Cheers. I'll have a look at the Tarka trail. Our route will be a compromise between being close to the sea for fishing, being away from traffic where possible (which might be impossible near the sea) and accessing wooded areas for non-seashore foraging. I see that the Tarka trail runs by a river. Do you know if the area is well wooded?
Yes, but higher up, really, beyond Bideford on towards Torrington The route goes over the Taw and Torridge rivers between Bideford and Torrington, my OH says there'd be good river fishing there, but I have no idea a) how you'd get down to the banks from the bridges, and b) what the local regs would be - I imagine they'd want you to buy a licence for freshwater fishing. For the early part of the trail it runs alongside the tidal estuary, as you go between Braunton and Barnstaple. Cycling past I see lots of fishermen out there, and blokes pootling about in the water with waders/nets doing things I think are related to shellfish, but I really don't actually know what I'm talking about, and I'd think it depends heavily on the state of the tides. My OH is away fishing in France at the moment, but I'll ask him for more info and if he has any suggestions when we speak later in the week. On a positive note, along that north coast, there's rocky inlets (Barricane bay at Woolacombe - basically any coastal bit that isn't a long straight beach on the map!) with lots of seaweed/limpets/rockpools to forage in.
However, I wasn't suggesting that you *ought* to use the trail - just wondering what your actual route was going to be, and whether you'd finalised it or were going to deal with the final choices along the way. (FWIW I think the road would probably be a lot swifter and more direct.) What I had in mind, though, was seeing if I could get a rough fix on when you're going to be in our neck of the woods, and what your route will be with a view to seeing if one of us could drop by with something more appetising for you all that we've 'foraged' from the garden. Or the freezer.
I've also been thinking about your route down through Aquitaine (Bordeaux to Biarritz leg) which is where my OH is fishing right now. For about 140k it's almost ALL beach - you will struggle to find much in the way of seaweed there. Lots of pine trees, but unless you fancy chewing on the cones and needles, you may need a Plan B for that stretch. There are mushrooms in the woods (dodgy, though, that one) and I saw the odd pheasant up and down the cycle route between St Eualie and Leon, and plenty of doves. Will you be taking a strong catapult?
Himself has been fishing on and off all week and hasn't caught a thing so far, either - sorry to be the bearer of mixed, but mostly bad, news. (Mind you, there was a heady two hours last year when he caught the18 weaver fish - so you never can tell!)
PM me, if you like, if you feel like making more detailed arrangements for us to pay you a flying visit when you're near North Devon and drop by with a bit of 'garden forage' and I'll send you contact details.
