{"id":20106,"date":"2026-04-10T11:09:42","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T18:09:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/camino\/?p=20106"},"modified":"2026-04-10T11:09:43","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T18:09:43","slug":"via-lemovicensis-endless-fields-and-closed-churches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/camino\/via-lemovicensis-endless-fields-and-closed-churches\/","title":{"rendered":"Via Lemovicensis: Endless Fields and Closed Churches"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

T<\/span>oday I was up at 4:30 AM, which is a definite improvement over the previous days. I prayed lauds in the big dining room. Breakfast began at six. It was a hearty breakfast, perfect for a long day: scrambled egg whites and solid Dutch bread. I had a lovely conversation with the proprietors, Rene and Yvonne. We talked about the Camino, and we talked about Francine. I decided to leave one of her cards with them here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is exactly the sort of place Francine would have loved \u2013 cozy, hospitable, welcoming. A true donativo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had not really intended to speak very much about Francine to others on this pilgrimage, for fear of becoming a focus of attention. I think I have been shown the error of my ways here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today will be the last long day for a few. They say that the weather should be overcast and almost 20\u00b0 F cooler today. This is exactly my perfect walking weather. Even though today was a longer distance than yesterday, it was far easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I finally left at about 7:15 AM, and it was chilly enough that I actually thought about putting my gloves on. Quite the change!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They say that one of the reasons to walk the Camino is to lose things and find yourself. Well, I’ve lost my first thing. At some point yesterday \u2013 I don’t know where \u2013 I lost Dobbles. This little stuffed emperor penguin chick has been clipped to my backpack since before I walked the Via Podiensis in 2023. I don’t know where you are, Dobbles, but keep having adventures!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the sun rising to my left, the road from Le Chemin was downhill through light woods on a dirt road that appears to be little used but for pilgrims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I soon arrived at the village of Anthien, where I transitioned to road walking. A little village church was locked behind a grille. Nevertheless, I said a quick prayer at the entrance before moving on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I walked into the countryside, it seemed like there were cows in every field I passed. I was moving at a pretty good clip, and I passed through the hamlet of Sancy-le-Bas just after 8 AM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Camino wound its way through pasture land, filled with cows. About 8:15, I passed through the hamlet of Charpuis. If I have one impression of this place, it’s that it smells of cow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally at about 8:30 AM, the Camino turned off the asphalt road and down a lovely road of dirt and grass. It’s a little slower going, but I find it so much more pleasant a walk. It’s also easier on the feet!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sadly, it only lasted about a kilometer or so, and then it was back to road walking \u2013 and hills. The meadows gradually gave away to woodlands. I was starting to work up a sweat, so at about 8:45 I took off my fleece. The air was deliciously cool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, the land started to flatten out, and endless farmland stretched to my right and meadow to my left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, the Camino took a turn off the road down a flight of stairs onto a dirt path towards the village of Corbigny. The path passed a basin labeled the fountain of Saint Agatha and then a cemetery before returning to road walking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I reached the village center about 9:20 AM on the lookout for a caf\u00e9. Corbigny is by far the most substantial village \u2013 really, a town \u2013 on this stage. I was about a third of the way into my day, and I had originally planned for lunch here, but I suppose I would have to settle for second breakfast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, I had hoped to visit the medieval abbey here, but it was not open. Likewise, the unusual village church was locked. I did take the opportunity on the steps to pray and then put my fleece back on. A cold wind had started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I did find a caf\u00e9 and leisurely partook of a  caf\u00e9 cr\u00e8me and a small croissant. It was well after 10 by the time I left, with 18 km or so to go. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was market day in Corbigny, and La Rue Grande was full of folks selling everything from cheese to fruit to jams to cheap import clothing. I admit I was sorely tempted by some of the cheese, but that’s weight I can’t carry right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once I was through the market, I picked up the Camino signage again, which I had not been able to spot since the abbey. In addition to the usual blazes, there were bronze shells embedded in the sidewalks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Towards the end of the village, the sidewalk ended and it was back to road walking. Soon enough, this was gravel and then dirt as I headed back into field and farmland. Along the way, I passed a couple of ch\u00e2teaux far off into the distance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About 10:45, I arrived in the village of Chitry-les-Mines. The mines here once made it one of the more important villages in the area, but since they’re closing the village has seemingly settled into a kind of somnolent solitude. The village is pretty large, but the only actual humans I saw there were fellow pilgrim Judith and one older gentleman striding purposefully in the opposite direction with a basket of leafy vegetables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I stopped by the charming village church which was, perhaps unsurprisingly, locked. After this, the Camino took me on a stone bridge over a pretty wide river