Pilgrims on the Way

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 […]

In Estaing, I stayed in my first gîte communal, which is a large facility run by a town or community. And this is it. It was very clean and almost empty, probably because of the heatwave of previous days. Mary, the hostess, was extremely helpful and friendly, and she quickly got me sorted into a room with three empty beds […]

On the way to my gîte, I saw this wheel up against the side of a building, and I did a double-take. As I mentioned yesterday, Estaing is home to a plethora of art made from common items. This one gave me pause, however, as one-half of it very much resembled a character – the title character in fact – […]

The village of Estaing is home to a plethora of art made from common household items. This was the first one that I saw, just after running into Marten and Nina sitting at an outdoor café having coffee. I joined them, and we had a great conversation before they left to do their last 7 km of the day. Although […]

As I mentioned yesterday, Estaing’s bridge over the River Lot has two pieces of art at its center, facing each other across the bridge. On one side there stands a Cross, and on the other side facing the Cross is a statue of Blessed François d’Estaing, the Bishop of Rodez who was responsible for the construction of the bridge. And here […]

The Camino eventually returned to the road, and shortly thereafter I caught my first glimpses of the village (town, really) where I planned to spend the night: Estaing! It towers over the north bank of the River Lot, and it almost looks like a town from a fantasy novel. It was only about 1:30 PM, so I would have plenty […]

After leaving the little village of Verrières, I was soon on a main road again, which ran above and roughly parallel with the River Lot. Then the Way left the main road to go up a ridiculously steep hillside covered in loose slate. Soon I was walking on a ridge above the road, which itself was on a ridge above […]