Sacred Ground

On my very first day of walking, on the plateau above Le-Puy-en-Velay

before reaching Saint Christophe sur Dolaison

"Standing on Holy Ground 

– all is Sacred and all is gift"

I was nervous on that very first climb out of Le Puy
as I had heard it was steep, and wasn't sure if my fitness would be found wanting.

I was so pleased to find all my pre-Chemin walks meant it proved to be not too daunting.

I soon found myself relaxing into the landscape of the plateau above Le Puy

filled with an immense happiness to be there

and hoping that weeks of walking in the outdoors lay ahead.

I was filled with reverence and joy.

Life just seemed like pure gift in those moments.

 Church belltower in Galicia, on one of the last days of the walk to Santiago

"There are thoughts which are prayers. 

There are moments when, whatever be the attitude of the body, 

the soul is on its knees." 

 ~Victor Hugo 

seen on Kelle Hampton's blog

Seeing a church tower in the sunlight always brought me joy

and made me think of all those who in centuries gone by

had walked to Santiago. 

...a moment of communion
thinking of the ever-flowing river of pilgrims...

A doorway

 

A door in a ruined wall- in the Auvergne- on the first day out of Le-Puy-en-Velay

  "God enters by a private door into every individual."

 

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

A sudden moment of Grace

On top of the first hill on the Meseta
 

"I was truly alive and all was grace.
That Amazing Grace
where a single moment of blindness
turns to sight once again. "

~From 'Googling God' blog.

I climbed onto the Meseta with my two friends from Quebec.
We weren't sure what to expect.
So much is written about this place, that I think I truly feared it.

And maybe in the searing heat of summer it truly is deservedly feared.

But our first experience was of a green magic.
We climbed a hill onto the Meseta proper,
and suddenly this landscape stretched out before us,
as far as the eye could see, just green crops and sky.
Nothing else.
Almost in unison, for the three of us,
you could hear an audible sound,
as it took our breath quite away.