Home Sweet Home!

Well, we're both back in England, me for the first time in 7 weeks. I went to Worcester yesterday - I couldn't remember which direction the traffic was meant to come from, and found it really strange that most of the people I passed were speaking English!

Various people (you know who you are!) are always telling me that I should use the bus from the village to go into Worcester. Often this is difficult, because the bus times don't fit in with meeting times, or I have half a ton of files with me, but as I was at an all-day event with nothing to carry, I thought that I'd give it a try. The bus was on time and the journey smooth, but I was rather taken aback by the cost. I've used a variety of public transport systems in both Spain and France over the last few weeks - on local buses and metro systems I've never paid more than the equivalent of about £1.50 for a one-way ticket, and mostly under £1. I was suddenly jolted back to the realisation of where I was when the driver asked for £2.65 - was it a coincidence that just about everyone else on the bus was eligible for a bus-pass? I really wonder whether we are serious about wanting to get people out of their cars! Since so few of the passengers were paying for the journey, the cost of a ticket can hardly be related to the cost of running the service. Wouldn't it be better to bring the fares down to continental levels, thus attracting more fare-paying passengers? Or is someone going to tell me, in the words of that building society advert, "It doesn't work like that"?

The event I was attending in Worcester was a day of lectures organised by the Cathedral about the life and times of St Wulstan, whose 1,000th birthday we are celebrating this year. It was a really good day, and the speakers included Dr Katherine Lack who wrote the book "The Cockleshell Pilgrim" - a fascinating read for anyone interested in history, religion or both. Dr Lack mentioned Gareth Thomas who's doing the Santiago pilgrimage properly, walking all the way from Worcester! He's got a great blog http://whizz-kidz-pilgrim.blogspot.com which is very entertaining. The name is because of the charity that he's raising money for, which helps children with mobility problems.

I'm now organising the next stage of my "21st century" journey, initially in the UK then of to Europe again.

On the deck!

Typical! One of the few sunny days we've had in three weeks, and we're on our way home!

Waiting to get on the ferry

8.00am and waiting to board. Surprisingly, there are not that many cars, but there there is a huge number of commercial vehicles. I think the ferry company is prioritising business traffic.

Heading back to England

We've just arrived in Caen where we're staying the night before getting the ferry tomorrow morning. Fortunately, we didn't arrange to come back via Cherbourg, as I gather that is currently blockaded by French fishermen, so I guess the boat will be pretty full tomorrow with people who've been re-routed down the coast.

I'm coming back briefly to go to an event at Worcester Cathedral which relates to my studies, then going off for a few days before the Reader licensing service. After that, who knows?! I'm meeting up with some friends in Northern France at the end of June, but I'm wondering whether to go to Italy in the intervening time and visit St Francis.

Modern stained glass window

It was a pity that the very last church on my circular route round France and Spain should have been one that is now just an "ancient monument" for tourists. I have seen so much evidence that Christianity is still vibrant and meaningful to millions of people.

When I began, at Tours, the nun serving on the bookstall at the shrine of St Martin, asked if I was on pilgrimage, so there must still be plenty of pilgrims travelling through France. At Lourdes, the town was packed with people from all over the world who had come for no other reason than to worship there. In Conques there were numerous people who were obviously there as pilgrims rather than just tourists, and I was surprised by the numbers setting off to cross the Pyranees from St Jean Pied de Port. All along the Camino de Santiago, people were walking whatever the weather, and Santiago de Compostela was as packed with pilgrims as it must have been in medieval times.

No-one makes the effort that many of these people were making for something that has no meaning. God is meeting people on the highways and by-ways of Europe, and no doubt in many other places too - we met an American couple in the hotel in Santiago who told us about a place in New Mexico where vast numbers go on pilgrimage.

I came on this trip to explore various meanings of pilgrimage, and to reflect on the journey of life itself. Everything I have seen so far has confirmed my belief that God accompanies us on the journey if we allow Him to, and that our lives are far richer when we do.

Entrance to St Peters

Church of St Peter

This is the third church in Melle. Sadly, although it had been lovingly restored in the 19th century, and had some excellent stained glass windows dating from then and the 1940s, it was clearly no longer used for regular worship.

A less attractive image

According to one of my books, this depiction of Christianity vanquishing paganism is quite common in this area. I should think that the poor pagan on the floor was very grateful to whoever it was that removed the horse's front leg! In France, many statues in churches were damaged in the Religious Wars and the Revolution, as they were in England in the Reformation and the Civil War.

A lovely statue

I thought that this was a beautiful image of God's love for us - on a table in front of it was a book where people could write prayers.

The interior of the church

The little group at the front were some children, obviously rehearsing something for a service. Clearly this is a lively parish church, providing worship for local people, and a ministry to visitors.

The church of St Hilaire

This is the most significant of the churches at Melle, dedicated to St Hilaire (Hilary of Poitiers). It was visited by pilgrims travelling to Santiago de Compostela on the route from Paris.

