Cahors Rest Day

Mon jour de repos. My day of rest.

What does a pilgrim do on his day off? That’s easy. The pilgrim does his laundry, goes to church, takes a walk in the city and has a nice salad at Le restaurant Qualité Gourmande. The proprietor remembered me from yesterday. I left my walking stick there overnight. I must’ve been very tired. I left that stick behind twice.

The public squares in this town often feature the work of a single artist, Marc Petit. He appears to work in iron and favors gaunt spectral figures. In the age, old consideration of the question: “what is the nature of art?” I have to say that I don’t know how to think about art except as an expression of the artist’s intent. Did the artist express themselves well? Did they achieve what they intended? I suppose only the artist can answer that question. As the viewer of the work, I can tell you my response to it is that I find it a bit cold and alienating. Emily has probably thought more about this than me. I’d really want to know what she thinks.

La cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Cahors is an unusual mix of architectures. It’s a series of domes sitting on ribbed vaults. It reminds me of a church we saw in Sicily (maybe the Chirch of San Caaldo in Palermo?). Maybe SUSAN has a better recollection…

Another odd thing about the church. The altar is facing east as would’ve been traditional in the old days, but the tympanum (usually an ornate carving in an arch over the main door) is on the north west side, kind of at a 90° angle to the main altar. These carvings survived because they were covered by a porch or some other structure. They were rediscovered in the 1800s and are well preserved as a result of their accidental protection.

The west entrance directly opposite the altar (underneath the choir and the major Rose window) is no longer in use. The carvings over the unused entrance were probably victims of the war of religion.Baca lagi