The ancient Norman St Nicholas Priory is only open on Mondays, which is why we went to Exeter today.  

This was one tough hike. So many ups and downs, vicious winds, rain threatening on and off all day. But the thing that kept us going was the Sunday carvery (roast beef and Yorkshire pudding) at the end. But first, we drink tea on the patio and watch the sun struggle to come out.

We usually skip London but Bob wanted to see Westminster Abbey so we spent the day walking London and spent the night at the marvelous Great Scotland Yard hotel. The hotel has lots of police memorabilia, including these whistle which I love because can you imagine US police blowing whistles?

Our goal is always to take as little as possible but still have everything we need. (Not to brag but we've gotten pretty good at it!) It will be colder than we're used to as we've never hiked this late in the year, and it's supposed to rain all week, but nothing we can do about that! We'll pack warm jackets and rain gear and hope for the best.

We leave today. Will carry on our luggage to keep things easy. Click photo below to see what we're taking:

How amazing is this cottage! It's a tad tricky to get to, and we'll have to rely on a few cabs and friendly drivers, but...that view!

According to her letters, Jane Austin stayed in Lyme Regis at least twice with her family. Austen's last great novel, Persuasion, has an important scene set along the coast. Although Lyme Regis was already a fashionable seaside town in the 18th and 19th century, when Persuasion was released in 1817, tourism skyrocketed. I've always wanted to visit the Cobb, which is where the most dramatic scene in Persuasion takes place: Louisa Musgrove falls off the steps of the Cobb and is "taken up lifeless!"

​Horrors!

The area up and down the coast around Lyme Regis—the Jurassic Coast—is a one-of-a-kind geological marvel: The kind that doesn’t exist anywhere else on the planet. The kind that draws famous experts and everyday tourists from all over the world, including—now—me and Bob. The area also played a major role in the advancement of Darwin’s theory of evolution. What more could you want, history- and geology-wise, from a town?

Why Lyme Regis is a geological marvel:
Maybe you remember learning about the Mesozoic Era and how it’s made up of three highly popular* time periods: the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous. In case you don't, this was the era of giant reptiles and crazy looking dinosaurs, some of which caused quite a ruckus and rending of cloth and high consternation among and between Darwinians, scientists, and especially, the church. It got ugly. 

*Highly Popular mostly and especially for rock geeks, which I have always been, and dinosaur buffs, which I am not.