Chemin de Croix

Good Friday is marked in Fontainebleau by the Chemin de Croix, starting at 6 pm from the gardens of the chateau. It then follows a route through town, stopping to mark the stations of the cross with bible readings and prayer, then singing as you move onto the next stop. Last year it rained quite steadily, and we finished up quite soaked. This morning it looked as though it would be the same, but about mid-afternoon it started to clear somewhat, and Roger called me as he was leaving work (strangely, Good Friday is not a holiday in France) to see if I wanted to go. So as soon as he got home we set off. The walk lasted almost two hours, and ended at the war memorial on the edge of town, where my blip was taken - the light was fading by this point, but I thought it made quite an effective shot with the shadow cast across the list of names. As we walked, you would quite often see people opening the windows of their apartments and looking down onto the street to see where the talking and singing was coming from. It was easier to follow the singing this year, probably partly because we did it last year, but it was also easier to focus since I wasn't trying to juggle an umbrella too! Usually our church would have an evening service, but we weren't able to have the use of the chapel this year - we use the chapel of a Catholic school for our Sunday services - so this was a great and meaningful way to mark the day.