One of the great advantages of arriving on foot into a city of repute, like the pilgrims of old, is that you have a far greater chance of experiencing ‘the reveal’ than if speeding in along the motorway. You can walk around a corner or get to the top of a piece of ground, previously obscuring your vision, and then – baam! – right before your eyes, there it is: what you have been searching for.
So it was that, after taking a few steps around the corner of a brick wall, suddenly laid out before me was the city of Le Puy-en-Velay with, due to the angle of my approach, its three most noteworthy landmarks seemingly bunched together. On the left was the giant statue of the Virgin Mary holding the Christ Child, precociously raising his right hand to bless the city – and the world. To the right, the Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-l’Annonciation du Puy. Between them, the arresting Chapel of St Michel precariously perched atop the steep remains of a volcanic chimney.
