Summer's here, and we're off on adventures! My big trip this year: off to moody, mysterious Scotland with les femmes for 10 days. With a name like McBride, how could I not make a pilgrimage to Scotland? And to keep things interesting, I went with Nicole (our châtelaine); Belinda from Pittsburgh, who speaks some French and lived in the château for a few months while her husband was on a French assignment; and Henriette, Nicole's delightful cousin from southwest France who speaks not a word of English, and had never met Belinda.
We turned out to be a most compatible group, with Henriette and Belinda coping just fine, by using some French, some creative sign language, and the dozen or so English words we taught Henriette. Nicole, who had traveled there before, was our excellent tour guide and I was (gulp) the wrong-side-of-the-road driver.
Edinburgh, our starting point, was an amazingly beautiful modern city, with castles and the old town lining a long ridge that towered over the city (Photo at top). We were amazed at the nature close by: right in town there was a sort of wild plateau, covered in yellow gorse and mossy lime green lichens (photo below). We climbed up the rocky path, marveling at the panoramic views it revealed. Then at the bottom–an ice cream truck! Now that's nature at its most civilized.
From there we drove to the rugged and barren west coast, to a windswept village by the sea that was right out of a mystery novel (literally! see "Favorite Reads" below). The main draw here: Inverewe gardens, vast woodland gardens by the loch (lakes are everywhere in Scotland). The rhododendrums were peaking, and we were in heaven.
We loved the town of Pitlochry, sort of your Scottish dream village. Inverness has the best in-town river walk I've seen, with small beaches and white water and fly fisherman. We finished up in the tony town of St. Andrews, where Kate and William met, with it's castle and cathedral ruins on the windy North sea. And speaking of royals, it was a treat to tour the 412 foot long Royal Britannia, the queen's yacht which is now decommissioned. We also saw the famous furry and horned Highland cattle, introduced to us by our new friend Colin. The Scots, by the way, are sociable and chatty, with a fine sense of humor that is probably essential to surviving the rubbish weather and often forbidding landscapes.
Nicole always claims to have a direct line to the weather gods, and she did not disappoint. One Scot we met congratulated us for arriving during "the three days of Scottish summer." Summer in Scotland being about 60F in the sun, but with an icy wind in the shade. But with one day of rain in 10 days, we were happy to share in what one taxi driver told us was the best weather they'd had in years. Merci, Nicole. For my part, I was glad to deliver the rental car and my precious cargo, all intact, back to the airport!
More highlights:
And about that Scottish sense of humor, here are a few examples:
In the Comments: I learned a lot from your comments this week, merci! Like Susan’s trick of putting the leftovers on a pizza, with creative results; Jonathon throws his (homegrown!) veggies into brown rice, and Francine uses quiches. I love your mom’s quote, Francine.
Favorite READS: Here's a retro read for you: Mary Stewart's Stormy Petrel
And if you want to do a little armchair fantasizing about the dazzling life in a really fancy château, check out Jane Webster's new book, Château Life, a lifestyle cookbook recommended by our reader Doris. It will make a nice addition to your coffee table, and your daydreams!
10 thoughts on “Summer est arrivé. On y va!”
You seem to have been lucky that you did not encounter Hector!
I love Scotland, especially the Hebrides.
Biggest problem, the midges.
Did you try white pudding?
This was a great read this morning with my coffee Lynn. Loved the humorous sign and had fun visiting Scotland with you. I grew up with a Scotsman living next door. He was such a dear man and had huge sunflowers growing. We used to climb his delicious cherry tree (with permission) in the summers. Nothing like enjoying cherries straight from the source. Great memories! Great blog!
So glad to see Nicole in the photos. You don’t look a day older than when we were at the chateau in 2013 – can it have been that long?! The rest of you looked great, too and having great fun!!
Lynn,today’s post was(once again,as always!) wonderful!
What a terrific trip!You gals are awesome;and!so good to see Nicole again!
Have not been back to Scotland in ages,and thanks to you,we were happily transported away,arm chair style!Felt like putting on Mendelssohn’s Hebrides
and daydream away!
Completely agree with your suggestions for Mary Stewart.Loved Stormy Petrel and, especially ,The Crystal Cave.Retro reads are often the best!
Such a lovely trip Lynn. I love viewing your photos from your adventures as always.
Sounds like you had a fun trip. I’m hoping to visit Edinburgh in July. Thanks Lynn for wetting my appetite!
I may have found the secret – signing in with FB! 🙂
ACH, to be in Scotland! I loved this blog. I’ve always wanted to see Edinburgh. I’m trying to recall a novel by Rosamonde Pilcher that was set in Edinburgh.
As for Mary Stewart, I should reread The Crystal Cave. I finished her Thornyhold recently and recommend.
If you are lucky with timing, try to visit Edinburgh during the annual Fringe Festival (usually late summer). Great fun!
Loved reading about your Scotland wander. We were there last August, and certainly enjoyed the Scottish summer as opposed to our steamy DC or Aix summers! It had been a lifelong dream of mine to see Dunvegan Castle on the Isle of Skye, the longest inhabited castle in Scotland, and home of my Scots clan, the MacLeods. What a thrill it was to see the castle and the glorious gardens! Enjoyed Pitlochry, the charming little Edradour Distillery, and Edinburgh during the Festival too. Would go back in a minute -in the summer again!
The trip sounds lovely! ❤️ It is exactly the trip I would choose if I had the opportunity to go! Thank you so much for sharing!!