Via Podiensis: Dobbles’ Big Day in Cahors (plus cathedral photos)

Today I thought it might be fun to have Dobbles take the lead on exploring and running some errands in Cahors this afternoon.

Wait? Dobbles? Yes, Dobbles is my mascot for this Camino. He’s a little stuffed emperor penguin chick that normally lives clipped to my backpack. 

I joke that he’s guarding the pack while it’s not attached to me. Here he is, on the job. 

I thought I’d give Dobbles an afternoon off guard duty and run some errands and see the sites of Cahors.

First stop: the tourism office to secure a bed for the night. We walked past the great cathedral of Saint-Etienne, but we would be back!

The lady at the tourism office was very helpful. She called a nearby gîte, and soon arranged us a bed. We only had 10 minutes to get over there, though, because they would be closing for cleaning between 12:30 and 3 PM. We hustled!

Once there, our host Éden gave us some water and melon, which really hit the spot. 

We gathered up some materials that I wanted to mail back home, including the guidebook that ends in Cahors, and then we were off to try to find Caminoloc – a locally owned gear store – to stock up on some missing items. it turns out it’s just a little further down the Camino Route through the city. Because of course it is.

Dobbles helped me pick out some things, and we were on our way to try and find some lunch.

I remember passing a promising looking café near the Cathedral, so that’s where we headed. I figured the best way to find the cathedral was to backtrack along the Camino. As it turns out, in a maze like the streets of medieval Cahors, this is not as simple as you might think.

It didn’t help that Dobbles kept getting distracted.

And distracted. 

We found the place, and I finally had that Orangina I’ve been craving since Rocamadour. 

After lunch, it was off to the post office to send back some things we no longer needed in France. This was considerably easier than the last time I did this, though I’m not sure why.

Finally! It was back to the Cathedral for a proper visit.

So the thing about the medieval cathedral is, it has domes. This is pretty unusual for Western Europe at the time, and the story goes that the architect brought the idea back from the Crusades with him. 

The place is just astounding. Medieval paintings decorate many of the walls and columns. The architecture itself is early Gothic with an overlay of Byzantine. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. 

One of the domes is decorated with 14th-century frescoes, depicting the stoning of Saint Stephen, as well as eight prophets. The other has no decoration at all, but electronic system projects images on it in slow rotation.

The place is so jampacked with little details and gigantic pieces of art, that it’s impossible to photograph some of them well. At least with the equipment I have.

I prayed vespers here, and I lit candles for the various intentions for which I walk. And I also just sat quietly for a while, soaking in the fabric of the place and offering wordless prayers to Jesus who makes all things possible.

And then at last, we returned to the gîte for the usual routine of shower, laundry, rest. Later, some more exploring is probably going to happen, along with benediction at the Cathedral followed by dinner.

More Cathedral photos!