Walking the Camino de Santiago
We passed through the little secret village, through gardens and past houses. The path led us through a magnificent grape arbour, which you can see across the little river bridge. We could see our destination in the distance: Le Grand Couvent de Gramat. It is the mother house of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Calvary, and […]
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Sometime before 3 PM, we entered the suburbs of the town of Gramat. The houses were mostly new construction. Some of them are in traditional styles, while others were quite modern. We found ourselves walking on a sidewalk along a busy highway, and shortly afterwards, we were in the town proper. But then, in the midst of this very urban […]
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Just past the dolmen, we sat down for a picnic lunch by the side of the gravel road we were walking – a road which was not on any of our maps or GPS. It was remarkably difficult to stand up after lunch. At some point, the fence became a wall of sorts. Clearly, there had been a gate, or […]
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It might not look like much, but this is the remains of a collapsed Neolithic dolmen, a kind of tomb or ritual gateway. It’s roughly six thousand years old. It’s clearly seen better days. Unfortunately, these days its location is on private land, so this is an extreme telephoto shot using the maximum magnification available on my phone. I think […]
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The village of L’Hôpital once contained a major medieval pilgrim hostel – you can see it in the name – but thanks to the Revolution, of this there is no remaining trace. Here, we took a diversion from the diversion to take a slight shortcut and follow the historic pilgrimage route. We were also hoping to spot some of the prehistoric […]
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We finally managed to leave the village of Thémines at just after noon. I walked with Ávila and Bruno down a wide forest path for a bit before it turned into a rural road that passed through several hamlets and farmsteads. This particular hamlet is called Le Cossoul. It was just about a kilometer past this that the three of […]
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The painted ceilings and walls of the church of Saint-Eutrope de Thémines are a wonder. This is the vault above one of the side altars, and the painting is exquisite. It’s definitely in need of restoration, and I hope that happens soon, before these are lost forever. Date: 31 August 2023 Place: Thémines, between Lacapelle-Marival and Gramat, Lot Département, Region of Occitanie, […]
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Whatever we were expecting when we walked into the church of Saint-Eutrope de Thémines, this was not it. The whole place was filled with a sort of melancholy magnificence, run down but still retaining echoes of a former glory. It also showcases something odd I saw in several churches in France: the fact that the main altar is, for some reason, located […]
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As I said yesterday, Paul obtained the key to the village church for us to visit. It looks quite unassuming on the outside, almost run-down. But on the inside, the sanctuary is a neoclassical marvel – a total surprise when you enter the doors. Quite moving and affecting, I think because of that surprise. While the church clearly needs some […]
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With bonus photo of the actual omelette! The woodland path let me into the village of Thémines at about 10:30, joining the road right at the entrance to the village. Here, I met up with the small group of pilgrims that I had been walking with on and off for several days, including Ávila, Bruno, and Paul. We spent entirely too […]
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