There were four main routes that people travelled in medieval times. The westernmost came from Paris via Tours; the next from Vezelay went via Limoges; the third, starting at Le Puy, went through Conques; and the fourth, from Arles, went through Toulouse. In coming back to our base at Lasse, we have driven diagonally across all four of these routes - avid followers of this blog may remember that I started my travels in Tours several weeks ago, which is less than 50 miles from here.

More churches on the pilgrim route

We left Limoges yesterday morning in pouring rain, so hard it was difficult to see where we were going. However it more or less stopped around lunchtime, giving us a chance to see the churches at Melle. This one we could only look at from the outside, as it was closed because of preparations for a concert in the evening - the lady in the tourist office said it was Baroque music, so it was a pity we weren't able to stay around for it.

A night in Limoges

We left Conques yesterday morning in beautiful weather, but as soon as we got out of the mountains it was raining again!

We were spending the night in Limoges, where the main interest is the museums of porcelain and enamel. It was on the route to Santiago, but nearly everything connected with that era was destroyed in the Revolution. When we first saw the hotel we had booked, it looked so dreadful that we were not sure whether we wanted to stay there! On closer investigation it turned out to be a bit better than it looked from outside, and the rain was getting heavier.

We decided that the museums weren't worth getting wet for, so spent the afternoon lazing around in a room that looks as if it was furnished circa 1960. We are in the area for Limousin cattle, and the only saving grace of this establishment was the very nice steak we had last night in the restaurant.

Today we're driving back to Lasse for a few days' rest and reflection. En route we hope to stop at a place called Melle, a bit south of Poitiers, which has some interesting churches. Poitiers itself has quite a bit to see, but we went there some years ago, and would not have time to do it "properly" again today, so we're by-passing it on this trip.

A place of prayer

In many ways, this whole little town just exists for the tourists, yet the abbey is still very much a place of prayer. There are monks who sing the offices several times a day - we went in for midday prayer today. People still come here as pilgrims and there is a sense of welcome as there was at Santiago de Compostela.

View facing the other way

These pictures give an idea of just how inaccessible Conques is. The river is at the bottom of the valley, some way below where this is taken. To reach the town, it is necessary to come over the mountains, climb down to cross the river, and climb back up to the town. Pilgrims must really have believed that they risked the fate of the damned depicted over the door, or they would never have come to such an out of the way place.

Even more amazingly, St Foy had a particular reputation for curing blindness, so many of the people who made the journey here must have had poor sight or no sight. Even with someone acting as guide, it is hard to imagine how anyone who couldn't see could ever manage to get here.

View of the town from the chapel

Chapel on the edge of the town

Can we really improve on everything?

The water from this spring has been slaking the thirst of pilgrims for over 1,000 years, and is praised in the medieval pilgrims' guide for its purity. But the notice warns that it is not drinking water! God gives us wonderful, fresh, clean water, but we won't drink it until we've poluted it with chlorine and other chemicals!

Straight out of a story book

Conques is a complete medieval village, with no modern buildings at all. It looks like the original for those pictures in books of fairy-tales.

Up in the gods

We've just come back from a special night time tour of the galleries of the abbey, where you can see all the capitols of the columns at much closer quarters. The whole thing is accompanied by the playing of the organ, and was a fascinating experience.

Abbey interior

The Last Judgement

This is over the main door and depicts the righteous being admitted to heaven while the damned are suffering horrible tortures in hell.

In medieval times, people clearly saw God as a stern judge rather than a loving Father.

In the shadow of the abbey

This was taken from outside the hotel.

Where we are staying

Note the statue of the pilgrim outside!

Conques

We arrived here yesterday evening. The abbey was an important place of pilgrimage in medieval times, and was on the route for people going to Santiago de Compostela from Le Puy in south eastern France, whereas Toulouse was on the southernmost route from Arles.

The abbey has the relics of St Foy, who was a 12 year old girl killed by the Romans for her Christian faith. She was condemned to be roasted alive, but a miraculous downpour extinguished the flames, and she suffered the relatively more merciful fate of beheading.

She has the most fabulous gold and jewel encrusted reliquary, which we saw in tne abbey treasury, but photographs were not allowed. It is amazing that it has survived both the French wars of religion and the Revolution. It was hidden and only found in the late 19th century. Other ancient items also escaped being melted down by the revolutionaries, because the villagers hid them in their houses.

Another church in Toulouse

This is a church called Les Jacobins, built soon after St Sernin. The columns are meant to represent palm trees; I found myself wondering whether the builder had been to the Mezquita in Cordoba. The columns there are meant to give the impression of walking under palms, and the use of different coloured stone is very similar.

The tomb of St Thomas Aquinas is here; it is modern, only dating from 1974. St Thomas was at this church from shortly after his death, until the French Revolution, when he was moved and the building taken over by the army. He was brought back in 1974, which was the 700th anniversary of his death.

