FRANCE : LE PUY-EN-VELAY

A delicious breakfast awaited us this morning in the breakfast room. Christine, our host, is a class act - running a very sophisticated tea shop and her B&B.

Delicious breakfast prepared by Christine

Julie and Bob have accommodation across the square tonight, found by Christine, and we were very surprised by the decor.

Julie and Bob's alternative accommodation

Outside our window there had been much activity since dawn and when we looked down we saw that the local weekly market was being set up. Le Puy is the regional capital and it really showed off its produce today, winding down streets and through all the little squares.

Setting up the market in Place du Plot

 

 

 

We also found a girl, making lace outside of her shop, and she demonstrated how she made all the pieces on display. She said that lace-making was part of the local school curriculum.

Lace making machine making strips of lace

 

All other pieces handmade

  

 

We made our way up the alleyways, following a local tourist information booklet (un circuit pedestre) to the cathedral. Just in our little square, Place du Plot, is a fountain, built in 1246. This square has been the official starting point of pilgrimages for hundreds of years.  In another square nearby, in front of L'Hotel de Ville, is Place du Martouret where the guillotine stood permanently from 1793-5 and where many executions took place.

The Cathedral, Notre-Dame de Puy, is at the top of 134 steps. It has a history dating back to 430 AD - and a list of bishops to prove it. 

Walking up to the cathedral

 It has some interesting relics, including a large 'fever stone', a slab of volcanic rock, which is considered to have miraculous healing power because it comes from Mount Anis, where the Virgin is said to have appeared in Roman times.




The Fever Stone

There is a Black Virgin above the altar. It is a 17th century statue, dressed in the liturgical colours of the altar cloth, and is carried through the streets of the town on the feast of the Assumption.

The Black Virgin crowned by the Bishop of Le Puy on behalf of  Pope Pius 1X in 1856

We were able to collect our Credentials for our walk - this gives us permission to stay at designated accommodation along the way and is proof of our commitment to the pilgrimage when we reach our destination.

From the cathedral, we walked up a volcanic outcrop to the chapel of St Michael. Built in the tenth century, as I mentioned before by Bishop Gothescalc, after leading the first French pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella. We were surprised (and exhausted after climbing the 287 steps) that it was such a small chapel but exquisitely decorated with ancient frescoes.



The rock and chapel of San Michele

 

Inside the chapel

   

 

 

 

On the steps of San Michele

 

 

 Lunch was produce bought at the market in Julie and Bob's new pad!

 

All quiet on Saturday after 2 pm. The market has been disbanded, shops closed and it's looking very grey and bleak. Where shall we eat tonight is our next decision..

At a local restaurant - 'pounti' - spinach and prune concoction!

M&M