I don’t know who lugged all these massive blocks of stone out here into the wilderness to construct this gorgeous resting place, and yet whoever you are (or were) – Thank You! 😀 “Some of the things that most merit our gratitude we take for granted, others we even despise. For without the Sun we […]
I never came to truly enjoy any of the time I spent in the larger cities I met while on The Walk. There just seems to be so much hustle&bustle and negativity and greed and callousness that tend to erupt whenever too many humans are crammed in too tight a space. And so it was […]
Way back in Le Puy I had been told by hospitalero Pierre Alain that I should look up his buddy Mahdi whenever I got to Cahors, and I had intended to do so first thing once I arrived. And yet Mahdi’s pilgrim outfitter shop was closed until 11am, so I proceeded to head into Cahors […]
After briefly stopping by Cahors’ local tourist information office to send out a Walk-update to all my Friends following the same online* I headed towards and then into Cahors’ absolutely gorgeous Catholic cathedral – to offer my standard affirmations of gratitude & resolve, to sit under its cool arches and rest my weary body, and […]
I returned to Mahdi’s shop, which was now open for business, and entered in high spirits. After all, Pierre Alain (the wonderful Le Puy hospitalero who had told me about Mahdi some 2 weeks previously) had not only told me that Mahdi was once a Peace Pilgrim of sorts himself (he walked an interfaith peace […]
It was easy enough to follow The Way through Cahors (this is often a quite difficult task in many of the Camino’s not-so-small cities), and yet lost it completely on the far side of town. I wandered about and under and all around the phenomenal Pont Valentre bridge* until I finally realized that The Way […]
I had heard rumor (from pilgrims & locals alike) that the path’s first several meters after Cahors involved an extremely brutal climb. Unfortunately, those rumors proved to be quite correct … 😀 “I would rather my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than be stifled like dry rot. I would rather be a […]
One of the reasons I like the symbolism of the rolling stone is its tone of steadfast progress and fluid resolve – another is the simple fact that I love moss, and would rather always leave it where it already is … 🙂 “The man who is seen as appropriate or reasonable or standard is […]
Little “serve yourself” stands like this one weren’t very common in France along The Way, and yet they did pop up from time to time. And at very few times on my Walk was I more thankful to see one pop up than I was today … It was an extremely hot & dusty day […]
“No matter how many times my Heart has been shattered, and no matter how many times my will has been dampened by the detractors & denouncers who have crossed my path, still I am strong enough to endure it all, to pass through it all, indeed to adore it all through & through. For even […]
I kept walking through this oppressively hot, dry day — up & Up & UP, past the tiny hamlet of Les Mathieux (near the village of La Roziere) and into the upper outskirts of the town of Labastide-Marnhac. I was pretty worn out and getting pretty dizzy by this point, so I stopped without hesitation […]
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