We had a great day out with Wendy (www.wendymewes.com) on Wednesday. First of all she took us to L'Eglise de Quimerc'h et Ossuaire. This church, now in ruins, was built in the fifteenth century, dedicated to Saint-Pierre, and was abandoned in 1877. The ossuary, added at the end of the sixteenth century as well as the original boundary of the 'enclose paroissial' are still in place.
After that we drove the short distance to Le Faou (pronounced 'Le Foo'). We had an excellent lunch, looked at the pretty streets and went down to the quayside.
Our next stop was at Rumengol where we spent some time at a very special church. For those of you who aren't particularly interested in churches then just skip over this bit. For those of you who are then read on...
Notre Dame de Rumengol (http://nd-rumengol-quimper.cef.fr/) has everything. Set in beauty, steeped in history with wonderful paintings and artefacts this church is thriving (see website) and you can feel its spiritual pulse. The lectern is displayed at the foot of the altar with the page open at the readings of the day. On that particular day it was Saint Luke's Gospel, reminding us to 'stay awake, for we do not know when the master of the house is returning'. How true. My favourite artefact was that of the Trinity, in which God the Father is holding his wounded Son in his arms, whilst the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove occupies a small, almost dark place above the Father's head. It is a powerful depiction of God's sorrow. Yet this church is definitely a place of celebrations, several 'Pardons' take place throughout the year as well as pilgrimages and other gatherings.
The church also has a pieta; and on the right (from the congregation's viewpoint) a crucifix, where Christ is facing the pulpit from which the priest would be giving his sermon. Perhaps he still does his preaching from that pulpit - it would be hard to be anything but humble with Christ so close.
We finished off the day by going for a walk in the Foret de Cranou. This was our first walk here and it didn't disappoint. Ally and Tex, the dogs, had a great time! We walked up, down, by a stream and saw a shrine. Before we drove back we had some tea from the flask. Nothing feels as good as drinking tea in a beautiful wood by a stream. Perfect.
It was a fab day indeed. I like the photo of me and Paul, Ally and Tex the headless dog! Lovely photos of all we saw.
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