To and In Lyme Regis

June 25 (Wed) – Joey’s birthday today. I sent an e-card first thing but we couldn’t call until later because of the time difference. Instead we had breakfast – a basket of warm croissants (plain and chocolate) and some juice. We then headed out to the Royal Pavilion, stopping on the way for a battery charger with the right plug for our camera. We were able to walk right in to the Royal Pavilion although we had a teensy wait because someone with a group was apparently not registered as such and they only had one person selling tickets. We got audio guides for free and this was a good thing because there was so much to look at and things weren’t labeled. The most magnificent rooms were the banquet hall and the music hall. The banquet hall had a huge chandelier held in the claws of a dragon and the music room’s ceiling was decorated in gold cockle shells and was hung with huge lotus shaped lamps hand painted in the Chinoiserie style. What wealth and beauty were kings surrounded with. Columns were wrapped with serpents – in fact there were lots of snakes in the room (which wasn’t creepy, rather exotic). Apparently, the Chinese have said such a room would be unlucky – and in fact this room has required renovation several times. Once due to a hurricane that damaged the roof and another time, before the hurricane damage was fixed, one of the balls on the roof fell off and went through the ceiling. We also saw the King’s bedchambers and even the door to the Royal Potty – but we didn’t see the potty itself, which after hundreds of years is probably a good thing.

After this, we began the drive to Lyme Regis with directions that the nice lady at the Royal Pavilion Tourist Info room printed out for us. We took mostly big roads this time and actually found it boring. We skirted around Portsmouth and other big towns so Mike wouldn’t have to drive in scary situations, but after a few hours, this got tedious so we switched back to smaller roads. Back in farm country with rolling green hills in all shades and more cows than sheep this time. The streets into Lyme Regis made up for the relatively stress-free drive we’ve had. Poor Mike. They were so steep and narrow and on top of this, we didn’t know where we were going. Mike had to back up and turn around several times. We finally called the hotel and had to turn around again to find the place. Our B&B was actually up the hill from the town and our room had a view to die for. Our windows looked out over the town and out to the water (see picture). So although the room itself wasn’t anything to write home about it had three great qualities: it had a spectacular view, it had a king bed (actually two twins pushed together) and it had a TUB!

Once we checked in, we walked down the hill on the main street of the town. Most of the shops were closing but I marked a fudge shop for the next day. We also walked a bit along the boardwalk. I really liked this town and could have stayed there for a month or more. Mike chose our dining venue and so we ate a place called the Pilot House. It was a nice little place. I had a crab roll (not so good because I think it was dressed in something they call “salad cream”) and a local beer “Palmers”, and Mike had fish and chips and beer as well. We both decided to have dessert and I got something called Hot Chocolate Pudding with hot chocolate sauce. This turned out to be chocolate cake with hot fudge – it was delicious but not pudding! If cake is called pudding, what is pudding called?

After this, we walked back up the hill (huff puff), stopping along the way to “top up” our phone so we could call Joey back, which we did. Once we got to our B&B, we sat where we could see the view and simply enjoyed where we were (and I took a bath!). I couldn’t help think of Joey and wish we’d had the money to bring him here AND give him the summer of music that he wanted.

June 26th (Thurs) – We spent the day relaxing in Lyme Regis. Had a breakfast of poached egg and walked to town via Hill Road (even steeper) which led to the river walk (very small, runs through a small part of the town); picturesque with wildflowers, ducks, etc. We saw what looked like a promising bakery but we didn’t go in at that point. Instead we walked out to the Cobb (seen in the film of French Lieutenant's Woman) although Mike got spooked walking along the actual wall. We then found a bench by the water and sat and read for quite some time; then we checked out some shops (fudge shop, the bookshop) and then we went for lunch at the bakery. It was great fun. The bakery was basically a shed with a corrugated roof but it was nice and warm inside from the ovens. From the ceilings were hung racks of mugs over long wooden benches – food was superb, bruschetta and some little salads, plus soy cocoa and we brought home a scone and some carrot cake for later. From here we went to the TI and out onto the quay and as it was getting windy, Mike decided to go back up for his coat while I sat on the benches by the water with my book. When he got back, we each read for while and then decided ice cream was in order. I went and got it for both of us but it was further than I thought so walking back the ice cream began to melt and drip all over. With the wind, I ended up with drippy ice cream blown onto my pants and camera case and all down my hands. A sticky situation indeed! And Mike went and fed his cone to a seagull who ate the whole thing in ONE bite and the proceeded to scold me so I’d give him mine. I didn’t as there were signs asking people not to feed the seagulls. Although he called over a mate and I did give that seagull a tiny part of my cone, alas. We sat there until it got too chilly for us at which point Mike remembered a bench he’d seen on the river walk earlier. So we went there and read for a bit. At this point, it was about dinner time but I wasn’t really hungry so we got Mike another pasty and then hit our B&B for a drink in the garden (I got a half pint of bitter, which is beer actually – it was really good with a creamy top). Then up to the room where I had my carrot cake and read some more and then had a bath. An altogether excellent day.