into Portwenn! We had lunch at the Krab Pot--apparently they allow dogs to come in w/ their owners. We ate on the second floor and a couple came upstairs w/ their dog which sat on the floor perfectly behaved. We walked from the Hotel down to the harbor and up to the Surgery. Not a bad walk (I am admitting to being Eileen Atkins' age). The only thing I was hesitant about was the walk downhill, steep around the doc's surgery and to the Large Restaurant. Uphill, beyond that white house, Roscarrock Hill road ends and there are two very large buildings (probably for guest lodgings, not sure) spaced apart, but there are also steps in the hill (no railing) you can go up to the very top of the hill, which my son & daughter-in-law did. My daughter & I did not go. They said the view was breathtaking from the top of the hill. We ate dinner at the Golden Lion which my children especially enjoyed, pub-like atmosphere, with locals and tourists having drinks and laughter. The dogs and their owners were out on the terrace. We bought some souvenirs at the Stowaway Gift Shop located behind the Schoolhouse Hotel and some at the gift shop which serves as Mrs. Tishell's Pharmacy during filming. I did not see Louisa's cottage but did see Aunt Ruth's and Robert Campbell's next door. We never closed the drapes at night (two nights) just wanted to enjoy the fairy-tale like views, beautiful at night with white lights on here and there. We drove to St. Nonna's Church in Altarnon built in the early 15th century. According to a booklet we have it was partly constructed of moorstone, that is not quarried stone, but granite lying on the moors. Inside the church there are 9 rows of pews w/ 4 sections separated by aisles. Behind the side entrance (where Louisa came in) there are a few additional pews; on a wall behind the church is a large glass picture frame with of pictures of the wedding of M & L taken, all of which I have seen posted here and elsewhere. That is the only indication I see of this event taken place at the church. Outside the path to the church is a stone footpath arching over a babbling brook and a few feet away is another stone footpath. My disappointment is that the graveyard connected is overgrown with weeds almost 2 feet high, but am hoping with the warmer weather arriving that a manicure will take place. I did not want to visit the village during filming because I think there would be too many crowds trying to get into the eating places, booking a room at the Schoolhouse Hotel and competing for the views. You guessed it, when I arrived I cried at the beauty and being given the fortunate opportunity to see this village and cried when I left. Hope this post prompts some of you to visit Port Isaac.
) And it really bothered me, b/c he had just heroically saved her life, and in the pre-op scene had promised to try to change so he could be a better husband. So for nothing to have changed, either she didn't hear or remember the speech at all (but then why does he make it?) or heard it but it didn't matter to her or she didn't believe him (why?) So my conclusion was that S7 was going to be a long and frustrating exercise in him trying to get her back, probably ending at the last remotely plausible moment with the big reconciliation. 