How to spend a day in Le Puy-en-Velay, Haute-Loire, France

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.

View from Rocher Saint-Michel d’Aiguilhe
View from Rocher Saint-Michel d’Aiguilhe

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.

Le Puy-en-Velay market
Le Puy-en-Velay market

You can guess which stall was my daughter’s favourite though……

The best thing about Le Puy market!
The best thing about Le Puy market!

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.

Steps to the Cathédrale Notre Dame du Puy
Steps to the Cathédrale Notre Dame du Puy

The striped facade makes for an impressive entrance but I found the inside pretty austere.

Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Le Puy-en-Velay
Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Le Puy-en-Velay

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.

Statue Notre-Dame de France, Le Puy-en-Velay
Statue Notre-Dame de France, Le Puy-en-Velay

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.

View from Statue Notre-Dame de France
View from Statue Notre-Dame de France

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.

Steps down from statue of Notre-Dame, Le Puy
Steps down from statue of Notre-Dame, Le Puy

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.

Chapelle Saint-Michel, Le Puy-en-Velay
Chapelle Saint-Michel, Le Puy-en-Velay

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.

Rest stop in Le Puy
Rest stop in Le Puy

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.

Inside the Chapelle Saint-Michel D'Aiguilhe
Inside the Chapelle Saint-Michel D’Aiguilhe

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.

Just married
Just married

We had a great day out in Le Puy and definitely recommend a visit, just remember to wear a good pair of walking shoes!

19 thoughts on “How to spend a day in Le Puy-en-Velay, Haute-Loire, France”

  1. 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

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