Good Day to all of you! Hope your summer is going well.

We just got back from a "whirlwind" trip to Scotland. The people were so friendly & so welcoming. It didn't rain, although it was predicted every day. It was a bit chilly, but we were prepared. In fact, the temperature here in southern France was 95 when we left, while Scotland welcomed us with a high of 65.

There were so many fun & interesting things to do, but as soon as we checked into our B&B, we took off for Edinburgh Castle.

For the castle visit to make sense, the first thing we had to do was to get the kings & queens straightened out. See our pictures in the album labeled "Scotland!" for some Scottish history, all revolving around Mary Queen of Scots, her son James VI, & John Knox.

The next day we decided to see a wee bit of the Highlands. It's too far to take a train up to Inverness (we used to live in a Chicago suburb with that name, so it was tempting...), so instead we opted for Pitlochry, famous for its whiskey distilleries & its Hobbit fame.

On Friday, we went to 4 different residences: one was from 1500, another a bit later, the third was from the late 1700s, & the fourth was another castle, used today by the Royal Family. So we saw how all the folks lived, from the poor to the rich, from long ago to the present day.

Saturday we had tickets to the British Open in St. Andrews. But we never saw one golf ball in play! See our pictutres to see how windy it can get in Scotland.

As usual, we've included some silly pictures of what we ate & what we drank.

This trip marks the halfway point in our summer stay in Villevieille. We leave for the states on August 25. Wow, time flies. Our summer is almost "gone with the wind".

A bientot,

Elise & Les