Le Puy-en-Velay to Montbonnet

Today started with the 7am pilgrim mass at the Cathedral, and we estimated there were about 100 pilgrims there. Although it was in French, we were glad we went, and found the whole thing quite touching. At the end the priest called everyone up to the front, and we were all asked what country we were from. One of the nuns recorded the number of pilgrims from each country. Following that we were given a blessing and then a big iron grate opened up in the floor and the stairway down to the street appeared. Felt like a good way to begin the walk.

Before I go any further, we wanted to talk about a bizarre insect we saw in Le Puy yesterday. It was feeding from some flowers while hovering, and at first we thought it was a tiny hummingbird, but it didn't have a bill and had some antennas coming out of its head, plus it was only about an inch long, so was much too small for a hummingbird. We both got some photos and videos of it, and after doing some internet research, found out that it's a "Hummingbird Hawk Moth". Here is a photo:

Hummingbird Hawk Moth

 

Also, I meant to attach a photo of the Virgin Mary statue that we climbed in Le Puy, so here it is:

 

Today's walk was quite pleasant, definitely some uphill sections, but not as challenging as I expected, and there was a fair amount of level ground too. There were a lot of people on the trail, and we all ended up congregating in one little town to sit around the main square and eat our lunch. No cafés were in evidence - certainly nothing was open there, but we had been warned about closures on Mondays, so had picked up a few things in Le Puy to tide us over. As we were approaching Montbonnet, I was amazed to see a nice new WC on the side of the road, specifically for pilgrims. The Camino Frances could sure use some of those!

Pilgrim WC

 

We are staying at the Gite d'etape La Grange-Bar Le Saint-Jacques, and are looking forward to the communal dinner tonight. The place is full, so it should be lively! Not sure how much of it we will understand, as it seems to be all French people, but should be interesting. Our room has two beds on the main floor and two more up in a loft, with a shared bathroom. This place is very spacious and new, and has a nice big great room where meals are served, and people can relax on couches, etc and admire the view out the large windows. A bonus is that breakfast is served at 7am, so we won't be getting a late start tomorrow.

We have a short walk again tomorrow, but there are some interesting downhill sections, so I expect it will be slow going. Nice to know we have a reservation so don't need to hurry.

Au revoir til next time!

 

Pilgrims on the trail out of Le Puy

 

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