26 – Across the courtyard…

To The abbey

We had arrived at the summit of our climb of the Mont on the western platform, an ideal place from which to start the tour of the abbey and interiors of the Merveille. All that remained was to cross the stone courtyard with its strangely marked stone slabs, and to enter the church.  I once again marvelled at the amount of stone that had been transported to the Mont, and raised from its landing place so far below us. How many hours must have been spent in cutting and shaping the rocks, and what toil had so many men contributed to get each to its final place. In no small way the achievement of the buildings on the Mont must be close the accomplishment of the building of the pyramids of Egypt (an analogy I have mentioned before, as aptly as here). I needed to savour each step across these stones, thinking of the many millions who have gone this way before me, from the pilgrims of centuries ago to yesterday’s tourists. To the right stood gables of stone, and around the courtyard stood visitors, predominantly a coach load of the ubiquitous Japanese visitors that one increasingly encounters appreciating Europe. No matter what their language, nationality or faith, one could tell from the visitors’ expressions and actions that they too had just arrived and had yet to visit inside the church. There is something that noticeably changes in each sightseer once they have been through the abbey.