Le Puy-en-Velay Tuesday

La Puy-en-Velay Tuesday

Thunderstorms and rain during the night! Top temp today of about 15 degrees. Much of our day was spent above 1000 metres. First time in Europe that a jumper was needed.

We found a reference to Bozouls as a place worth visiting, so we went there. We drove into a modern village and wondered what we were doing there. We thought we might as well get out of the car and go for a walk. We found tourist info, picked up a map with photos of what we were about to see. Couldn’t believe that only 20 or so metres from where we were, was an amazing sight. The Canyon de Bozouls was totally unexpected. The Dourdou River has eroded to form an amazing canyon, following fault lines in the limestone.

We had coffee at a table right on the edge of the canyon. Great view. Not that you’d be overly interested, but it took 2045 of Rick’s steps for him to walk down to the bottom of the canyon and then up the other side to the old church.

We stopped at Espalian on the way. Walked over the 13^th Century bridge.

We passed a viaduct and drove over another en route through, a number of deep valleys and over the mountains.

Saint Come-d’Olt was next on the route, supposed to be one of the beautiful villages in France. It was neat with nice stone buildings, but apart from the old church and a couple of buildings, there was not much else that appealed as much as many of the old villages we’ve visited.

It was then about 2 ½ hours to drive to the night stop at Le Puy-en-Velay. Le Puy-en-Velay is also listed as a place to visit. So far, it is a big modern town, but we have seen, in the distance, statues on rock outcrops. Will investigate more tomorrow.