We woke up in the middle of the night inside the Abbey of Sainte Foy. The deepest silence surrounds us. Not one little sound. The stone building really gives the silence a sense of quiet and serenity unlike any place else on earth.

The view of the church of sainte Foy through the window gives the whole setting a surreal feeling. We wonder if we are really physically in Conques or just in a dream. We wonder if we would wake up and find ourselves in Florida.

All we can say is every pilgrim will walk. Each day we walk as far as we can. And we stop and take a rest for the night. We walk everyday a bit further. Until finally we get to our destination. We walk through hunger, through the aches and pains. All the challenges and hardships are all part of the pilgrimage. Or part of one’s camino. Or part of one’s life. We can whine about it. We can complain about it. We can endure it and go on or we can give up and go home. Nobody can tell us what to do. Nobody can make us do anything. Nobody can do anything for us. We have to walk it ourself. We have to go on and live our life through all its challenges and hardships, all its ups and downs, with each wrong turn that we make, it’s at time much more painful to backtrack and undo the wrong. Each shortcut we take, thinking it will make life easier, at time it’s not. The surprises you find as well as the miracle that happens to make things work out for you. All are part of our pilgrimage and our life.

The further you walk, the deeper the inner transformation.

Tonight inside the walls of the Abbey of sainte Foy, we can feel the quietness, the calmness and the stillness of the air. It really resonate with us. It is a sense of calmness that we have never felt before. The thick stone wall gives a sense as if time is standing still. You can not hear a thing around you. It is a place where only you exist, the only thing you can hear is your own breathing. The world outside is there but it’s so far away. We are in here, inside these walls, surrounded by an absolute silence that is almost divine.

We feel a sense of calmness that gives our souls a deep sense of peace we have never felt before. It is such a well being feeling. We are trying to find words to describe something so deep we don’t think we are able to do justice to it with our limited ability. All we know is we have found such joy here. This place really resonates with us. This sense of calmness and peacefulness makes us very happy.

We are trying desperately to hold on to this happiness that we have found. Almost fearful that morning would come too fast, that we will have to leave this magical place and move on. Will we ever find such happy feeling again?

We are almost hoping that time would stop so we can just stay in this blissful state for ever.

We think we have found the answer tonight in the Abbey of st Foy, We are trying to capture this moment to somehow come back to it. Though this quiet night is short, as none of us can stop time and morning will come before we know it, We know we are more blessed than many others out there as we have found for ourselves however short the moment is, what it really means to be blissfully floating in the most peaceful and calm place on earth where my soul can be so happy.

We are thankful for this moment. We hope we will remember this for the rest of our lives. This experience is truly priceless.

Many pilgrims go walking and walking day after day until they reach their destination. Then they go home. Then they go back to their normal life. They feel lost. There is no more walking. No more searching. What do they do now?

The truth is they never stop walking. They continue to walk in their higher consciousness.

For us this night, with Ed next to ly, listening to our regular deep breathing, We have found a glimpse of what we are searching for. We like the feeling of it. Our whole being is very happy.

We feel so at peace. Our miracle on the camino Le Puy has been realized this very night in the Abbey of Sainte Foy in Conques.