Date of visit: May 5 and 6, 2012 (overnight)
Le Puy-en-Velay, the town where we stayed during the tour of beautiful villages, is known as one of the starting points of the pilgrimage route of the “Pilgrimage Route of Santiago de Compostela in France”, which is also recognized as a World Heritage Site.
The Booking.com app has made it easier to find a hotel in the area, but it’s still easier to find a hotel in a big, well-known town than in the countryside.
So we took a hotel in this city which seemed to be the biggest around the sightseeing on the 5th.
It was late at night when I arrived and it was raining, so I couldn’t explore the city much.
This is also a very nice and French-like town…
We also went to the cathedral on the hill.
In front of the cathedral, there were several groups of people who were going to start walking to Santiago de Compostela. It was very impressive that they were praying in a circle until the cathedral.
The cathedral is on a hill, and here is the view from such a cathedral.
Inside the sacred cathedral, it was cooler and less crowded than I expected.
And one of the most impressive places in the city is Saint Michel d’Aiguilhe.
I thought that the real thing was smaller than I saw in the photograph. Still, it has a mysterious appearance.
It wasn’t a very big city, but it was such a wonderful city that I felt very refreshed.
Now, the “Pilgrimage Route of Santiago de Compostela in France” that I mentioned earlier, I had actually visited several roads and towns designated as part of that route through my tour of beautiful villages.
Based on Wikipedia information, here are the places I’ve visited so far.
オーヴェルニュ地域圏
- クレルモン＝フェラン : ノートルダム＝デュ＝ポール教会 (église Notre-Dame-du-Port)
- ル・ピュイ＝アン＝ヴレ : 大聖堂、サン＝ジャック施療院 (Hôtel-Dieu Saint-Jacques)
ブルゴーニュ地域圏
- ヴェズレー : サント＝マドレーヌ大聖堂
サントル地域圏
- ブールジュ : サン＝テチエンヌ大聖堂
ミディ＝ピレネー地域圏
- コンク : サント＝フォワ修道院付属教会 (abbatiale Sainte-Foy)、ドゥルドゥー川に架かる橋 (pont sur Dourdou)
- エスパリオン : ポン＝ヴィュー (Pont-Vieux)
- エスタン (fr:Estaing_(Aveyron)) : ロット川に架かる橋 (pont sur le Lot)
- ロカマドゥール (fr:Rocamadour) : サン＝ソヴール教会 (église Saint-Sauveur)、サン＝タマドゥール地下礼拝堂 (crypte Saint-Amadour)
プロヴァンス＝アルプ＝コート・ダジュール地域圏
- アルル
ミディ＝ピレネー地域圏
- サン＝コーム＝ドルト (fr:Saint-Côme-d’Olt) – エスタン (fr:Estaing) 間の17 km
The “17 km between Saint-Come-d’Olt and Estaing” is certainly one of the most impressive.
こちらは村の外からの景色がとっても美しかったSaint-Come-d’Olt（サン・コーム・ドルト）。フランスの最も美しい村にも選ばれています。
この村から「エスパリオン」という街を通過して辿り着くのが、同じく美しい村の一つEstaing（エスタン）。
It is a memorable village that I have visited twice due to wrong roads.
This area of France is difficult to visit only by car because there is almost no public transportation, but it is a wonderful area dotted with many towns and villages with a real sense of medieval history. You will want to visit again and again.
In the meantime, I’m going to try to conquer the places registered in the “Pilgrimage route of Santiago de Compostela in France”.
やっぱりまだまだフランスの旅は続く予感。
