As was usually the case whenever entering a city of any size, I headed first and foremost to the local church, in this case the majestic Church Abbey of St. Foy — to pause in gratitude for my arrival and the day in general, as well as to reaffirm my humble resolve to do it […]
The inside of the churches I encountered on my Walk almost always inspired a far greater awe & reverence than their cooler, stony shells. This was the case on this day in Conques as well … 😉 “We must all have sacred moments and we must all bathe in holy places. For we humans — […]
The donativo hostel in Conques was located right next door to the church, and as such was easy to find and even easier to approach. And as I did so I noticed right away that it was ornate, impressively clean, and indeed quite large — large enough to provide yours truly with a spontaneously reasonable […]
The hospitaleras in the Abbey Gite were less than welcoming to me at first (they just couldn’t comprehend anyone walking that far without any money and without any ID), and yet the more I explained my Walk for Peace to them, the more they warmed to the idea of keeping me around … 🙂 Hospitalero […]
There were frankly few things more enjoyable for me* than waking up early to slowly wind my way along narrow, moss-lined, cobble-stoned streets — down and out of whatever town in which I had spelt the night before; up and back onto The Way that continued to carried me to cities and soulmates “next” … […]
The ruins I saw along the Way always brought me a sense of profound solace — not only by inspiring me to imagine the rich stories of the anonymous Souls who once lived there, but by reminding me that no matter how much damage humanity does to the animals and the landscape and the planet […]
I had heard that the first section of the post-Conques Camino was an incredibly steep & strenuous one, and yet I was fully undaunted by the task at hand — and even felt lightheartedly optimistic as I started up the climb from the trailhead’s base … 🙂 “Impossibility itself is a delusion. Yes, sometimes the […]
I eventually made it all the way up to the tiny path-side chapel (a chapel dedicated to St. Foy, patron saint of pilgrims & prisoners alike) that overlooked medieval Conques far down in the valley below. It was apparently customary for pilgrims to ring the church bell there before flowing onward, and I had no […]
“You are The Way; let me walk youYou are The Truth; let me see youYou are The Life; let me live youYou are LOVE; let me be you.”~ inspired by Hartmut
The steep path leveled off thereafter, leaving its shaded incline behind in favor of a stiflingly hot and brilliantly lit path that ambled across a broad plateau. And it was here that I once again came across my pilgrim-friend Len (who I had first met 8 days prior in La Clauze), and was blessed to […]
“Gazing upon infinite horizons provides us with infinite dreams — infinite ideas, infinite paths, infinite actions. It lends a proper perspective to our place in the world; not the ‘only human’ perspective that would have us shy meekly back from the challenges posed by strangers & setbacks, but rather the ‘I am Human’ perspective that […]
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