Lisa’s sketchbook post about the significance of water ties in with my post today. I can see a pilgrim stopping here, where I’ve stopped to rest, a pilgrim of any era. I can only find a photo of this place I’ve stopped to rest my feet on Walking4Fun. Google Maps doesn’t even seem to go there. What you get, then, is Lisa’s sketches to give you a feel for the place. Don’t miss this one.
One of her newest sketches, highlighting the variety of stonework seen in a single edifice, speaks to a particular fascination of mine, so it is very fun to look at the sketch of L’Eglise Saint Christophe and feel that essence captured. I’m tired, and I’ve stopped to rest at a little circular stone wayside nearby while she sketches this church.
I know I’m not meant to sit here, between these low worn walls where the grass grows between the stones, not meant to ease myself down onto this cool flat slab and put my feet into the water. I know I’m not meant to.
The stone beneath me is hard and cool, rough against the skin behind my knees. It scrapes satisfyingly as I swing my legs. I’m glad to rest my feet- already, they’re hot and tired. Yesterday’s trip up the steps to the cathedral certainly started us off on our journey in a big way. What fun to explore so far above the surrounding countryside. Now we’re out of the larger settlement, off the basalt peak, and walking down gravel roads. We’ve only gone about five miles so far and I’m ready for a rest! Maybe this beautiful sculpture? shrine?fountain? is calling to me to pay homage to the sacred water.
I need to sit here just a bit longer. Then I’ll pull my feet from the crystal water, finish drying them and struggle back into socks and shoes. I’ll make a circuit, one time around this creation. I’ll put my hand on the shoulder of this figure perched near the front, feeling the sculpted stone against my hand, gazing at the hard strands of net beneath his feet. I’ll graze my fingers along the curving top of this little wall to touch the other figure kneeling against the rocks, to pause. Just for one moment more.
Ready now? I shoulder my pack and we move on.
The Best of It 
Oh my, so very peaceful and lovely. Thanks for the balm, my friend.