JH put two options for today: route A which followed closely the walking pilgrim route but is difficult to follow even with good maps and that involves a climb or two; or route B the flat easy route (10km longer) which goes up the Lot gorge and then branches off onto the Dourdou down to Conques. Well y legs were tired so I chose the est option, route B.
Being Saturday morning the road was surprisingly quiet, and the gorge remarkably beautiful. I cycled through the interlocking spurs of craggy rocks and forest, with wisps of mist riding from the valley floor.
As with the Massif Central, my poor iPhone camera can't capture how breathtaking, how impressive, and how beautiful it all is. At times I feel I could stop at every bend. It's also true, of course, that unlike JH I take my photos whenever the sun is out and the sky is blue, and with careful framing, edit out the pylons or the unsightly building. Below you will find the results.
The road being so empty and quiet, the scenery so evocative, this morning was a morning for reflection. And just as my iPhone camera cannot and should not capture everything, so these jottings cannot and should not relay all. Suffice to say, that if there weren't mornings like today the chemin would not be doing its job.
I reached Conques by midday, and had intended to press on ahead of JH in order to be in St Jean to see not only my cousin Helen and her family, but my cousin Catherine, too. That is still the plan but a multitude of voices have urged me to stop at Conques tonight, fellow guests and my host from last night, JH and the Rough Guide, both of whom insist that the town and abbey are best seen in the quiet of the evening light, the Rough Guide describes it as "one of the great villages of southwest France".
So I will stay (if they'll have me) once more with the Premonstratencians. After a hard week of long, strenuous days' rides, I take the rest of the day off.
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Enjoyed a restful afternoon off to enjoy a village I'm unlikely to see again as it is desperately inaccessible. Last Judgement Tympanum is the artistic highlight, the figure of Christ, not dissimilar from Vezelay. The interior of the abbey is tall, narrow and Romanesque.
The other great treasure here is the reliquaries in the treasury and in particular that of Ste Foy. Ste Foy was a martyr of the persecution of Diocletian. Her relics were stolen from Agen and brought here in the time of Charlemagne, in what one of the resident priests called a "furtive translation". Her reliquary is the kind of thing that Indiana Jones might have uncovered. A representation of the saint with large hands, feet and head, all in gold and covered in jewels sits enthroned and spotlighted in a small dark apse at the far end of the treasury. I couldn't help but think of a poem that Tony Philpot and Mark Sultana once performed at the English College about old Carew, his beloved and the little yellow idol to the north of Katmandu. For all the uncomplimentary things that ate said about it in the guide books, and for sure it represents a part of Christian spirituality from which most of us would now feel quite distant, it is beautiful and an extraordinary piece of art. I found it fascinating. Well you can see for yourselves.
A vigil mass was said by the prior for a few of us, followed by an evening meal, complin (during which there was a blessing of pilgrims), the salve sung under a primitive annunciation scene that was beautiful in the warm light and a concert. People gave all sorts of excuses for the concert afterwards (the director/ organist couldn't hear the singers etc) perhaps the best that can be said is that they got all the words right ... to the humming chorus. However, many were there because at 9:30 the upper level of the abbey was open and for €5 one could walk around the tribune and see the capitals close up.
Your pic of the Last Judgement tympanum inspired me. Have been setting slides by way of background accompaniment to a dramatic reading of the Dream of Gerontius, and found another slightly more zoomed in version of it to accompany one of the scenes, the Angel's description of the house of judgement. It's perfect. First night last night, and we run until Saturday. All going well so far!
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