A day in Le Puy

It has been lovely to loll around in Le Puy today, taking it in and allowing ourselves to be taken further in to its life.

After a leisurely breakfast in our little pension, 'Une Coquille sous l'Oreiller' (a shell under the pillow), we climbed the 260 steps to the chapel of St Michel. Built in the 10th century by the bishop of Le Puy in thanksgiving for his pilgrimage to Santiago, the chapel is perched high on a basalt tor on the edge of the old town. There it is in the background of this photo.

And here's a few of the steps!

 It is a most amazing space - intimate and deeply contemplative.

The small windows are beautiful, each one a slightly different combination of colours. We thought of Kaleidoscope and Bron, of your glass work...

The ceiling is covered with fading frescos. We sat under this one and received a pilgrim blessing as many others will have done over the centuries.

The copper statue of St Michael is notable for the way the dragon he's slain has kind of morphed into a boat that carries him - some mature non-dualistic theology here.

We spent time inside, and then outside in the narrow surrounding walkway looking out at the city. And then in the early evening we returned for a concert of medieval music produced by a small group of local musicians - an early birthday celebration for Sarah. The production began at the chapel of St Clare down below and we processed up into St Michel in stages with readings, drums and music along the way. It was pretty special and required a sort of hardy concert goer to navigate the stairs as part of one's attendance. Luckily we'd been in training for six weeks!!!

The forested area in the middle background of this photo is the garden we walked through on our way in yesterday.

Following our morning in the chapel we wandered down town to meet up with Annie and Gerald, Neil's  folks, who had just arrived from their travels around France and Italy. It was so good to catch up and share lunch with them both, our first get together since May. In the evening we were joined by Pauline and David, Neil's aunt and uncle, who have also been holidaying in France in their camper van. So we have had family to celebrate with today - what a treat.

In the afternoon, we walked into the oldest part of town, whose narrow winding lanes and small houses are still very much lived in. As we stood gazing around us at one corner, a nun emerged from a gate below and greeted us. She asked about our visit to Le Puy, we shared our story of pilgrimage and about Benedictus, and she offered to show us inside her convent just next door. So in we went, and she showed us some of the oldest parts of their building - the 17th century refectory complete with the sublime calligraphy painted on the walls and raised 'pulpit' built into the wall from which the reading during meals takes place; the kitchen with its enormous fireplace; and then down an even older stone staircase to a well from which the sisters had drawn water for centuries. According to legend, it was dug after the founder of the convent, St Colette, had prayed that her sisters might have access to water within the walls of their house! Our friendly nun was from a group of apostolic sisters who had moved into the convent only last year - they too had begun using the water from the old well, until they'd had it tested and been advised to desist immediately. We suggested that further prayer for fresher water might be in order! It was such a privilege to see 'inside' this part of the life of Le Puy, a hidden world that few get to see. 

To close today, we'll leave you with a few street scenes, mainly focussing on the colourful shutters that adorn the old stone buildings.

Le Puy is that great mix of a town that's small enough that you can feel familiar with it, but big and layered enough that you never exhaust its possibilities. Tomorrow we hope to spend some more time at the Cathedral as Sarah celebrates her 50th birthday. We hope to have some more delights from this place to share with you as well.

Blessings

Neil and Sarah