Mark K and I started the day with pain au chocolat (chocolate croissants). Mark D misunderstood the breakfast options explained the night before, and ended up with a plain croissant – a rookie mistake.
We walked to the old train station through old Lyon, avoiding the many runners participating in a race that zig-zagged through narrow streets and along the Rhone River. Today’s 2.5 hour train ride climbed steadily through the Loire River valley to the town of Le Puy En Velay, the starting point of our Chemin. In France the common name for a Camino is “Le Chemin de Compostelle du le Puy.” While in France, we will be greeting other pilgrims by saying, “Bon Chemin.”
Le Puy is a picturesque town of 20000, stretching across a valley and climbing the ancient volcanic stacks within its limits. Stacks are the lava that hardened within a volcano opening, remaining while the softer volcano rock has long since eroded away. Notre Dame Cathedral sits atop one of the stacks. A small chapel sits on another. Old town surrounds the cathedral which is built on the site of a previous Roman Temple. The only thing reaching higher than the cathedral is the Notre Dame de France statue, a relatively new version of The Black Virgin (Mary), cast from Russian cannons confiscated by Napoleon to replace the original silver statue destroyed during the French Revolution.
We are staying two nights at Accueil Saint Francois, an old convent beside the cathedral, just below the statue of Mary. The building has grown through the centuries but its origins would have been in the 12th century. Doorways are low, hallways narrow, most staircases are curved, and it is easy to get lost. It is quiet though and the views are stunning.