Today, I was taking a train to Le-Puy-en-Velay, but it wasn't leaving until 12:51pm so I had time to kill. I decided to do a bit of a "best of" Paris, and visited Montmartre and the Tour Eiffel. I was luckily at Montmartre so early that there were few people around Sacre Coeur, so I ducked inside and had a look – I've been there a few times before but didn't remember it. It's a lovely church. Then I walked down the stairs from the hill to Pigalle and caught the Metro from there to Bir-Hakeim.
I walked along the Seine to the tower. It was a bit later now so there were a LOT of tourists there. I wandered around the Champ de Mars then back to the Seine to catch the RER to Gare d'Austerlitz then walked back to my hotel.
I picked up my backpack, checked out then walked to Gare de Lyon, where my train was leaving from. I found a Pret (yay! How I've missed Pret), then caught my first train to St-Etienne Chateaucreux. It was a nice journey of about 3 hours, then I had to hurry with all the other backpackers to the next, regional train that left in 7 minutes' time to Le-Puy-en-Velay. I disembarked at 5:20pm, hoisted my backpack up onto my shoulders then set off to find my accommodation.
Be under no illusions, Le Puy is hilly AF. And my accommodation was right in the old town, the hilliest section.
I made it there and looked for a doorbell, or something to let them know I was here. Nothing. I started worrying that I'd got the wrong place, but I rattled the doorknob and the door opened. I crept inside and said "bonjour!" and this man came down the stairs – I felt like I was breaking in! He spoke really good English, which was a relief, and took me to my room which was absolutely gorgeous. I was staying in an old town epicerie (kind of like a deli), and it was so nice. I went inside and dropped my bag, before having a shower and then head out into the town.
I had a look at the old buildings but it was a little too late to go into any of the paid sites. I also went to the "Friends of the Camino" gathering near the church to get my credencial. I visited the church afterwards, then wandered to find an early dinner. I went to this little place that was one of the few restaurants open (it was a Monday, always difficult in France). I ordered a meal that was very specific to this area – puy lentils with pork bits. It was nice, if a little cold in places. I got back to my accommodation by about 7:30, organised my stuff for tomorrow, read for a little bit then went to sleep. I was still jet-laggy and needed the energy for my first day on the camino tomorrow. It was a good night's sleep too.
