July 13 2019 The Bare Necessities of Life - CONQUES!
- crystalkolt
- Aug 30, 2021
- 11 min read
I now had been walking for one week and was starting to have an awareness of my body that I had never had before. I knew which toes were touching each other at any given moment and was paying close attention to the muscles and tendons in my feet, legs, back and shoulders. Each morning I would bandage my big toes which I felt were rubbing against their neighbour and analysed my baby toes that had both had small blisters a few days earlier but which were healing well. (The story can be read in my 'So don't look!' post). My left achilles tendon had been bothering me at times during the past two days and I was worrying about tendonitus which I knew could end my camino. I had been told though, many times, that 'the Camino would provide' and although I didn't know it at the time, as I write this blog I can attest that those words speak the truth. Like the song sung by Balu the Bear in the Disney movie Jungle Book, The Bare Necessities of Life will come to you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJizAYb7OAk It is worth mentioning that 2 months later I would not recognize my feet. They would resemble flattened chicken. But I am getting ahead of things.
Today I had been planning to walk from Estaing to Conques. This would be an exciting milestone for me.
Conques has an air of magic and mystery about it. Nestled in a valley, it seems to appear out of nowhere. My son Julian, who had walked the Camino five years earlier recounted several times his adventures of the rugged descent down the valley looking in vain for signs of the village until it suddenly appeared. My Miam Miam Do Do app confirmed that it would be difficult as well. I knew what to expect. I also knew that walking 32 - 35km with a sore tendon may not be wise. As luck would have it I happened to meet up with a young hiker from Canada in my gite whose walking buddy had become ill on their hike the day before and they had decided to take a cab down the path about 8 - 10km the next day to shorten their walk. I was invited to join them on the cab ride and after reflecting on it throughout the prior evening I decided it would be a wise move on my part especially in light of the issues I had been having with my left ankle. Now I have to tell you these decisions are very difficult to make on the Camino. Would I be cheating? There were three times in the 2 months of walking that I used a vehicle to move myself forward and each time it became progressively more psychologically difficult to justify but today it felt right.
We had agreed to meet at the bridge, across from the restaurant that I had visited the previous evening at 8am where a village cab would meet us and shuttle us to the next village.
Prior to arriving at the pick-up location I found a small convenience store and purchased my snacks of fruit and nuts for the day's journey, had another look around the beautiful medieval town of Estaing then stationed myself dutifully across from the Pont d'Estaing where I enjoyed watching the community begin their day, which to my amusement included the vacuuming of the outdoor cafe sidewalk.
Shortly before 8am my traveling companions arrived as did the small cab. We threw our backpacks into the trunk and left Estaing behind driving towards Fonteilles where we were dropped off next to a farm house which apparently was also a B&B with miles of farmland in either direction. One thing I found interesting was that while traveling in the vehicle I had the odd sensation of almost vertigo rather than car sickness. After having walked for a week the speed of the vehicle felt unnaturally fast although I know for a fact the driver was driving not more that 60km/hr along the winding roads. One of the women was still not feeling well and so the friends had decided to spend a day in Fonteilles to recover. We said our farewells never to see each other again. That is way of the Camino. You can walk with pilgrims for hours on end, decide to hold back to see a sight or deal with an issue for 5 minutes and never catch up again, and in other situations you may separate and suddenly meet up again quite by accident days later in the same Gite or Albergue.
Walking along the country road 'le chemin de Saint Jacques' led me through a beautiful forest. Tracking down the red and white striped symbols of the Camino on rocks, trees, walls or buildings now was second nature. While preparing for the Camino this worried me. How would I find them? Sometimes these symbols are only a few inches wide but I hadn't taken into account that when you are moving forward a step at a time you really do have quite a bit of time to examine your surroundings although heed this word of caution that most of your time should be looking down directly in front of you for anything that could cause you to fall. That being said it surprised me how easily the striped symbol presented itself to me as I walked.
On this particular day, and on this particular path I noticed small things darting away from me periodically. I finally realized that they were little lizards that were sunning themselves on rocks in front of me. I quite liked their company.
