Date: 4-5th July 2023
Travelled: 80 kms from Saint-Agrรจve to Le Puy-en-Velay
Visited: Le Puy-en-Velay
Stayed: Le Puy Aire CC, โฌ14, N45.04470, E03.89490
Budget: 44 days @ โฌ93 per day
Having driven for 3 hours across the Massif Central yesterday afternoon and a near miss from a lunatic truck driver coming the other way we decided Saint-Agrรจve was enough and found ourselves with the aire to ourselves.
Whilst Saint-Agrรจve is nothing particularly special it still makes for an interesting morning walk and a few interesting photos. You can click any image and a gallery will open.
Breakfast done we service the Hymer and set the GPS for Le Puy-eu-Velay. Itโs only about 60 kms away but we get sent on a 20 kms dรฉviation (detour) around some roadworks. Still an easier drive than yesterdays across the Massif.
We arrive into the aire de CC in Le Puy to find the barrier wonโt lift, a phone call later and someone somewhere presses a button and the barrier lifts and where in.
We knew nothing of Le Puy-eu-Velay until a couple of days ago when we were exploring our 10 year old guide book. It lies within the Massif Central area of France. Itโs a small city of some 40,000 people, best known for its geology and monuments.
The photo above, from the aire looking across the city. The Cathedral on the left and the statue of the Notre Dame of France to the right. Once a highly volcanic area Le Puy has the remains of three volcanic chimneys, the statue of Mary stands on one.
After a week or two of ancient villages Pam enjoys being back amongst the shops.
From the shops we make our way up the hill to the Cathรฉdrale Notre-Dame-du-Puy. The blurb tells us a church has stood here since the 10th century but the current Cathedral only goes back to 1850. Itโs part of the French Camino, it has a pilgrims passage straight into the middle of the nave.
Having purchased a pass for the highlights of Le Puy โฌ16 pp we get access to the catacombs and cloister. The catacombs are the remains of the 10th century chapel which has some amazing murals.
We note the French Priests have taken to the Polo shirt !
So we start the climb to the statue of the Notre Dame. Lots of step and a couple of short breaks and we were rewarded with some fabulous views.
Standing on a rocky outcrop 130 metres above the town below, the statue of the Virgin and its pedestal are 22 metres high. Amazingly cast from the iron of 213 Russian cannons captured after Napoleonโs victory at Sebastopol.
Our pass gives us access to climb inside the statue (climbing inside the virgin sounded a little disturbing) to a small viewing chamber. Given it was caste in 1860 itโs an engineering and artistic marvel in my opinion.
Itโs been a long day and we stop at little bar near the aire for a dry rรณse and a blonde, before calling it a day.
Our mission next morning is to climb and explore the Rock and the Chapel of Saint Michael, pictured above. The Rock is another granite chimney, the remains of a long extinct volcano. Entry is included in our pass purchased yesterday. The Chapel was completed in 962 to celebrate a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela.
The views from the ramparts that surround the chapel are panoramic as you can see. Pictured below the chapel itself is covered in faded murals set into the plaster more than a thousand years ago.
We return to the Hymer a little footsore as it was a long walk involving a couple of hundred stairs, but well worth it. We lunch and R+R for an hour or so before heading back out to explore the Crozatier Museum. To be honest we would not normally visit a museum in a small city like Le Puy but they have a travelling exhibition from the Musee de IโOrangerie in Paris and we love the impressionists.
Entry is free with our pass !
There are quite a few people in the museum but we make our way through all the usual stuff stolen from the Egyptians, the Roman stuff and lots of classic scenes from the old Masters. Nymphs, murder and heads rolling. Then the stuff on lone which is mainly self portraits, all very interesting.
So that was it our two days in Le Puy-eu-Vesay. Very busy but we managed a lot of interesting highlights. Anyway weโll be off in the morning another adventure looming.
Michael + Pam
One thought on “Le Puy-en-Velay, France ๐ซ๐ท 2023”
I think you might be ready for a rest you do pack in a lot great report ๐
Safe travels โค๏ธ Johannes