Loved this church in the morning light as we pedaled from the Inn that rescued us yesterday.  We had to meander our way around the market just getting set up and almost lost me at the bread tent.  But Jerry had the wallet and was too far away to yell, so onward into the beautiful countryside.  It seemed strange to be biking east into the sun (in both respects) but we were happy to have it, as well as the quiet country road.  After much agonizing, planning and last minute changing, our navigator gets a star for this one……except for the hills.  But without rain or wind in our face, we could not complain.  Okay, maybe a little; the rolling hills seemed to roll more up, than down.  On one such hill, we stopped for a quick bite to eat.  Little did we know, that the worst part of this particular climb was just around the corner from our cafe.  With no rolling start and our tummies full, we labored to get to the top, that went on for a couple miles.

The little villages were charming,at least one church in each, but every one required a long climb, after a short downhill.  Finally, we pulled into the parking lot of our Inn without a drop of rain hitting us today.  The town of Mere is quite small with a couple pretty churches and Castle Hill.  The “hill”  was only steps from our hotel, but it closely resembled the climbs we’ve done for the last month and a half, so we declined.  All was not lost, as we had this darling and very affectionate, kitty cat to greet us when we returned.

We usually try to taper our eating as we approach the end of our trip, but where else can you get a Ploughman’s Lunch (Brie, Stilton, Cheddar and Goat cheese, plus the extras) like this (taste ferries were doing cartwheels on my tongue) and a plate of pasta to die for.  And in closing, just to give you a perfect example of the non-bicycling challenges we face (almost) daily,,,…this is the door to a room in a 16th century coach house.