I walked through Massiq, Compagnac , Le Soulie and loved being greeted by the clay planter people at Carbonie just before Espeyrac where I paused for quick break.
Carbonie, France
Coming from a mining town I was interested to learn that Espeyrac had once been home to a Uranium Mine. There are Uranium Mines in northern Saskatchewan as well.
As I entered the beautiful little town of Senergues, I could tell something wonderful was about to happen. Handsome men were walking around in suits and tuxedos, the women wore stunning dresses and as I was walking past the church I heard music whispering out onto the street. Curious, I peeked into the church....
A WEDDING!
How wonderful. I stuck around for a while to enjoy the exciting arrival of the bride and groom. It was a small affair, something we would expect to have this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic but it was apparent that the entire little town was abuzz in anticipation for the celebration that was about to begin. Elderly women were periodically poking their heads out of their homes to see if the couple had arrived. Some chatted with the guests. When the couple arrived they went to another building other than the church, I wondered if they needed to go to the bureau de maire first before the religious ceremony? Or perhaps photos? In anycase that was the little snapshot I had of a day in a small french town as I continued along the main street and once again out on le chemin towards Conques. I truly needed to keep going because I knew these next few hours would be difficult. Very difficult.
At times the trail would be no wider than my foot.
Othertimes the path would widen and suddenly I would find someone in front of me, but for the entirety of that day I walked alone and was happy to do so. Once again I found a few minutes of refuge from the sun in a tiny chapel along the path.
Looking often at my Miam Miam Do Do app I realized that I was getting closer to Conques. I also knew from my son Julian that it was hidden in a valley. But where was it?
It had to be in front of me...
I knew that the Abbaye and Cathedrale de Saint Foy was enormous. How could it possibly be so well hidden?!
Finally I arrived at a sign welcoming me to Conques but indeed it was actually at the beginning of the descent into the valley and I remember it taking at least another hour before finding the town.
Following this sign I started the long descent to the valley floor.
The descent is steep, think of the angle of an escalator. I was grateful to have two walking sticks and carefully headed downwards avoiding large rocks, trees and roots that blocked the path.
By the time of my descent, shadows made it difficult to see all of the obstacles in my path.
Eventually the path led me through an ancient walkway with stone moss and vine covered walls on either side of me.
As I kept clambouring down the rocky path large timbers would be lying across the wall infront of me that I would have to crawl under which was difficult to do at that angle with a backpack. Again, I was so grateful for my walking sticks.
At one point the path opened up to reveal a few huts. I thought that perhaps they were the entrance of the village but it was not to be.
Where is Conques! I knew I was quite close by now.
FINALLY!
Perhaps it's a bit whiny, but I remember how uncomfortable it was walking on the old cobblestone road leading to the Abbaye de Saint Foy. Honestly it was only a matter of yards but after walking for many hours each step hurt and I felt exhausted.
Slowly walking along the cobblestone road, I worked my way around the corner and there it was... sanctuary!
That had been a really difficult walk. Just a few feet to the left of the Cathedral was the Abbaye.
Walking through the arched entranceway I found myself in a huge stone vestibule where I was greeting by volunteers who welcomed me with such a spirit of hospitality that I had never experienced before. One elderly fellow immediately came to my side and helped me take off my backpack. This in and of itself is such a compassionate deed because on 'le chemin' many are cautious of handling other pilgrim's backpacks and clothing fearing bedbugs. After walking for 10 hours you are sweaty, smelly and vulnerable as you try to quickly get a handle of your new surroundings and protocols. Next I was led to a chair where I was offered mint water and fruit. Once I recouped I was shown where to leave my walking sticks before booking into a room for the night. I remember being slightly concerned that my walking sticks would be confused with other walking sticks and at this point my sticks were as valuable to me as my cello but there was nothing to fear for some unexplicable reason walking sticks and backpacks seem to have their own identity and they were waiting for me the next day.
