Imagine yourself standing around on the front porch of the cathedral at Le Puy-en-Velay. It's early March, and the weather is nice but fairly cold. You're waiting for somebody (Walt, in my case) to come back out of the cathedral after having a look around inside — you've already been inside yourself and had your look around. Why couldn't the two of you go inside together? Because one of you has to stay outside with the dog, that's why. So you take turns. You are just standing around and taking in the views of the church and the city.
City is a big word for a place with a population of less that 20,000. It's more a big town, but it's the biggest town in its département (county). And it definitely feels like a city. The first two pictures in this slideshow show another one of Le Puy's big monuments — it's a gigantic statue of saint Joseph that stands on top of a church in the neighboring commune (village or town) of Espaly. In the first image, the big white statue is off in the distance. In the second, it's a full-zoom shot. There are 20 photos in this slideshow. I slipped in a few that weren't actually taken from the front porch. The running time is only 1m15s.
Fortunately, when I went to Le Puy, decades ago, I didn't know anything about those monstrosities in Espaly, whether it is the statue of Saint Joseph or the church-fortress, and vice versa, it would have ruined my visit!
ReplyDeleteDoesn't take much to ruin your good times, does it... LOL
DeleteThese statues, as that goes for N.-D. de France too, should be replaced by wind turbines, no less ugly and no more ruining the landscape than the statues, but so much more helpful!
DeleteThose colossal statues are a real oddity. They seem like random chess pieces left behind by an absent- minded giant.
ReplyDeleteThey are an oddity, I agree. Le Puy is half old France, half AuvergneDisney.
DeleteThose statues would get my attention- maybe they inspired Walt Disney. Who knows? Traveling with a dog is a little like traveling with a child.
ReplyDeleteGood point, Evelyn. And I'm sure you're right about traveling with a dog vs. traveling with a child.
DeleteWhat a fabulous place for you to go, in celebration of your birthday!
ReplyDeleteI did enjoy the trip, and I'm still figuring out what I think about Le Puy. I still have a lot of photos to post about different places we saw.
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