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 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.
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.
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.
