What are they digging for? Clams, mussels or just shells?

Thanks for including the explanatory back story. It's a striking piece.

Noting the ruins of the pillbox. Are there many others in evidence?

And yet poignant too, representing as it does the abrupt early termination of so many young lives, and the corresponding loss of the promise they held.

Yes they do. I’ve also bought warmer cycling gear when I’ve forgotten stuff or need something warmer.

Nice! Decathlon has great shoes, and at reasonable prices, too. I get all my walking shoes there.

You found it! It is amazing, alright. I was really startled when I zoomed in on it.

Holy cow that is amazing! I found it online: Pterophorus pentadactyla, or white plume moth.

And complete with that New Shoe Smell, too!

I love these self-as-part-of-a-scene selfies!

I think it's mostly the dramatic lighting and resulting contrast between the lamp shades and cathedral that put the idea in my head. It probably looked different to you at the scene, and started your mind on a given trajectory if only at an unconscious level.

Well that’s an interesting detail I’ve never heard before. I’ll have to watch for that in the future, especially if I come to another cathedral where most of the saints still have or have recovered their heads. Thanks for that, and for following along!

It was wonderful!

Saint Denis is often shown headless and usually carrying it. I couldn't see that detail on my phone.

Pink Floyd! That hadn’t occurred to me. This is a common theme in Europe that we’ve seen in several other places, often with colorful arrays of umbrellas suspended overhead. I’ve never seen lampshades before though.