The American people say goodbye to the American president Jimmy Carter

Americans have gathered to mourn Jimmy Carter as the week-long state funeral for the 39th president of the United States continues.

Saturday's procession from Carter's home in Plains, Georgia, to Atlanta marked the start of a six-day public farewell for the leader, who died last month at the age of 100.

Carter will be sent to Washington DC on Tuesday where he will spend the night at the US Capitol leading a service on Thursday where there will be speeches from former US presidents.

Hundreds of Georgians and people from around the world gathered in Atlanta this weekend to honor the Carter family.

Among those who came Saturday was Heather Brooks, an Atlanta resident and “highly recommended” Democrat.

“[I] I found him always kind, honest, a wonderful person who has done a lot for the world, not just America,” Ms Brooks told the BBC.

He said he had met Carter a few times and described him as “strong but very humble”.

Paige Alexander, head of the Carter Center, told the BBC that Carter should be remembered for his “integrity and integrity”.

“I mean, at the end of the day, you have a politician who can say during a debate, you know, 'Mr President. [Gerald] Ford and I don't agree on these issues,' said Ms Alexander. “You don't hear that now.”

The lawn outside the Carter Center was overflowing with flowers, handwritten donations and bags of peanuts, a nod to Carter's early years as a peanut farmer on the Plains.

Those who knew the former president well, such as Jill Stuckey, a longtime friend of the Carter family, said he will miss his – and his wife Rosalynn's – commitment to helping others.

That's something Ms Stuckey said the couple was committed to “until the day they passed”.

“I don't know how we're going to adjust to a world without President Carter,” he told the BBC.

On Saturday, a motorcycle procession passed the Methodist church where the Carters were married in 1946, and the home where they died.

The former president will be buried there along with Rosalynn, who died in late 2023 at the age of 96.

The procession also stopped in front of Carter's young man's home and family farm just outside the Plains. The site is now part of the Jimmy Carter National Historical Park, which rang the old farm bell 39 times Saturday in honor of the 39th president.

The motorcade then stopped at the Georgia capitol building for a moment of silence led by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp.

Mourners will be able to visit Carter at the presidential library on 5 January and 6 January before he is flown to Washington DC on 7 January.

For two days he will lie in the US Capitol Rotunda, where the public will be able to pay his respects.

His life will be commemorated at the Washington National Cathedral on January 9 in a service attended by many former presidents.

In addition to the political accolades Carter is expected to receive in the coming days are tributes from his extended family.

For Jason Carter, the former president's grandson, it's his connection to the person he will miss most.

“I think for a lot of people in the country he was a beacon of love and respect and I think that deserves to be celebrated,” Jason Carter, a former Georgia state senator, told the BBC.