A Pilgrims Progress
By Hilary Davey – Originally published in Grapevine 50, Spring 2005.
In August, 2004, I helped a friend to look after “La Cassagnole“, a gîte on the Chemin de St Jacques de Compostelle in the valley of the river Célé. Perhaps my story will re-kindle your interest in the Chemin and inspire you to visit “La Cassagnole“, walk in this pretty region and learn more of its fascinating history.
Anyone who lives in this region of France must know about the pilgrim routes of Saint Jacques de Compostelle !! And if you don’t you must read an article by Chris Plant in the ‘Grapevine’ – Summer 1999, Issue 33 – which gives a host of fascinating details about it all. (Photocopies available on request if you can’t find the mag at home!)
Originally, the pilgrimage was considered by Christians to be a way of offering penance to purge themselves of their sins. They believed that their pain and suffering could buy fewer days in purgatory when they died, but rich men could cheat by paying lesser mortals to do it for them!! Nowadays, I believe there are very few who do it for religious reasons but thousands of ’pilgrims’ still follow these routes every year. And why, you might ask? Well, I think a sentence used by Chris in her article sums it up very well – ‘He gives us a chance to do something beyond our daily existence and find a sort of spiritual healing which puts all our earthly cares into perspective. The complete concentration on the road, the weariness and the pain of the long walk, the solitude and at the same time the companionships, are cleansing in a way only known to those who do it.’
My own fascination with the “chemin” has been sparked by the exploits of our friend Marie-Andrée. During the last few years she has walked all of the 1650 kilometres of one of the routes, finishing the last 350 km in September, 2004. There are several routes and she started at Puy in central France, which crosses the Pyrenees near Biarritz and continues westwards along the northern edge of Spain to the Pilgrim’s Mecca, the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. There the pilgrims present their stamped journey card and receive a certificate to crown this achievement. Marie-Andrée actually continued on to the bitter end, which is an extra 100 kilometres to the Atlantic coast; there, she received another, nicer, certificate.
Many people take a week’s holiday and do part of the route then continue months or years later. Marie-Andrée did it this way and, although she likes companionship, she prefers to walk alone; that way she can go at her own pace but can chat to others in the evening or walk some of the way with them.
The route is marked by cockle shells, the symbol of the saint, and pilgrims often wear a cockle shell around their neck. They stay in hostels along the way, called ‘gîtes d’etapes’ whose standards vary considerably. The ones in towns are often unattractive, just dormitories with bunk beds, a kitchen and that’s all. “La Cassagnole“, is different.
Having stayed in many gîtes on her travels, Marie-Andrée found “La Cassagnole” to be the best. Looking out onto the beautiful rolling hills of the valley of the Célé and the Lot, its old buildings cling to the hillside and have been renovated into dormitories, individual bedrooms, a lovely big, airy studio, and kitchens. Most of the visitors are ’pilgrims’ but even tourists can stay there. It would make an excellent, reasonably priced base (eg. 9€ to 15€ per person/night plus about 5€ for breakfast, hire of sheets) to visit the wonderful variety of historical sites, walks, and sports available in the Aveyron and the Lot.
It was with characteristic kindness that Marie-Andrée agreed to help at this gîte in August and, when she suggested that I help her, I jumped at the chance of this new experience — little did I know !!!
‘La Cassagnole’ is run by Michèle and Jean Lefrançois and the pictures on the walls are calligraphy and watercolours done by the talented Michèle. Her husband, Jean, a carpenter, gets up to make early breakfast for the pilgrims – quite a luxury, as most hostels only offer ‘do it yourself‘. There is another kitchen for the use of visitors, stocked with food with an honesty box. There is also a washing machine. Another luxury is the‘ Traiteur’. If you ask before 5 p.m,. an evening meal is delivered at 7.30 p.m.(15€). For the weary worker – and traveller – this is wonderful !
Marie-Andrée worked for 2 weeks. I only stayed 3 days —- but, believe me — it was exhausting! We changed sheets, made up beds, cleaned rooms, kitchens and bathrooms.. Then we washed the sheets and towels, hung them out, collected them again – then the pilgrims arrived. We booked them in and showed them their rooms. Sounds easy ? On a flat site, yes, but this was on the side of a hill. The rooms were at the top, washing machine at the bottom, lines top and bottom, quite exhausting !!
And the pilgrims ? They come in all shapes and sizes, from Paris, Germany, Spain, Denmark, England. Sometimes they are in organised groups with a dedicated ‘chef’ who picks up stragglers by car and carries the packs for the weakest. Others are solitary, others in pairs. A real mixture they are, but with one thing in common, they all struggle with huge backpacks !!
