We have spent the last 3 days in the lovely town of Le Puy-en-Velay, however to get here , it cost us 88.70 euros in tolls! To save time we decided to drive through the Frejus Tunnel. It is the 13th longest tunnel in the world at 13 kilometres long.

Le Puy-en-Velay is in the heart of the Massif Centrale , an historic town surrounded by hills and conical volcanoes. It is most famous for being the starting point of the main Pilgrimage Path in France which leads to Santiago de Compostela.

We checked into our apartment, about a 10 minute walk from the “main drag”. It was nice and quiet with a lock up garage for Pippo , BUT it was on the 4th floor with NO LIFT or air con!! However it gives us a great view of the town and beautiful sunsets!

We obtained a self guyided walking tour of the city , which was supposed to take 3 hours, for us , by the time we walked , stopped for photos and drinks , it was about 4 and a half, but we saw everything!

The Town Hall stands in the Place de Martouret. It is also known as the Square of the Martyrs because the site was reserved for public execuitions throghout the French revolution. The guillotione stood here permanently from March 30th 1793 to January 1795. 41 “head chops” took place during that time.

Another Square, the Place de Plot, here in 1548, the Council set up a pillory in this square for drunks so passersby could laugh at them! Thank God they aren’t there now as we may have been put in them!

Aiguilhe, The Rock and the Chapel of St Michael is one of the most spectacular attractions of the town. In 950 , a bishop of Puy led the first French Pilgrimage to Santiago Compostello and on his return a chapel dedicated to St Michael was built on the Rock (A volcano!) You can climb up the 268 steps carved into the rock to reach the chapel but we opted for a view down the bottom….for obvious reasons!

The statue of Notre Dame de France , built in 1860 is 23 metres high and is built from 213 Russian cannons captured during the Crimean war and given to the town by Emperor Napoleon 111. We get a good view of her from our apartment window!

The Cathedral is a UNESCO World Heritage site. We climbed the 134 steps to the foot of the Cathedral and then another 60 steps to enter. We felt it was more stunning from the outside rather than the inside. One interesting part inside was the “Fever Stone” , a piece of flat volcanic stone that is said to have “miraculous healing powers” We were going to have a “little rest” on it but the queue was way to long!

We also the visited The Cloisters which was first built in the 12th Century and extended between 14th and 18th Century. It was reserved for the Cathedral Cannons.

We had to rest at some stage for lunch which we had in the Place de Plot, The Salad and omelette with the carafe of rose gave us some energy to continue our walking.

We continued to wander around the cobble stoned streets with all the glorious old buildings, all different colours.

We went home for a bit of rest before venturing back out for dinner and a spectacular Lumiere Show! Dinner was a Faux Fillet de bouef , Rhonda’s with a blue cheese sauce and Greg’s with a mushroom sauce, accompanied by some veges and house frites. We shared a creme brulee for dessert and it wasn’t too bad at all, although Greg’s critique was not enough vanilla bean!!!!

After dinner we proceeded to walk with the crowds to view the Light Show on the Cathedral, the Town Hall and The Rock. The laser lights were set to music and it was rather spectacular.

It was well past our bed time by the time we got home. We had walked 18,000 steps and 13 kilometres for the day, it’s no wonder Greg’s knees are sore! We have enjoyed our time in this town and tomorrow it is onwards to Clermont Ferrand.

So it’s that time again, time to pack and time for a drink.

A bientot

Greg and Rhonda.

xxx