The tomb

The tomb is underneath this amazing 18th century canopy - it is a very simple stone with a cross, which can be seen through a small grating in the floor.

The Basilica is clearly still visited by pilgrims - I assume that at least some are going all the way to Santiago.

The nave of the Basilica

Basilica of St Sernin in Tours

Tours was a major pilgrimage site for those travelling to Santiago de Compostela from south eastern France. This church was built to accommodate increasing numbers of pilgrims in the 12th century. St Sernin was a bishop who was martyred by being tied to a bull and dragged through the streets during the Roman persecution of Christians.

A shady character in Toulouse

The one that got away

The one place that we had hoped to visit was Leon, to see both the Cathedral and The Basilica of St Isidore. However, the weather was so terrible that morning, that it was impossible to do anything other than just drive along the motorway, trying to see where we were going and hoping that tne road ahead wasn't flooded. It is a pity, because St Isidore especially is supposed to be well worth a visit. Still, it gives us an excuse to come back!

The church at O Cebreiro

I've already posted this picture, but as I'm doing them in order, I thought I'd put it in again. It was so high that we were actually in the clouds, and we got out of breath just walking a short distance. It must be really hard work walking at that height with a large back-pack, as we saw many people doing.

I think this little mountain village may be the place from which people start if they are walking the final 100km into Santiago. But all along the route you see groups of people walking or cycling - an amazing number must do the whole trek from France every year.

Modern statue of a Templar

Templar church next to the castle

Almost impregnable walls

And a good view of the river

They could see the whole area

This was the view from the ramparts. Note there is still a bit of snow on the mountains.

The Templar castle at Ponferrada

The Templars protected the pilgrims from their formidable fortresses.

The church of Our Lady at Sahagun

Because it was rendered almost invisible by the scaffolding, the signpost seemed to point up a lane into someone's back-yard. We got the impression that we weren't the first people he'd re-directed!

A milestone on the Pilgrims Way

Or perhaps I should say a kilometre stone! If we had been going towards Santiago at this point, we'd have had 358 kms to go. Actually, we stopped here on the way back in the hope of seeing another ancient church, but after much searching we finally found it closed for restoration.

The tomb of El Cid

High Altar at Burgos

Note the inevitable bit of scaffolding - massive restoration going on everywhere.

The sacristy in Burgos Cathedral

Not quite like the vestries in our churches!

Two more ancient items

Very ancient pieces

As well as lots of gold and silver, as all the cathedrals have, the treasury at Burgos had some very interesting pieces that were exceptionally old. These thee date from tne 10th to the 13th centuries.

This model gives an idea of the size

Burgos Cathedral

This is one of the biggest cathedrals in Europe, although it is difficult to get a real impression of its size, because it is hemmed in with buildings all around. Also inside, it is quite "broken up" with lots of chapels, and the nave almost a building within a building. This is something that I've noticed with Spanish cathedrals; in the main they don't have the sense of space that is found in English and French cathedrals.

A final resting place

This lovely octagonal church just outside Puenta la Reina is thought to have been a place at which pilgrims who died en route were buried. Although it is quite a way from any habitation, it is lovingly tended, and there was someone there doing the flowers when we visited. It was a beautifully peaceful place in which to pray.

Carried all the way from Germany

This massive crucifix is in another church in Puenta la Reina, and is thought to have been brought by a German pilgrim in the 14th century. Did he perhaps intend to take it all the way to Santiago, but feel that having got it over the Pyranees he couldn't carry it any further?

Many pilgrims deliberately made their journeys more arduous in order to increase the penitential aspect of their journey. I was interested to learn from the German gentleman that I met several weeks ago that some people still follow this practice - he said that it is possible to get baggage transported along the route, and he did so sometimes when he was tired. But others refused to, because carrying their heavy packs all the way is part of the point of the pilgrimage.

Ornate altar in another church

This one was open, but there was nothing to say to which saint it was dedicated. The little road alongside was called Calle de Santiago, so it was probably St James.

Church of San Pedro, Puenta la Reina

Unfortunately, this was locked so we couldn't go inside.

A street in Puenta la Reina

Much of the town is very old, and must look much as it did to medieval pilgrims.

The bridge viewed from the modern one along the river

My last stop on the Pilgrim Route

We're back in France, at Bayonne, just down the road from Biarritz that I left nearly four weeks ago.

On the way we visited Puenta la Reina, at the foot of the Pyranees, so called because this bridge was built in the 12th century at the instigation of a Spanish queen, in order to assist pilgrims on their journey. It is the place at which nearly all the different pilgrim routes from France converged into one.

As they set out from here, pilgrims who in many cases had walked the length of France, or further, and crossed the perilous Pyranees, would begin the last stage of their journey. How must they have felt, knowing that they were nearing their goal, yet still separated from it by the width of Spain and many more mountain paths?