On the Trail, the PilgrimsTrail that is 9-30-15

One of our goals for this visit was to see the Romanesque church at Conques.  It was one of the major stops on the pilgrims trail from Paris down to Santiago de Compostela during the middle ages and it is still in a remarkable state of preservation.  Furthermore it is still functioning as a major stop in France for pilgrims of today.  So we jumped in the car that Mel and Mar had rented and we drove over to Conques to visit.  The town is situated several hundred feet above a valley floor and the church was built on a site that was excavated by hand out of the mountainside.  The whole town is medieval in character and everywhere one looks there are beautiful buildings to be seen.
On the way over we stopped and bought sandwiches and water for a picnic, so when we got to the plaza in front of the church we sat down on the benches in front to eat lunch.  Sitting in the sun was so peaceful and it was interesting to see a stream of walkers crossing the plaza either going into or leaving the church.   One group of about 20 suddenly broke into happy chatter upon seeing a person who no doubt was a companion at some point earlier in the journey.
Another very enjoyable moment was to hear this same group singing some sort of pilgrims song standing next to the chapel of St. Jacques (Santiago) the patron saint of the pilgrims trail.  They each had their scallop shell and some were washing the shell in the holy water of the church.

After wandering around in the church we went into the treasury of the church to see the reliquary of St. Foy who is the patron saint of the church.  It was discovered in the 1860's nestled in a niche within a wall that had been blocked in 1546 when the church was under siege from the protestants.  It is
considered one of the world's treasures for religious works from the early middle ages.
After our visit we drove along many small non-main roads back to our house for dinner, consisting of many delicious items we purchased from a traiteur in Figeac on our way back.   Accompanied by wines of the region of course.