In Conques, Paul Guillerault guides art lovers

“The best visits are not those where you explain, but those that take place like a great discussion”, says Paul Guillerault while drinking tea in one of the few open bars in Conques (Aveyron). It is only 9 o’clock, visitors have not yet begun to tread the cobblestones of the alleys, attracted by the majesty of the Sainte-Foy abbey and its unusual tympanum.

This is where Paul “works”. For 15 days, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. – “times set according to the masses” – he shows tourists, pilgrims and hikers passing through the sanctuary. An eclectic public, much more varied than that, rather family, of the church of Saint-Nectaire, in Puy-de-Dôme, where he exercised last year.

What drives this 23-year-old young man, a student at the Ecole du Louvre in Paris, to give 15 days of his time to help people discover this marvelous site? “The meeting with people who had not planned to follow a guided tour and with whom a real dialogue is established. »

The pleasure of meeting

Without having a professional guide card, Paul organizes these visits to Conques with three other young people, all members of a host community in the artistic sites (Casa). Visits that do not compete with those of the tourist office. “With us, it’s more of a welcome. Besides, we don’t go to people; we expect them to come to us. Seeing us like that at the entrance to the building, some people think we’re from the police! », he laughs.

The fact remains that the four young people have nevertheless received training to reveal to visitors the secrets of this Romanesque treasure. “You have to be able to answer their questions! » At the beginning of the summer, the future Casa guides who were going to work in one of the 15 exceptional sites offering this type of welcome in France were brought together for a weekend. On the program: discovery of the basics of architecture, identification of biblical scenes and characters, learning to speak in public. “And, above all, learn to know how to show without imposing! », says Paul.

This particular conception of the guided tour was wanted by Father Alain Ponsar (1917-2012), then parish priest of Saint-Séverin, in Paris, who created the first Casa in 1967. Tired of seeing visitors wandering in churches without understand the language of sculptures and paintings, he had the idea of ​​training young guides capable of helping them discover Christian monuments in their historical, artistic and spiritual dimensions.

Paul and his visitors of the day in the Sainte-Foy de Conque abbey.

• JULIEN COQUENTIN/HANS LUCAS FOR LIFE

Tailor-made visits

To complete their training, Paul and his colleagues received abundant documentation and spent a lot of time with the Premonstratensians who manage the sanctuary. These enthusiasts fed them stories and legends to support their visits. “People love to be told anecdotes, to be told about relics that have been stolen, hidden, found…”, acknowledges Paul.

Visitors are starting to arrive. Leaning against a pillar, he discreetly waits for someone to approach. “Yesterday I received a group of Korean Christians who had little time. We had to make the visit at a run, but they were very happy, in particular, with the explanation of Christ holding out his hands during the Last Judgment. » No visit is like another, each person has their own expectations. “I assume that people do not necessarily know the biblical episodes represented, but some people sometimes cut me off by telling me that they already know. So we’re talking about something else…”

A couple walk past Paul and read the badge hanging from his neck: “Volunteer guide. » « We would like to discover the interior of the abbey, we attended yesterday by chance an explanation of the eardrum, by a brother. Without him, we wouldn’t have understood anything.” said Hubert Hegy, a retired photographer.

With his wife, Madeleine, they returned to see the famous stained glass windows by Pierre Soulages at sunset. A controversial work in its time, admired today. The discussion ensues. They are the ones who explain to Paul the artist’s technique for revealing light, recount the hundreds of trials intended to obtain a translucent stained glass window which, from lauds until evening, will offer an infinite variety of shades, from soothing neutral bewitching orange.

In the heart of the village, the abbey, a masterpiece of Romanesque art, contains treasures: the stained glass windows by Pierre Soulages and the reliquary statue of Saint Foy.

• JULIEN COQUENTIN/HANS LUCAS FOR LIFE

“That’s what I needed”

The trio wanders around, chatting and laughing. “Look at the momentum of the lead lines of the stained glass windows, their layout has been designed to invite us to raise our eyes ever higher”, emphasizes Paul. Then he recounts the martyrdom of Saint Foy, this young Agenoise who died at the age of 13, burned and beheaded for having refused to renounce her Christian faith, and whose bones, after many adventures, ended up in Conques, in a statue reliquary.

“We came to pray to her to recover her sight or to have children. The Countess of Toulouse would have had two after having collected herself in front of her relic. All these miracles are a marketing stunt! » The word makes Hubert smile. However, it is this narrative constructed from scratch – “since, in reality, we know very little about Sainte Foy” – which founded the notoriety of the abbey.

They continue towards the choir, surrounded by railings: “They would have been forged with the chains of prisoners freed after praying to the saint. » They surround works set with precious stones, loot that during the Revolution the women of the village would have protected from the onslaught of the guards.

“They made such a fuss that the guards left!” And when they returned with the intention of taking the treasure, they had already hidden it in barns nearby. » Madeleine listens, interested: “It’s exactly what I needed to complete my culture. » And Hubert concludes: ” Yes it is perfect ! »

To know
Host communities in artistic sites (Casa)
47 rue Servan, Paris (11e).
Such. : 07 49 72 60 01.

In Conques, Paul Guillerault guides art lovers