Conques. Second Destination
Feeling pumped up with confidence after getting to Rocamadour, my next cunning plan was to get to Conques, recommended by my cousin.
I had asked at the tourist information office about getting to both Rocamadour and Conques - she of course had not ever been to Rocamadour, and had never heard of Conques (bearing in mind that is a two hour drive from Sarlat, and also bearing in mind that the person who took my cousin to Conques said that it was 'a very windy narrow road and too far to go in one day - best to stay over night').
Conques (pronounced 'conk' with an emphasis on the 'k') is an amazingly preserved community in a gorge - and because it was not well known, it has remained untouched (and almost unruined) from the tourist route.
Thanks to the relics of Sainte Foy, brought here from Agen in 883, Conques became one of the main stops on the Saint-Jacques de Compostelle pilgrimage route from Puy en Velay. This is still the case today judging by the numerous walkers in various states of (dis)repair arriving in the heart of the village in the heat of the day and having off-loaded their packs, flocking into the beautiful church.
The interior of the church is elegant and simple: and for me, there were two interesting things.
Firstly, the stained glass windows which in fact are clear glass but filter light at different intensities to create colours, a design by Pierre Boulages. At different times of the day, depending on the light, these windows flood the abbey-church with colour.
And the second thing is the Black Madonna (la Vierge Noix), which is a huge attraction for pilgrims.
bizarrely, not being Catholic or actually religious at all, I find the Black Madonna's fascinating.
This is an incredible little town - verdant, peaceful, slow-paced and not too many ridiculous touristique shops.
I wandered around for a good couple of hours, sat with an ice-cream, followed by a cafe au lait, followed by a quiche... followed by a walk back up to the waiting mercedes.
I didn't mention that when I was driving to Rocamadour, passing through a little village there was a bang, and a red warning light lit up on the dashboard. At first I thought I had hit something (a pilgrim?) and a succession of thoughts rushed through my head (1500 euro excess on the insurance being one of them) but when I finally found a place to stop and check, there was nothing. Huge relief. BUT, the same thing happened 5 more times on the way back to Sarlat, each time freaking me out. I have no idea what it was - and in my panic after trying (a) to find a gas station and (b) trying to work out the process at said gas station, and (c) leaving my credit card on the roof of the car in my panic to leave said gas station seeing as I was blocking a huge queue of hot and bothered people waiting to get petrol, I didn't have the energy to discuss the issue of the warning light with the car hire lady (Fanette). I've tried to google it (if anyone has the thought to do so) - it was a red warning light down the right hand side of the car icon on the dash - accompanied by a bang of sorts, and the feeling that the gears were either slipping or the tyre was grabbing somehow. Totally weird. Totally should have mentioned it given that it may have been a safety issue and the car was booked for someone else the next day. Oh well.
So, it was a little stressful at times (trying to work out the GPS) but was a confidence booster, and I'd happily do it again - driving on the right hand side of the road became natural as long as I didn't overthink it - although I admit (in confidence) that the first roundabout that I came to I went around twice because the first time around it felt completely WRONG to take the right hand road. off the roundabout. And I did pull over and let people pass if they were sitting behind me for long. A little courtesy and patience going forward to tourists on our roads please.
Now I'm in Toulouse with my friends Josette and Henri - the Canal du Midi rowing starts tomorrow morning. I have a long sleeved top on because the temperature has dropped, and in fact it has just started to rain. Forecast for this afternoon as we meet the rowers to rig the boats is for rain (great) and for tomorrow rain (great). Psyching myself up for sleeping in the auberge - favourite part (not) - :).
Did a flying trip into Centre Ville yesterday - checked out St Sernin (same architect as the Abbey-Church in Conques, although larger)
and went into Eglise du Taur - another Black Madonna, and a completely different style of church.
May have been into a few shops...
There will be limited internet until I return to Toulouse next Saturday, so, I'm checking out for a few days.
I had asked at the tourist information office about getting to both Rocamadour and Conques - she of course had not ever been to Rocamadour, and had never heard of Conques (bearing in mind that is a two hour drive from Sarlat, and also bearing in mind that the person who took my cousin to Conques said that it was 'a very windy narrow road and too far to go in one day - best to stay over night').
Conques (pronounced 'conk' with an emphasis on the 'k') is an amazingly preserved community in a gorge - and because it was not well known, it has remained untouched (and almost unruined) from the tourist route.
Thanks to the relics of Sainte Foy, brought here from Agen in 883, Conques became one of the main stops on the Saint-Jacques de Compostelle pilgrimage route from Puy en Velay. This is still the case today judging by the numerous walkers in various states of (dis)repair arriving in the heart of the village in the heat of the day and having off-loaded their packs, flocking into the beautiful church.
The interior of the church is elegant and simple: and for me, there were two interesting things.
Firstly, the stained glass windows which in fact are clear glass but filter light at different intensities to create colours, a design by Pierre Boulages. At different times of the day, depending on the light, these windows flood the abbey-church with colour.
And the second thing is the Black Madonna (la Vierge Noix), which is a huge attraction for pilgrims.
bizarrely, not being Catholic or actually religious at all, I find the Black Madonna's fascinating.
This is an incredible little town - verdant, peaceful, slow-paced and not too many ridiculous touristique shops.
I didn't mention that when I was driving to Rocamadour, passing through a little village there was a bang, and a red warning light lit up on the dashboard. At first I thought I had hit something (a pilgrim?) and a succession of thoughts rushed through my head (1500 euro excess on the insurance being one of them) but when I finally found a place to stop and check, there was nothing. Huge relief. BUT, the same thing happened 5 more times on the way back to Sarlat, each time freaking me out. I have no idea what it was - and in my panic after trying (a) to find a gas station and (b) trying to work out the process at said gas station, and (c) leaving my credit card on the roof of the car in my panic to leave said gas station seeing as I was blocking a huge queue of hot and bothered people waiting to get petrol, I didn't have the energy to discuss the issue of the warning light with the car hire lady (Fanette). I've tried to google it (if anyone has the thought to do so) - it was a red warning light down the right hand side of the car icon on the dash - accompanied by a bang of sorts, and the feeling that the gears were either slipping or the tyre was grabbing somehow. Totally weird. Totally should have mentioned it given that it may have been a safety issue and the car was booked for someone else the next day. Oh well.
So, it was a little stressful at times (trying to work out the GPS) but was a confidence booster, and I'd happily do it again - driving on the right hand side of the road became natural as long as I didn't overthink it - although I admit (in confidence) that the first roundabout that I came to I went around twice because the first time around it felt completely WRONG to take the right hand road. off the roundabout. And I did pull over and let people pass if they were sitting behind me for long. A little courtesy and patience going forward to tourists on our roads please.
Now I'm in Toulouse with my friends Josette and Henri - the Canal du Midi rowing starts tomorrow morning. I have a long sleeved top on because the temperature has dropped, and in fact it has just started to rain. Forecast for this afternoon as we meet the rowers to rig the boats is for rain (great) and for tomorrow rain (great). Psyching myself up for sleeping in the auberge - favourite part (not) - :).
Did a flying trip into Centre Ville yesterday - checked out St Sernin (same architect as the Abbey-Church in Conques, although larger)
There will be limited internet until I return to Toulouse next Saturday, so, I'm checking out for a few days.
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