It has taken a while to write but this is my final post about our holiday in the Haute-Loire region of central France. I’ve already reviewed our CosyCamp lodgings and written a round up of things to do in the Haute-Loire but felt the town of Le Puy deserved a post of its own.
Le Puy-en-Velay is the most popular tourist destination in the Haute-Loire; it’s enjoyably busy rather than overrun with visitors. The town is famous for lace, Le Puy lentils and its rather unique geography. Situated in a caldera the main tourist sites sit atop volcanic plugs and tower over the surrounding streets. So what did we see?
Le Puy-en-Velay market
We visited on Saturday which is market day. The produce stalls were full of cheeses to sample, giant bulbs of garlic, weird and wonderful mushrooms as well as fresh fruit and vegetables. There was even a stall selling live rabbits and chickens. I assumed these were for the pot but a young girl appeared to be buying one as a pet so perhaps not.
You can guess which stall was my daughter’s favourite though……
Cathédrale Notre Dame du Puy
After the market we tackled our first steps of the day and walked up to the Roman Catholic cathedral. Le Puy is the starting point for the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compestela and pilgrims gather at the cathedral each morning to be blessed.
The striped facade makes for an impressive entrance but I found the inside pretty austere.
Statue of Notre-Dame de France
From the cathedral it’s a 10 minute walk, up more steps, to the statue of Notre-Dame de France. This pink statue has an impressive history; it was built from melted down cannons seized during the Siege of Sevastapol.
You can walk up a spiral staircase inside the statue and peek out through the top. The final part is up a narrow ladder. Be prepared to queue as only one person can go up and down at a time.
Even if you don’t fancy climbing inside the statue there are impressive views from the surrounding grounds. You can look down over the terracotta rooftops and across to the cathedral.
Rocher et chapelle Saint-Michel D’Aiguilhe
Our final visit of the day was to the chapel of St Michel. This was built over 1000 years ago when men thought it was possible to get closer to gods by putting places of worship on top of rocks. For modern day visitors this means yet more steps, 268 to be exact, which wind up around the rock.
My son decided he’d had enough walking at this point, fortunately there are several benches to sit and rest on as you climb the rock.
It’s definitely worth making the effort as there are yet more great views and an atmospheric chapel to explore on the summit. Inside we found stone arches, ceilings adorned with frescoes and stained glass windows.
If you have walking difficulties or young children you’ll find it hard to negotiate all the steps. An alternative option is to make use of Le Petit Train, a tourist train which takes you on a 45 minute circuit of the major sights.
As we headed back into town, past the tourist lace shops, we came across a wedding party in the Place du Clauzel. There were some impressive ‘Just Married’ decorations on the back of the wedding car.
We had a great day out in Le Puy and definitely recommend a visit, just remember to wear a good pair of walking shoes!
Lovely post…this place looks amazing. Great photography too and I think you really captured some gorgeous shots of the area!
Stopping by from the mad week blog hop! x
Thanks Laura, it was a photogenic town although the weather didn’t always behave.
Wow it looks fabulous with some gems tucked away up spiraly streets. I would love to wander around there I think!
Thanks. I agree, half the time I prefer random wandering to actually seeing tourist sites.
Looks such a lovely place!! Ive only ever been to Paris in France 🙂
Lianne | TheBrunetteSays…
It was, thanks Lianne.
What a beautiful place – and the market looks fab. Sounds like a great place for a holiday. 🙂 #MMWBH
Thank you, yes the market was pretty amazing.
Wow looks amazing. I would love to go there. YOur photos are fantastic. Definitely captured some beauty spots there. Sounds like a good vacation place. Thanks for linking up to Share With Me #sharewithme
Thanks Jenny. It was a fab town, lots to see in quite a small area.
What a pretty town and loving the just married decor on the car.
I agree Debra, we loved the Just Married figures were great too. Never seen anything like this before.
What a beautiful place and illustrated with such stunning pictures. Wander Mum will definitely have to pay it a visit – thanks for sharing. #pocolo x
Thanks Elizabeth. If you get a chance I’d definitely recommend it.
What a beautiful place to visit. More areas that I didn’t know from the French countryside. I do love French food too – that biscuit looks amazing! Thank you for linking to PoCoLo 🙂 x
Thank you x I was only allowed one bite but I can confirm it was delicious!
What a lovely glimpse of France…looks like a great place to spend a day exploring, with plenty of pain-au-chocolat refuelling stops of course!
Thank you. We ate pain au chocolat every day, it would be rude not to!
According to family here in the US, this region is our ancestral home. This is where I will visit after the pandemic and restrictions are gone!