Day 1 Paris - Le Puy (21st August 2006)

Left Gare de Lyon in Paris by train to Brioude and then bus to Le Puy en Velay for the start.

The uncertainties and anxieties of venture and adventure are a familiar feeling.

Finally arrived in Le Puy around 4 PM and headed straight for the tourist office. As in other places in France they don`t seem to be all that happy to help you when you mention `Le Chemin St Jacques de Compostelle`, despite the fact that 23 000 people went along the route in 2005.

Le Puy is a breathtakingly beautiful medieval town built on volcanic rock. The main spectacles are two huge statues of the Virgin Mary and St. Christopher that are mounted on two high volcanic hills and face each other from two ends of the town. The cathedral is also magnificant in its Romanesque and Gothic design. Visiting either statue incurs a fee so i take a few pics instead and search for the pilgrim credential document (`Creanciale`),which will be stamped at each stage to authenticate my pilgrimage.

I team up with a young German named Rene and we are able to get a room at a hostel `gite` called St. Francois which is located near the Cathedral. With a smuttering of French i discover that the cuisine for dinner is entirely vegetarian and features lentils, a specialty of Le Puy. I excuse myself from this by pointing to my carnivores, which seems to disturb the nuns, so Rene and I settle for a nearby cafe selling cheap but good food.

The gite overlooks the town and i sleep soundly despite the loud snoring all around me in the dormitory.

My smile meter is at 8/10