Gio enjoyed his first ever flight and we were all suitably impressed by the S.N.C.F. trains, which whisked us from Lyon to Le Puy with great efficiency. We got to go upstairs in the train which gave us wonderful views over the River Loire which we followed for most of the journey.
Once in Le Puy, as we were going to spend the whole of the next day there, to allow a minder's foot to recover, we decided to treat ourselves to a cheap hotel so we could relax and have an undisturbed night's sleep.
As a result we were suitably refreshed and up for an exploration of Le Puy the next day. The French bread with choc hazlenut spread & honey we had for breks definitely put a spring in our step. The town of Le Puy is steeped in history and there is an extensive old town of cobbled streets and ancient buildings. We took time just to sit in the sun and soak up the atmosphere which was rich with centuries of history.
In the afternoon we did one of the two main tourist attractions of Le Puy. We passed on a walk out to a statue of the Virgin Mary perched atop a very tall rock pinacle as we didn't think it was worth the €3 entrance fee. But we did visit the chapel of Saint Michael of Aiguilhe which squeezes onto a small platform on top of the huge protrusion of volcanic rock for which Le Puy is famous.
We moved out of our hotel into a fairly posh private gite which was great when there were only us in the room, but when 3 non English speakers joined us it wasn't quite so nice. At least no-one snored though.
We did feel a tiny bit sorry for our fellow room mates when we no doubt woke them at 6.15 a.m. when we got up to attend the 7.00 a.m. Pilgrim mass & blessing at the cathedral. We were suprised just how many other pilgrims were also starting their walk today. We reckon at least a hundred although as far as we could see, we were the only bears present. At the end when all the pilgrims told the priest who they were and how far they are going, we discovered we are the only English, and only 2 other groups were going as far as us - all the way to Santiago.
We did our first day's walk today at quite a lick as we hadn't booked any accommodation, but most of the French had. We couldn't believe that there could be enough beds for all the walkers we'd seen. We knew we'd find somewhere, but it was our minders we were worried about.
We went slow enough to enjoy the walk and take in the scenery , but fast enough to arrive at St Privat d'Allier at about 3.00 p.m. As it happened this was before most of the accommodation opened at 4.00 p.m. This actually worked in our favour as our minders decided a bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush and checked into the local hotel where we once again have our own room and private facilities - yippee! What's more we even have a hair drier which is great for drying the laundry.
Don't worry, we haven't lost our financial acumen, it's more to do with the offers available in France, which throw in an evening meal for very little and when there are 2+ of you the differentials are not huge.
How good the meal is we'll tell you next time, as we'll be trying it once we've finished our beers.
Love from the Camino Bears xxx
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