But we did find time to see the tourist sites. In the nearby pretty village of Faycelles a lovely girl in the tourist office told us about other places of interest in the area. My favourite was Capdenac, a stone village, fortified—as always — against the English, and the Romans. It claims to be the Roman Town of Uxellodunum but other towns in the area also lay claim to the name but we shall assume that this is the true site. You can visit the ‘source’ (fresh water spring) just near the walls. The Romans defeated the town by re-directing the flow, leaving the village without drinking water. On the other side of the village is the Fontaine Anglaise (why, we didn’t know). This was 135 steps down (and up of course) but gave welcome relief from the heat of the day. The drinking water tank was lined with lead on a base of clay, but one wonders what the lead did to their constitution? The old bakery is now a Museum containing Roman and other artefacts. The Tourist Office offers guided tours – in French.
Finally we sat in a crêpery and ate crêpes – topped with ice-cream and lemon juice – not a regular thing – but, when I explained exactly what I wanted the proprietor said ‘Oui, bien sûr’ – and we washed it down with a tasty, locally-made beer.
At Figeac the Tourist Office was really helpful. I got a map called ‘La Vallée en Célé—Loisirs Aquatiques’ with details of where to hire a canoe. A conoeing company called ‘Les Amis du Célé’ at LES LIAZU. (Orniac) (0565312673 ) said:- A day trip is 31€, 2 people in one canoe, (½ day, 25€). They provide a ‘gilet de sauvetage’ (life jacket). Take shoes which won’t come off, a picnic lunch, spare clothes. You stow these in the waterproof ‘bidon étanche” and off you go.
You need to be able to swim 25 metres and children must be over 5 years old. The starting point on the River Célé is not far from the confluence of the Lot and the Célé, on D41, off the N20 east of Cahors. They take you by minibus 18 kms up river and drop you and your canoe at 11: 30 am. This gives you plenty of time to pause for lunch at a picnic site en route, enjoy the pretty, winding river as it wends its way between picturesque cliffs and gorges, arriving back by 6 p.m. You can do this from April to mid October, weather permitting. When the river is in flood (en cru) it’s considered too dangerous – except for white water canoeists!!
Marcilhac-sur-Célé is worth a visit although the young man in the Tourist Office was very off-hand. On the outskirts of the village are the oldest historical remains, Dolmens, (Megalithic tombs) from around 3000 BC, but Marcilhac is famous for its Abbaye —– mostly for the fact that it has twice been destroyed by the English!! [If you go on any guided tours in these areas be prepared for a bit of good-natured ribbing !!] It was probably a Benedictine abbey in the 10th century but, the English destroyed it during the 100 years war. Which, incidentally, lasted from 1337 to 1453, 116 years, and included long periods of peace —but let’s not split hairs !
Although the abbey was rebuilt around the Romanesque ruins in the 15th Century in the Gothic style, it was soon destroyed once again, this time when the Protestants set fire to it. A notice says that the abbey is “in the process of reconstruction which will take some years.” This is probably an understatement!!
Some Romanesque buildings in the village were spared and are well worth seeing.. Now I wonder if you are as confused as I am about the words ‘Romain(e)’ and “Romanesque”? Some of the “Romanesque” buildings were dated 10th Century but I thought that the Romans had left England and France by 400 AD, when they were recalled to Rome to protect it from the savage attacks by the Visigoths. So I asked Marie-Andrée: “How come the Romans were still here in the 10th Century?”. She explained that “Romain(e)” refers to the actual Roman occupation There are very few Roman remains but archaeological digs have uncovered Roman walls and artefacts. “Romanesque” means ’in the Roman style’ using round arches and these buildings were. constructed in Medieval times between the 7th and 12th century. So now we know !!
I had a swim in the river Célé but the river bed is stony and Marie-Andrée’s feet were too painful without plastic sandals so she suggested we go canoeing.!! Luckily it was too late. What a shame.!! If I hadn’t been so pooped with all the housework I’d have loved it. What was really galling was that Marie-Andrée raced through the jobs and then stood – maps and tourist brochures in hand – waiting for me to rush off to do the tourism bit. When you consider her age — 71 (older than me!!) and feet disfigured by bunion operations , her completion of the Chemin de St Jacques was an amazing achievement. But, not content with that, she plans to start again soon, taking the southern route from Arles. !!
Other places of interest are:- Rocamadour and St-Cirq-Lapopie, the prehistoric caves of Pech-Merle at Cabrerets and at Padirac and, Marie-Andrée‘s favourite, the little village of Espagnac Ste Eulalie, with its huge carved wooden statue of a pilgrim.. But there is much more.
“La Cassagnole”, Le Relais St Jacques, 46100 Faycelles is east of Cahors, just SW of Figeac.Tel/ Fax:- 05.65.34.03.08 §§§
For further information see their website at www.cassagnole.com