The stage from Estaing to Conques is over 35 kilometers. My book says it takes 10 hours but with my missteps that could’ve been closer to 11. I didn’t want to miss the evening programs in Conques so I opted to take the once a day Compostela bus to Golinhac. Even then I didn’t arrive in Conques until almost 7:00 PM.
The walk from Golinhac to Soules and on to Espeyrac is absolutely beautiful. Long nice dirt tracks through prairies and fields with some paved roads all with gorgeous panoramic views.
I met an Australian couple from Melbourne, Mark and Eileen, who were walking the entire 750 kilometers from Le Puy-en-Velay to St Jean. They had previously walked the Camino Frances from St Jean to Santiago and the Via Francingina to Rome.
They seemed to have long distance hiking in their blood so I asked them if they had heard of St Olav’s Way, the 3000 kilometer hiking trail in Norway whose destination is the most important pilgrimage site in the Nordic countries since the 10th Century. “3000 kilometers” Mark repeated and his eyes lit up, not so much Eileen’s.
Early afternoon brought me to the town of Espeyrac where I stopped to have my sandwich au jambon at a picnic table in the plaza outside the church. The town is gorgeous with well maintained streets and ancient buildings but so quiet. I sat for 15 minutes having my sandwich and didn’t see a single person until several pilgrims walked through town on the Chemin.
I was still hungry and thirsty for a coke when I walked into Senergues, an equally lovely and quiet town but the restaurant looked open so I stepped inside. It was after 2:00 and lunch service was over but I ordered a coke from the woman behind the bar and asked if I could possibly get something to eat, “peut-être une salade verte”? She spoke with her husband in the kitchen and then brought me a plate of lettuce with dressing and a few minutes later her nice husband brought me a bowl of potatoes.
Thus refreshed, I set off to tackle the final kilometers to Conques. You pass by Eglise Saint Marcel, a beautiful 15th Century church, and then you’re on a lengthy cobblestone descending path which is the original medieval pilgrim road to Conques. From there you catch a view of the spires of the Abbey which dates to the year 819 (the same year that Santiago’s remains were discovered in Compostela, coincidence, I guess?) and the Chemin’s oldest Romanesque pilgrimage church, the 11th Century Eglise St Foy.
Conques is one of the most amazing villages I’ve ever visited. The current population is only 250 people but Conques had a population of over 3000 people in the Middle Ages so virtually every structure in the town dates back 1000 years and they are all restored beautifully.
I had dinner on the terrace of Restaurant Charlemagne and attended the Pilgrim’s blessing at 8:00 at the Eglise after which a priest gave a tour of the church including a detailed description of the scenes depicted in the 12th Century tympanum. For the liturgically challenged a tympanum is the decorated triangular space above the entrance to a church. This one is an incredible stone carving that dates to the 12th century and depicts the last judgment with Christ in the middle, the damned and hell to his left and on his right, the saved including Saint Foy (Faith) who performed many miracles including curing blindness. Afterwards there was a wonderful music recital in the church and on the way out, the tympanum is back lit revealing the beauty and intricacy of its carvings.
Next morning I was up early, bought a sandwich au jambon at the patisserie and was off to tackle Stage 9 to Livinhav. The day started out nice enough but by noon it was really warm and humid and I took a wrong turn and spent an extra hour lost in the industrial part of Decazeville.
I stopped to have my sandwich and was scratching my head wondering where I went wrong when a nice young man from Brussels named Leo who I had met in Espalion came walking by.
We walked and chatted for a while and that took my mind off of how sweaty and miserable I had been feeling. Leo is studying to be a teacher for special needs children and was walking 2 weeks on the Chemin with his mom. Like me, Leo is celebrating his 21st Birthday next week, him for the first time, me for the 48th!
I can’t believe I’m on the verge of celebrating the 48th anniversary of my 21st birthday but I am. A friend of mine of long standing (not old but of long standing) posited to me this question “how old would you feel if you didn’t know how old you are?” Truth is I feel younger, stronger and healthier than I did 20 years ago. And beauty may be in the eyes of the beholder but I think I’m more handsome and taller too!
And before I knew it I was walking into Livinhac, had a beer with pilgrims in the square and caught a cab to Fijeac where I was staying the night!