My sticks are the short sticks behind the chair on the right side with the green handles. As you can see there are many styles of sticks. My son brought a diamond willow walking stick from Flin Flon Canada which drew some attention. He found however that after 800 kilometers the rubber tip wore out and the stick became progressively shorter with each pounding as he walked. He came up with a great solution though! In Spain he found a hardware store where he purchased a metal ring and screwed it onto the bottom of his staff which I believe survived the rest of his Camino to Santiago.
Once I had recovered I headed to the Abbaye office to book a room, dinner and breakfast but as I lifted my backpack my bear bell gave its familiar jingle. The month before leaving for France I was trying to hike as much as possible in preparation for the camino. I live in Northern Canada with 1000km of forest behind my house. Bears of course wake up in spring and so I was given a 'bear bell' which is essentially a jingle bell to put on my backpack to warn bears that I was in the area and hopefully encourage them to look for berries elsewhere. I had forgotten to take them off and decided that their sound gave me comfort. A young priest or monk was curious about the bells. Well I explained the reason, this is what happened.
How fun is that!
I chose a room for 30 euros, dinner for 13euros and breakfast for 6 euros and how wonderful... I had a room to myself!
click on the arrow in the photo to see a slideshow of other photos leading to my room
Truly that is all you need, a bed, a pillow, a chair and a night table. What luxury!
My room and the view from my room window. I quickly settled myself in, had a shower, washed my clothes and set off to the Cathedral for Vespers.
Going to 6pm Vespers
After Vespers we listened to a Priest speak on the history of Conques, the Cathedrale and St. Foy then headed back to the Abbaye for dinner where surprisingly I met up again with Patty, the American clothes designer whom I had walked with for a few hours a few days earlier. We shared how difficult it was to descend into the valley. She had heard that someone had fallen 200feet, was hurt but was able to continue on the Camino after a few days. Some of my 'old' hiking buddies were dining at another table. This would be their last day on the Camino. Following dinner the Priest joined the group and led us in a rousing chorus of Ultreia, the Chemin de St Jacques theme song. Following dinner we were invited to attend a Pilgrims Blessing back at the church. I always attended Pilgrim Masses or Blessings. I always found them to be poignant and fascinating. During dinner the Priest asked us where we were all from and invited a German woman, Patty, the US designer and a French woman to read intentions at the Pilgrim Blessing in their own languages. When the German woman started to read in her own language she was moved to tears but she pulled herself together to get through it. What happened next is that the Priest decided to proceed with the service with as much German as possible. We were all moved. I experienced something similar a few weeks later in Spain when I was invited to speak in English and I developed a new understanding of how challenging it must be as an immigrant or refugee to be immersed in another language and how they must crave their language and customs. Following the prayer we were led to a focal point.... statue of St. James? then to the Reliquary of St. Foy where we each received a blessing for the pilgrimage. The evening culminated in a wonderful organ recital where we were invited to explore the cathedral and experience the organist performance in the choir-loft. The priest/organist improvised on a theme, varying anthems and songs including 'The House of the Rising Sun' which was hilarious. We were allowed to go up into the second tier of the cathedral to get a good look at the pillars, capitals and exquisite alabaster glass windows. While the organ music shook the cathedral with all stops open the organist directed a sequence of lighting cues which would light up the cathedral pillars at musical climaxes for dramatic effect. It was wonderful!
Click on the arrows in the photo to see the slide show
The evening culminated though in an outdoor light show which highlighted the symbolism of the relief above the cathedral entrance which was absolutely spellbinding. Not a word was spoken in the courtyard while the light show was displayed. Sandrine, my Policewoman camping buddy from a few days back was standing beside me at this time. I could tell that she was moved by her experience in Conques. Just before the light show she shared that her ancestors had been guardians of the Treasures of Conques and she hadn't realized the significance of that family story before today. I enjoyed my brief time with Sandrine and would have liked to have spent more time with her.
It is worth taking a few minutes to read up on the history of Conques. I will include the story as relayed by a Priest at the Monestary for those that understand french.
Following the light show, which started at 10:15 I happily headed back to my beautiful little room and had a wonderful sleep. I would need it because tomorrow would be both a difficult and frightening day.
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