Besançon: On The Bicycle II

Rain drops were beating us. We put on our raincoats, waited for awhile and started another round of the pedalling. The return route was not exactly the same as the one we had taken earlier. We spent more time in villages where we saw farms of vegetables growing on fertile ground.

A few kilometres away from Besançon, we turned into a path which led to a Christian retreat.

It was a serene place where people would spend a period of quiet and rest for meditation.

We leaned our bicycles against the stone wall and walked towards a wooden gate.

The founders of the rest house were lying in peace

over a small garden.

On one of the grave stones,

there was a meaningful and encouraging carving "Continue, continue. Everything is moving forward!"

It sounded like my church theme for this year "Pressing forward". I also remembered a guest speaker's sermon. He said our walk with Jesus was either forward or backward. When I related this to our cycling, I saw wonderful views when we kept pedalling forward.

I was already two weeks in France. I had only taken pictures of others. It was the first time I was eager to be photographed alone, after cycling for more than twenty kilometres. Nicole was my camerawoman.

Ernest volunteered to take a portrait of me.

My friendship with Ernest and Nicole had been moving forward despite our age gap and cultural differences. I prayed that we would continue our firm walk with Christ.