immediately into the neighboring scattered hamlet of Chaumot. This was almost immediately followed by a bridge over the Ni\u00e8vre Canal. I suspect this was originally dug to help get mineral orders out of Chitry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Camino turned uphill through a suburban neighborhood. There were big, barking dogs seemingly in every yard. Signage here was scarce to nonexistent, and I found myself constantly consulting my Miam-Miam Dodo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually I found myself road walking through undulating alternating woodland, pasture, and farmland which seems to define this region. At one point, I passed a fairly decrepit looking ch\u00e2teau with massive hay barns opposite it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I passed through the outskirts of the village of Pazy, where my fleece came off again, and I filled up my water bottles at the local cemetery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once past the village, it was back to a blissfully winding dirt road, at least for a few kilometers, before I was road walking once more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the time I reached the village center of Guipy, it was 12:45 PM and well past time for lunch. First I stopped in the village church. Locked again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I passed through the entire village without spotting a caf\u00e9, only a restaurant that was only open for dinner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this point, I figured I would just make a picnic out of the food I was carrying. I just had to find a spot to sit down, but this was becoming more and more unlikely as the Camino once again was a dirt road through the countryside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I consulted my MMD, but there were no picnic tables indicated before my final destination. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I found a likely looking log in the shade by the side of the road and sat down to a feast of salami, cheese, an apple, and some cookies. While I was there, Joes passed me. I gave him a cookie, and we visited a bit. He went on ahead of me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I was packing up, Judith arrived looking to take a break. I gestured broadly to the log and told her it was the best seat in the house. She laughed, but there she sat. As I was setting out, we were passed by a French pilgrim whose pace is just a little bit quicker than mine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then it was 6 or 7 km of rolling meadows and farmland to Saint-R\u00e9v\u00e9rien. Alas, the dirt road merged into an asphalt one pretty early on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometime before 2 PM I passed through the little farming hamlet of Br\u00eaches. It was here that the Frenchman stopped using his poles for a bit, I think to let me catch up. After that, we walked 4 or 5 km together without saying a word; the only sounds were the tapping of our poles and the distant baa-ing of sheep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The final kilometer was on a deeply rutted, often muddy farm road. This slowed me down something awful, but it didn’t seem to phase the Frenchman at all, and soon he was far ahead of me again. I completely lost him in the final ascent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the Camino entered the village, it rejoined the road we had been walking earlier. I think it might’ve been faster just to walk on the road the whole way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The village of Saint-R\u00e9v\u00e9rien is an eclectic mix of grand mansions and row houses. I arrived at the g\u00eete at just past 2:30, slightly exhausted and somewhat sore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the Frenchman, Judith, Joes, a lovely older Dutch couple named Wim and Tineke who I met at Le Chemin are here at the municipal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After showering, washing my clothes, and taking a little rest I went out to explore the village and to see if I could find the church. Is it turned out, the church is on a little plaza that also includes the town hall\u2026 and the municipal g\u00eete I’m staying at. So it was pretty easy to find. And open!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The church is dedicated to the town’s patron saint, Saint-R\u00e9v\u00e9rien. It was originally built in the 12th century on top of an older church. It’s in the Romanesque style, with very modern looking Corinthian capitals on many of the pillars, which date to the 18th century. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of them, though, have the usual beasts and symbols you would expect to see. It’s pretty clear that this church has been restored and even rebuilt many times in its long history, and that a lot of these restorations were botched.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite being a relatively small church, it nevertheless has a full ambulatory with three chapels. Although there are some gorgeous medieval frescoes, many have been repainted over in more recent centuries, and the vast majority of the church has simply been whitewashed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are also four 19th-century wall paintings near the entrance of the church, some quite damaged. These vary wildly in quality, despite apparently all being painted by the same person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The modern altar is a travesty compared to the elegance and noble beauty of its predecessor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I prayed Vespers here. There were no candles to be lit, but that’s OK. I left Francine’s card at Le Chemin this morning, and that seems fitting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There’s no restaurant in the village, but there is a tiny little grocery store right next to the g\u00eete. We cooked a communal meal. And when I say “we” I mean other people made an amazing soup, and I cleaned up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it was delicious and the company fantastic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, and the Frenchman’s name is Marcel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Date:<\/strong> 10 April 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Place:<\/strong> Saint-R\u00e9v\u00e9rien <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today started:<\/strong> Le Chemin <\/p>\n\n\n\n