Post 32: Goodbye Scotland, Hello France

After a tearful goodbye to the congregation on Sunday, we left early Monday morning to travel to the Lake District in northern England. Everyone said the time would fly by, and it surely did. We left feeling encouraged for the little Buckie congregation, and Andrew was grateful for the teaching he received. He officially started a new fellowship that meets in a home on Sunday mornings. We got to spend Saturday night with the Gardiners (Andrew, Anne, and the boys), and I think we'll miss their friendship the most. We worry for them since there aren't many young Christian couples in Findochty. One lady has now become more involved with the fellowship at Buckie and plans to be baptized. Jody also got much writing done, so he accomplished much of what he set out to do.

The church had a potluck lunch after church, so it was great to share a fellowship meal with our new Christian friends. I was impressed that they use real glasses and silverware, not the styrofoam and plastic that we would use here in the states. Jody finished up a Bible study series on Sunday evening and said the official goodbyes. It was harder saying goodbye than I had thought. Some of these people have found a permanent place in our hearts, so I'm glad we didn't immediately get on an airplane headed home--that would have been harder! The drive into England made the parting easier to bear. 

Along the drive, we stopped by The Hermitage, a short hike to a beautiful waterfall. It gave us a good chance to stretch our legs. We also stopped by the William Wallace (Braveheart) Memorial so that I could get a picture. We had missed that when we came down to Edinburgh a few weeks ago.

The north side of the Lake District was beautiful--full of the same kinds of dramatic landscapes we had seen in Skye. I had hoped to see the Beatrix Potter home and gallery of paintings, but we got to Hawkshead (in the southern part of the District) too late. We saw Hilltop Farm (her home) but we did not get to tour it. We did get to eat in a very quaint pub/cafe. We got a great picture of the narrow roads here. Two buses going the opposite direction of each other just ahead of us actually touched. They made several attempts at reversing and inching forward to finally get past each other. Whew! That was too close!

Yesterday we spent the day driving to a town near Dover so that we could board the ferry crossing over to France this morning. We stopped in at Oxford, so that we could walk the streets where the Inklings (authors C.S. Lewis, George McDonald, and J.R.R. Tolkien) once walked. We're big fans of the Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings. We tried to find Lewis's famous original map of Narnia, but it was recently moved. We ate lunch at a small pub called the Lion and the Flag, where the Inklings often met to discuss their works. Before leaving, we stopped by the Natural History Museum so that Abby could get a look at some real dinosaur bones, fossils, and eggs. She was fascinated! And she got to walk in the cast footprints of a dinosaur--you just can't get more exciting than that!

We spent the day crossing the English channel into France and driving here to Bayeux. Jody tried to get a good picture of the White Cliffs of Dover from the ferry, but the skies were very cloudy. The ferry that we took over to France was very nice, and we enjoyed breakfast from the Costa Coffee onboard. Jody had to get used to driving on the righthand side of the road again, but we made it safely to our Bed and Breakfast here in Bayeux. I'm trying to talk Jody into seeing Paris since we're so close, but I don't think we'll get there. This little French city is filled with loads of cafes, restaurants, and pizzerias. We enjoyed a carryout pizza here at the B&B. Jody went out to see the Notre Dame Cathedral and to find the famous Bayeux Tapesry that illustrates the events surrounding William the Conqueror. Actually, it's not a tapestry at all; it's an embroidered cloth. As I sit here typing on this French keyboard, I'm getting very frustrated, so I'm giving it a rest. I hope to add some pictures before we leave on Friday....Au revoir for tonight!