Haute Loire (43) and Puy-de-Dôme (53)

Le Monastier-sur-Gazeille is known by hikers as the "Chemin de Stevenson" (GR70) starts here. I hiked that track, following Stevenson´s book "Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes" some years ago. Le Monastier-sur-Gazeille is known by musicians as this is the place of the "Festival du Monastier" (aka "Festival de Cuivres"), a great meeting centered around "brass". 40 concerts - in 7 days!! Seen in the center is the Romanesque church and (behind the church) the castle. Both are built fromblack vulcanic rocks.

On a capitel, left to the entrance of the former abbey-church Saint Chaffre du Monastier-sur-Gazeille is this delicate, skinny, melancholic looking mermaid. A type typical for the romanesque churches in the Auvergne.

.. found the commemorative plaque. Here Robert Louis Stevenson and his donkey Modestine started 22. September 1878. Well, let´s say, here they left Monastier-sur-Gazeille and walked down into the valley of the Gazeille. Today it marks (as well) the entrance to the parking lot of a little supermarket.

The facade of the former abbey-church Saint Chaffre du Monastier-sur-Gazeille. Due to a misinterpretation of the "balisage" (on that rainwater pipe) it took me an hour or so, to find the point, where Stevenson started together with his donkey Modestine in 1878. It was only about 200m away.

...looking at the hills of Le Puy, walking a bad slippery track, next to the noisy road. Meanwhile in pouring rain again.....

...sunshine after the rain on the marketplace...

...old cloister of the cathedral. The 19th century gigantic virgin on the peak in the back.

..reached Le Puy en Velay in the late afternoon. The Virgin on the left - the immense cathedral on the right. Noticed some snow in the mountains in the background...

Not only Le Puy en Velay has a Virgin, towering over the town! The small village of Cheylard-l'Évêque has one as well.

The cloister next to the cathedral "Notre-Dame du Puy" was constructed within the 12th century, influenced by the moorish architecture. IN the mid of the 19th century, the cathedral and the cloister got renovated and in some parts reconstructed, this is still today well disputed. The mermaid was widely used symbol, mostly connected to human vanity and sexual lust. Here is a siren with one tail, many old ones have two tails. On the left you see the black vulcanic stone, that is typical for the Velay-area.

...home away from home. Dinner was served in the spacious garden...

......the sofar highest point with 1276 meters - and had great views. Upto here the mountains were granite - but in front now was a former volcanic basin. The mountains were rounded. Some looked a bit like sugar-cones.....

...the most incredible piece in that church "Saint-Julien" was the cryptic baptistery. Probably way older than the church itself. Maybe dating back to the 9th century...

.....the steeple of the church was like a tower of a castle. Not elegant, but strong...

.... found with the help of my little torchlight this mysterious head of a bull in the dark church...

..."pouring with rain" would be a nice word for the weather. Horrible....

..... and all what was left from that once well fortified castle was this tower...

... the ruins of the Château de Beaufort. Out of the really great number of châteaus lining the Loire, this is number 2. Number 1 is in Arlempdes, about 5kms upstream.