DAY THREE AND FOUR
ST. RÉVÉRIEN – NEVERS
Because I do not hope to turn again
Because I do not hope……..
T.S. Eliot
When I woke up in the morning, I knew that I was in trouble. My two big toenails
were injured and my feet full of blisters. But I did not want to stay and rest in this
sad town. After I left in early morning and walked only for several minutes, a Dutch
woman invited me for coffee at her home. Her name was Wibecke. After coffee, she
invited me to take part in a Happy Happy Dance movie shooting done by the few
villagers still living in Angles. A hundred years ago, it was a village of 300 people.
It was an attempt to bring life and happiness back to the now semi-abandoned place.
Wibecke making a photo of the participants of theHappy, Happy Dance in Angles
Wibecke invited me to stay in her house and bring me to Nevers the next day, a town
30 miles to the west. The whole day, I helped her to bring order in her chaotic house.
She was in the process of moving from one part into another. My feet could rest for
two days. I was so thankful for that.
Wibecke in front of her house. It consists of several tiny houses, where in each house once a family of woodcutters lived. The wood was used for building houses in Paris.
When I was in Nevers, the first things I did were buy new trekking shoes and send
my old ones back to Austria. I stayed overnight in the monastery Maison Saint–
Gildard. This is the place where Bernadette Soubirous lived part of her life. She also
is buried there. In the middle of the 19th century, Bernadette had visions of Mary in
the Grotto of Lourdes. Lourdes became one of the most popular pilgrimage places
for the Catholics in Europe.
Maison Saint-Gildard
In the garden of the convent, where I followed the footsteps of Bernadette, I came
across the most delicious cherries. It was one of my highlights of the day.
In the afternoon, I had time to walk through the city. I had to take care of my feet
and could not do much sightseeing.
Medieval watchtower as part of the former city wall
Ponte de Loire, the bridge over the river Loir
– Text and photos contributed by Garyo –