5th September 2022

This was our sightseeing day. We headed out and both of us walked up the Rocher Saint-Michel d’Aiguilhe. This chapel was built in 969 on a volcanic plug, 85 metres high. There are steps all the way to the top. Some good carved angels. Swallows were soaring in the breeze around the rock.

Back down, then up again to the cathedral, and down Rue des Tables to have lunch in a cafe, of course we ate Puy Lentils. We had not realized that this town was The Puy Lentil town and had in fact imported some.

We walked back up Rue des Tables to the cathedral. The entrance to the cathedral is up yet more steps. When inside, looking back, the entrance looks like a hole in the floor, descending to the street and back on down the street. The cathedral is a national monument and is a centre of pilgrimage. It forms part of the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela. I then went up the Notre-Dame de France. This is a statue cast out of 213 Russian cannons captured during the Crimean War and given to the town of Le Puy-en-Velay by the Emperor Napoleon III. You can climb up inside the statue and peer out of the top, or through numerous portals on her side. The statue is bolted together from many sections.

Back down on earth, we visited a small supermarket, and then back to the campsite for supper.

After sunset I went out to see some of the son-et-lumiere being displayed in the city. Various stories were being told by projecting images onto the buildings or volcanic plugs. I did not manage to see them all, there were 9 in total scattered around the city.

• Le Rocher Saint-Michel D’Aiguilhe – A story of the creation of the volcano, then the church.
• La Chapelle Saint Alexis – A music festival
• La Cathedrale Notre-Dame – The history
• Place Du Plot – Products of the Land
• La Mairie – The colours of France

Puy de Lumieres – Video of five sites