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| The town from within the cathedral |
Le
Puy is the préfecture city of the département of Haute-Loire (43). With around 20,000 inhabitants and an area
of just over 6 square miles, it is densely populated, but by UK standards, a
relatively small city. Sitting at an
altitude of between 600 and 890m which is the equivalent of standing at the top
of Esk Pike in the Lake District, the city overlooks the Loire which rises on
Mont Gerbier de Jonc some 50 or 60 kilometres to the south-east.
Today,
we're going to start with the cathedral Notre-Dame du Puy and the rue des
Tables will take you to the foot of the steps leading up. It's a steep climb on cobbles so you will
need your four-wheel drive for feet! Romanesque in style, there has been a church on this spot from as early
as the 10th century, and it has been, and still is, an important site to
pilgrims making their way on foot to Santiago de Compostela at a distance of
1600Km. The church has some beautiful
frescoes and paintings but it also contains a statue referred to as The Black
Virgin. Regrettably, this isn't the
original which was destroyed during the revolution. And before you make your way down into the old town, just check
out the interesting geomorphology of the town.
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| Old Shop fronts |
Famous
for it's lace, since 1974 there has been a centre here in Le Puy to ensure that
the practice of lace-making will never be lost. There are some fabulous examples of old and modern lace in a
number of exhibition rooms and you can find the museum just down from Place des
Tables on rue Raphaël. But
I'm heading elsewhere, to the Tour Panessac which stands opposite the statue of
the Marquis de Lafayette in the centre of boulevard Saint Louis. What little remains of the 14th century
tower was once the royal entrance to the city.
Partially demolished in 1850 to widen the street, this tower has
welcomed Emperor Charlemagne and numerous other French kings making the
pilgrimage to Santiago. The last royal
visit was that of Francis I in 1533. If
you continue along the boulevard, keeping the tower on your left you will be
surprised, I hope, just as I was on my very first visit!
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| Pagès Distillery |
Continue
on the boulevard and past place de Breuil until you come to the old distillery
of Pagès. You can't miss the style and
decoration on the building which is now a museum celebrating the history of
Verveine, a liqueur that is flavoured with verbena and you can try some whilst
you are there. When you leave Pagès, make sure you take rue
de Faurbourg and keeping the museum on your right continue along the street a little until you pass rue Sainte Claire on your left. Then stop and look behind you. There's yet another little surprise
waiting for you!
Those are just a few of my favourite sites in this
wonderful city. Perhaps, with this tiny glimpse of Le Puy, you can
understand why I chose to use it as a location in Merle.
You read more about Le Puy Here
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