Pilgrims on the Way

After visiting Château d’Estaing, I explored the village, wandering down its narrow medieval lanes, before somehow ending up directly in front of the church I’d visited earlier, Saint-Fleuret d’Estaing. There was just something about this view from a narrow lane and the tired pilgrim sitting on the steps that struck me as a proper encapsulation of this utterly charming village. […]

The view from Château d’Estaing is spectacular. From this particular angle, you can see the Pont d’Estaing across the River Lot and the hamlet of Sébrazac on the far side. In the morning, I would have to cross back over this bridge to rejoin the Camino route. Date: 25 August 2023 Place: Estaing, Aveyron Département, Region of Occitanie, France Maps!

The castle is mostly given over to a museum of the castle’s own history, the original family who lived here, and its most famous recent owner, former President of France Valéry Giscard d’Estaing. This is a portrait of the last of the original family, Charles-Henri, Comte d’Estaing and Admiral of France. He fought for the United States during the American Revolution and was later guillotined during […]

The first room on the castle tour is the kitchen. The castle itself dates to the 15th century. It was home to the Estaing family until Admiral Charles Henri d’Estaing was guillotined during the Revolution. After that it was effectively parted out in lots of one or two rooms each. In 1836, the nuns of Saint Joseph bought out the other lots of […]

After spending some time in the church, I resolved to visit the castle that stands watch over the center of the village of Estaing. I’ll have some photos of the castle, now very much a museum, in the coming days. But first, I was struck by this warning sign posted on the castle gate. The castle is old, y’all, and […]

This is the view walking out the doors of the church of Saint-Fleuret d’Estaing. This is a pretty typical street in this old and beautiful village. You can see a shop and a café. The building on the right is a boulangerie. The street at the bottom of the hill is Rue François d’Estaing, effectively the village high street. Date: […]

The church of Saint-Fleuret d’Estaing is named after its resident saint. According to tradition, Saint Fleuret was Bishop of Auvergne, about 180 kilometers north of here. He may have also been known by the name of Avolus. He died during a visit to Estaing in about the year 621, after converting the people of the village. What I love about […]

Here you can see the modern furnishings in the sanctuary of the church of Saint-Fleuret d’Estaing. I really don’t understand what’s going on here. None of these modern furnishings match the fabric of the building or, indeed, any of the other furnishings in the place. I’ve seen plenty of churches with a multitude of successive artistic – even architectural – […]

From my journal: “This is a grand church, with many beautiful, if over-the-top Baroque altars. And yet, the main altar is made apparently of plexiglass with mirrored sides. The ambo looks like it came out of a corporate conference room, and the seating for the clergy is stainless steel or possibly chrome. They all look cheap and easily broken. Impermanent […]

This remarkable 15th-century Crucifix stands just outside the church of Saint-Fleuret in Estaing. On the bottom left, you can see the figure of a kneeling pilgrim, complete with floppy medieval hat, praying. This is our first clue that this church has been visited by pilgrims for a long time, indeed. Date: 25 August 2023 Place: Estaing, Aveyron Département, Region of […]