{"id":33680,"date":"2023-07-23T04:17:11","date_gmt":"2023-07-22T18:17:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/?p=33680"},"modified":"2023-10-21T06:11:21","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T19:11:21","slug":"saint-come-dolt-france-%f0%9f%87%ab%f0%9f%87%b7-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/?p=33680","title":{"rendered":"Saint-C\u00f4me-d\u2019Olt, France \ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf7 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Date: 21st July 2023<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Travelled: 20 kms around Espalion by scooter <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visited: Saint-C\u00f4me-d\u2019Olt and Espalion  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stayed: Camping de Roc L\u2019Arche, \u20ac17, N44.52230, E02.76940  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Budget: 60 days @ \u20ac87 per day<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

As our next Beautiful French Village, Saint-C\u00f4me-d\u2019Olt is only 8 kms up the River Lot we decide to stay in Espalion another day and let the Kisbee do the travelling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The campsite has wonderful shade and it\u2019s only a few hundred metres into the old town and there\u2019s still things to see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pam\u2019s keen for a walk as usual and we follow the pilgrims path (Saint James\u2019 Way) up river. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"\/<\/a>
The Croix de Saint Hilarian, the patron Saint of Espalion<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
The \u00c9glise Saint-Hilarian-Sainte-Foy de Perse<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Two kms from the campsite we find a stone cross to Saint Hilarian, nearby a small sign pointing to the Chapel de Perse. Reading the various panels we find Saint Hilarian had his head chopped off by the Sarasens who returned it to his mum, nice. The Chapel de Perse is circa 11th century, Romanesque in style. It was Espalion\u2019s church until 1862 when the village moved to higher ground and a new church was built.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s now a key rest point for passing walkers on pilgrimage and us today. The things you find on a morning walk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

After coffee we point the Kisbee upstream and follow the River Lot to Saint-C\u00f4me. We take the backroad that\u2019s part of the pilgrims route, so other than a tractor there\u2019s no traffic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

From our guide book the Most Beautiful Villages of France you\u2019ll find Saint-C\u00f4me-d\u2019Olt on page 242. Standing on the River Lot, the village has expanded to consume the three fortified ditches that once protected it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its \u00c9glise and the Chapelle des P\u00e9nitents make it a key point on the pilgrim\u2019s path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
As you can see its a bit cooler today and Pam has gone long<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

The \u00c9glise Saint-C\u00f4me-et-Saint-Damien, circa 16th century is pictured below. Its twisted spire makes it somewhat unique. It\u2019s a little crooked as well and I spent some time trying to work if the twist was on purpose or the end result of some dodgy builder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Looking up the Nave toward the Altar its typical Romanesque. The red sandstone a highlight<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Our last point of significance is the Chapelle of des P\u00e9nitents, pictured above, A must stop for the walkers. It\u2019s a simple Romanesque chapel, no crossover or aisles. It houses a series of panels and artwork associated with the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

So we\u2019re done, we scooter back to the Hymer and an afternoon rest. In the late afternoon we venture out and walk up to Espalion once again, this time we visit the \u00c9glise Paroissiale pictured below. As you can see it\u2019s the full church in the Gothic style, twin spires, and flying buttresses to support the additional aisles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All that architectural stuff aside the photos unfortunately don\u2019t reflect the colour of the red sandstone. Added to that the huge pipe organ was being played during our visit and the whole church resinated to the depth of the music. We sat for 10 minutes enjoying. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Too many churches and chapels today, sorry about that\u2026our last stop a little bar, with a big sign advertising Aperol Spritz, just what Pam was craving, I settle for a large Paulaner and we spend 45 minutes watching Espalion go by. That was our day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Michael + Pam<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Date: 21st July 2023 Travelled: 20 kms around Espalion by scooter  Visited: Saint-C\u00f4me-d\u2019Olt and Espalion   Stayed: Camping de Roc L\u2019Arche, \u20ac17, N44.52230, E02.76940   Budget: 60 days @ \u20ac87 per day As our next Beautiful French Village, Saint-C\u00f4me-d\u2019Olt is only 8 kms up the River Lot we decide to stay in Espalion another day and let […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":33706,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[72],"class_list":{"0":"post-33680","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-france","8":"tag-french-villages","9":"czr-hentry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33680"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33680\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35189,"href":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33680\/revisions\/35189"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/33706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}