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France pilgrimage holidays: Heading up to Vezelay (with the odd cafe stop en route)

Brian, an American, was doing it barefoot. Rita and Joan from Worksop had walking sticks.

As for me, I had the handicap of a huge plate of boeuf bourguignon inside my belly, one of the many temptations thrown in my path as I made a pilgrimage to the holy shrine of Vezelay in Burgundy.

In the Middle Ages, the village of Vezelay was one of Europe's most sacred places. In about 1050, local monks claimed they had acquired the miracle-working bones of St Mary Magdalene.

High and mighty: Vezelay has been a pilgrimage sight since the 11th century

Overnight, pilgrims from across Europe flocked here to pray at St Mary's shrine. Vezelay reaped great benefits from the influx: pilgrims brought money – bag-loads of it.

The first great edifice to be constructed was the cavernous Romanesque basilica. Next came the ramparts, towers and machicolated battlements. Finally, as the number of pilgrims increased year on year, locals began opening restaurants, bars and bistros.

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It was one of these bistros that tempted me as I climbed the great hill upon which Vezelay stands. The Vezelien bar-cafe stands at the point at which the main street divides into two. It's as French as a string of onions and serves home-cooking at prices not seen in England for decades.

Little wonder I was not the only pilgrim lingering with a bottle of Chablis before continuing up the hill.

The charm of today's Vezelay lies in its vertiginous ramparts and crumbling monasteries. The stone facades that flank the steep main drag look like the wonky molars of an upturned giant.

As I wandered through the streets, I got the feeling Vezelay is slightly schizophrenic. There are monks and nuns, monasteries and convents everywhere.

But the good things in life are never far away. The many bistros are a reminder that even the pious must eschew Lenten abstinence once in a while.

The hilltop basilica, to which all paths lead, is a vast monument to piety. St Mary's relics are held in a darkened underground crypt hacked from the rock.

Tuck in: The town provides food for stomachs as well as for souls

Vezelay has been witness to some great moments of history. In 1146, St Bernard of Clairvaux preached the Second Crusade here. His war cry electrified the assembled knights and pilgrims: the crowd enlisted en masse.

The village had by then become the principal assembly point for English pilgrims heading to Santiago de Compostela. Strange to think that 1,000 years ago, you'd have heard as much English as French spoken in these streets. And you'd probably have seen lots of barefooted pilgrims, just like Brian.

Except that they wouldn't have been American.

Travel Facts

P&O Ferries (08716 64 64 64, www.poferries.com) has up to 25 daily return Dover-Calais crossings. Oneway fares start at £35 for up to nine passengers.

For further information on Burgundy, visit www.burgundy-tourism.com.


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