Au départ du Chemin de St. Jacques

We came down the 750km from La Basse Cour in two easy steps. And we had the caravan with all our needs attached. Unhook, connect up and in ten minutes it's a passable approximation to civilisation. 

In our trips this week we've crossed and recrossed the Chemin de St. Jacques, or the pilgrim route to Santiago de Compestella. The pilgrims in the Middle Ages faced a tough time, no decent roads, bad weather, thieves and two huge natural obstacles; the Pyrenees and the Mountains of the Auvergne and, where we are staying, the Aubrac plateau.

There isn't a single Chemin, rather a network of routes that come together in places. Along the way towns, monestries and cathedrals competed to attract pilgrims. We visited Conques, a film-set perfect medieval village around the Benedictine Abbey Church where the remains of Sainte Foy, martyred in the seventh century, were venerated and attracted many pilgrims. Actually the remains were stolen in the tenth century from the cathedral at Agen by a monk and brought to Conques - literal Medieval Skullduggery.

One of the major recognised starting points of the Chemin is at Le Puy en Velay. Le Puy has two main claims to fame; the venerated statue of the black Virgin that brought tens of thousands of pilgrims to Le Puy to begin their pilgrimage and Puy lentils - the slightly upmarket green lentils. Of course, this being France, lentils have an AOC label just like wine certifying their place of production and hence their ability to be sold as Puy lentils. 

According to the Michelin guide Le Puy occupies a remarkable site whilst the Rough Guide says it sits on the upper River Loire in a natural bowl. The geology is interesting and has left three prominent tall volcanic plugs in the bowl, these are now the sites of the famous Chapelle de St. Michel d'Aiguilhe

And the statue of Notre Dame de France overlooking the cathedral:

I'm with the Michelin Guide, Le Puy en Velay is a remarkable site.

Actually things are not quite as they might seem in Le Puy. During the revolution the statue of the Black Virgin was desecrated by revolutionaries and was actually found to be a remodelled statue of Isis from the Roman occupation of the area. And the statue of Notre Dame was cast from 213 cannons captured at the battle of Sebastopol.