Day 26e: finding Peace in Payern … (05/10/2019)
I walked into Payern proper and the city, even though in reality only a modest-sized township, felt almost oppressively HUGE and admittedly a bit overwhelming. My dis-ease was very soon lessened, however, by an incredibly kind woman who went literally out of her way to get me to the Catholic church and the local tourist information center. The former provided a surprisingly warm ambience while I rested there and employee Stephanie in the latter offered an equally refreshing breath of friendly fresh air — offering exuberant appreciation for The Walk alongside some easy-to-understand directions to the local library and a potential sleepover for mendicant pilgrims like myself.
The library staff proved to be just as kind as everyone else encountered up to that point (Thank you, Angela!), allowing me to take as long as I wanted on their computers to type & send an online update of my Journey’s current status. I thanked them all profusely when I was finished, and headed out towards the address of that night’s potential “pilgrim’s abode” (which I had been given by the somewhat less-than-friendly employee of the tourist information in Avenches the day before). I easily found the correct street and yet couldn’t for the life of me find house number 22. Fortunately, a nearby small church was emblazoned with the number 20 on its door, and a small congregation of African worshipers were inside, one of whom immediately came to my aide — calling Marie Jose on his cell phone and then walking with me all the way to her near-yet-somewhat-hidden home … 🙂
Marie Jose opens the door and I proceed to tell her of my Walk and its underlying Mission when she gently interrupts me to tell me that I can stay the night in her guest bedroom regardless and that she could hear the details of my adventure later — and this, even though she hadn’t taken in any pilgrims in quite some time AND had already scheduled a dinner party for that very night … :O
Not only did this wonderful woman take me in despite her previous plans, but she insisted on letting me sleep in her son’s private room, invited me to take part in the aforementioned dinner party (which was lovely, by the way), and even cooked me a special vegan meal to eat during the same … 😀 😀 😀
“Care boldly for one another and you will be truly Joy-full. It is as simple and as challenging as that.” ~ via Michael Leunig
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