Author: Thom

The cathedral in Le Puy-en-Velay has several striking statues, but this is perhaps my favourite. It was only the first of many statues of Saint Jeanne d’Arc I would see in France. In some regions, she is in every village church. Date: 17 August 2023Place: Le Puy-en-Velay, Haute-Loire Département, Region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France Maps!

She sits above the cathedral’s high altar, as she has done for more than fifteen hundred years. The original Black Virgin of Le Puy, carved of ebony and thought variously to date back to anywhere between the third and sixth centuries, was looted and then burned by the revolutionaries in 1794. As it was burning, a hidden drawer popped open […]

Okay, technically he’s known as Saint Jacques in France. This statue faces the cathedral’s apse, and so greets the pilgrim as they come into the church from the side entrance. There’s a lovely little sign near it in French and English inviting visitors to write their prayer petitions on small pieces of paper provided, and pilgrims will carry their petitions […]

The main entrance to Le Puy Cathedral is actually a little tricky to find from the seminary as there are a lot of connected buildings in the way. Fortunately, there’s this door – the first one they actually open in the morning. It’s at the end of short winding street and perhaps a two minute walk from the seminary. If […]

I started my exploration of Le Puy at just after 6:30 in the morning. This is the view from just in front of the old seminary where I was staying. In fact, that bit with the green door on the left is part of the seminary building. The street through the archway leads (eventually) down the steep hill to the […]

By the time I arrived in Le Puy, it was dark. I was staying for two nights in the old seminary there, down the street from the cathedral. Fortunately, a very kind hostess responded to my desperate email from the train and remained at her post until I arrived. The next morning, I stumbled downstairs to the common room for […]

After catching the last train in Lyon, I had to change trains in the town of Saint-Étienne, a place big enough that it had several different train stops. I was a little nervous that I had gotten off at the wrong stop, until the platform started filling up with folks with backpacks. We are waiting for the train to Le […]

I finally arrived in Lyon sometime after 5:30pm local time, or about four hours after my train left. I had managed to book another train seat, and here is the sign at the airport train station. The photo is a little crooked because I took it on the go as I was jogging to catch the train. And to be […]

Before I left, Francine asked me to take a selfie each day. I won’t be posting most of them, but this one was taken shortly after I sprinted across Heathrow airport in my attempt to make my connecting flight to Lyon, France. Imagine me sprinting across the airport wearing my full Camino pack. Anyway, I missed the flight by seconds […]

Today being the feast of Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist, my Confirmation Saint and the brother of Saint James – Santiago – it seems apropos to begin this new series of the Camino Photo of the Day today. My 2023 pilgrimage began in our parish church of Saint Patrick, with the ancient pilgrims’ blessing bestowed on me by my pastor, […]