The couple looking after us (at a not-so-cheap rate) were very nice. We talked about the Camino and she showed us their self published book on their walk. In the morning, when they saw my boots they said this was nothing and produced the disintegrating remains of their boots from their cupboard telling us that this is what they had walked to Santiago in.... not my most encouraging moment.
Then we popped out to the bus stop by their front door and waited for the local bus which wandered around the Nevers suburbs dropping school kids and workers off, picking up more to drop them off in the centre of the town.
We were outside all of this. As always, we were a special kind if alien; not just foreign but also not part of any community outside our own. Even to our hosts, I felt that we were both part of the community that they belonged to and strangers passing through.
The dislocation continued when we went to the Cathedral, which is well worth a visit. There we found some extraordinary modern glass windows. We remembered them from our previous visit, when we stayed in Nevers on holiday unintentionally. We had been planning our first real (albeit short) holiday in France without children and had driven through the night to reach a campsite a hundred miles further south. However, we discovered that our bank had taken money out of our account and left us basically penniless for a couple of days so we had ended up camping on the outskirts of Nevers instead. It was then that we had first seen the Cathedral and it was also a short visit to Vezelay on the way back that had inspired our walk.
One of the things you need to know about the special glass in the cathedral is that it was designed to replace the wonderful medieval glass that had remained there until Allied bombers in the Second World War destroyed them during a bombing raid.
There are many war memorials in France and we stopped and prayed at many of them but these windows say it all; including the death and destruction and redemption.
And everywhere reminds us that we, the intruders, were a party to the destruction in some way. I found it quite complicated but oddly encouraging. (Discovering the redemption, that is.)
In the launderette we found really helpful and kind people. These places are real social hubs in France and we encountered people who knew of and had been connected with the Camino and people who were from other parts of France and from other countries, too.
I dashed off and did some shopping while Alison went through the tedious process of drying all of our things in the tumble drier – taking out the “easy dryers” first and gradually whittling the whole wash down to some socks and a fleece....
Check out Plcemarks 91-94 for this day.
Alison’s Log - Camino Day 33 Vendredi 7/5/10 - Coulanges/Nevers to Marcigny
Up at 6.30 for breakfast at 7.30 and catch the bus into Nevers at around 8.15. In the centre of Nevers by before 9 am.... nothing open!
Dougal and Betty went to see St Bernadette (St Bernadette of Lourdes at the convent in the town where she spent her last years and is laid out in a special shrine space within the grounds) while we went to the cathedral – a wonderful visit with only us there and free to feel the atmosphere and look at the amazing modern stained glass – and wander around looking for a laundrette. Eventually went for a coffee to wait for the tourist info place to open at 10. They pointed us to a laundrette straight away, and a supermarket, and told us to go to the station to find out about transport to St Pierre le Moutier. From there we would walk to Marcigny.
Clothes washed and dried by midday and some purchases made . No time for proper walking so got the bus to St Pierre at 3 – except that it was more like a taxi and the man didn’t ask for a fare.... also bought waterproof spray for boots and rucksacks. Dougal and Betty met us off the bus and we walked to our pilgrim Gite.
Entirely self contained and lovely.
The lady brought us food, etc and we (Ian and Dougal) cooked burgers and omelette to go with the soup and pasta provided. Still waiting for the results of the election – apparently the Tories and Lib/Dems are talking about a coalition because we have a hung parliament....
Food
We had lunch in a cafe on a small Place with lots of tables outside and countless teenage school students grabbing the set lunch, sneaking a bottle or two of beer and smoking feverishly as they chattered and argued intensely together. It was a great sight to witness in amongst the business lunch-takers, the furtive lovers and varied mixes of couples and singles you can find anywhere in a place like this. Strangely, I relished being part of the whole scene but felt an uncomfortable stranger never the less.
Our journey south after this was taken in a people-carrier being used as a taxi/bus replacement service for the trains that were not running.
We stood around waiting for the “bus” and this arrived. I asked if he was going to our destination station and he assured me he was the one... even helped me get Alison and my things in the boot then we sat around in the car for about ten minutes before we set off.
I fell asleep and missed most of the journey, proving that I cannot sleep anywhere... .except in a moving vehicle. When we arrived, the man helped me get thre stuff out of his car and while I was sorting out the funds for the journey he jumped back in the car and drove off down the road at speed.
It took us a while to walk to the place where our night stop was located and find the house. As so often happens, a local person helped us find the place. Our guidebook led us to a gate at the bottom of a garden. OK, so the gate did have a shell hanging from it but it was obviously locked and had been in disuse for a very long time.
A pregnant woman with a young child walked us around to the house and pointed us in.
No one was in the main house but the Gite, located in the annex, was open so we wandered in and eventually the woman came to sort us out and explain what the situation was. She had been visiting the hospital when we had arrived.
The place was basically an out-house converted into living space. You walked in to a small dining/sitting area with an alcove kitchen with work surfaces running around into the dining area itself. On the right, behind the kitchen were a shower room and a bed room. To the left was a corridor with another bedroom and a bit more sitting space. We could see the gate we could not enter by from the dining room window.
The woman (our host) provided some food for us to cook, she also cooked some pasta and other stuff and gave us a jug of red wine. We had a very simple but hearty meal which gave us the fuel and positive frame of mind we needed for the next stage of the journey!
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