Author: Thom

After Mass, Appolina, Ávila, and I visited the fountain, drank, and filled our water bottles, thus fulfilling the conditions of the indulgence at Chapelle de Saint-Roch. Here we see Appolina (left) and Ávila (right) standing in front of the fountain, while other folks fill their bottles. Date: 20 August 2023 Place: Chapelle de Saint-Roch, Lozère Département, Region of Occitanie, France […]

This is the interior of the tiny Chapelle de Saint-Roch. On the day that we were there, it was possible to gain a plenary indulgence by venerating the saint’s relics in the chapel, attending the nearby outdoor Mass, and drinking from the holy fountain. You can barely see the reliquary on the altar in this photo, but here we are […]

As I mentioned earlier, Ávila and I stopped at a wayside food truck outside Chazeaux, just 5 km from what I expected would be the end of my day. My plan was to get an Orangina and eat a sandwich. We ran into Appolina there and had a small reunion. And then the craziness started. Crazy with grace, I mean. […]

Much of the rest of the morning was through gently hilly open countryside with the occasional wooded area or village. The hens in this particular village have a pretty swish henhouse, built into their owners’ house. There was a food truck up ahead, and my plan was to get a sandwich and an orangina for a sort of second breakfast, […]

Ávila and I arrived at La Clauze about 8 AM. At some point we’d lost Appolina, as she was young and speedy and ran ahead of us. The tower is all that remains of a castle known as Château de la Clauze. This octagonal keep dates to the 14th century. The foundations of the remaining parts of the castle are […]

As it turned out, the lowing sounds and the clank of the bells weren’t coming from the meadows at all. Instead, the cows in question were grazing the the forest. There was a whole herd of them, though it was difficult to get a decent photo, because they insisted on hiding behind trees. It was both unexpected and delightful. Date: […]

As Ávila, Appolina, and I walked through a landscape of meadow and forest, we could hear the lowing of cattle and the clanking of their distinctive bells. But up to this point, we hadn’t seen them in any of the meadows we walked past. We assumed that they were in a meadow beyond the woods to our right, but the […]

For centuries the universally recognized symbol of the pilgrim on their way to Santiago has been the shell. While not every pilgrim carries one on their pack or person, many still do. There are countless places where you can purchase one, but here, several kilometers past Saugues, we see a small stand giving them away – though a donation is […]

The next morning, I left Saugues with a couple of French pilgrims, Ávila and Appolina. We met at the boulangerie before dawn to take on provisions, and then we set out out of town just as the sun was poking up over the hills. Mist filled the valleys, and the view back towards Saugues was incomparable. Date: 20 August 2023 […]

Although I didn’t realize it when I took this photo, virtually every village In France big enough to have a central plaza had a statue like this in the middle of it. They were originally erected in memory of those killed in the First World War. As the wars accumulated, additional plaques with names were often added – here we […]