Le Puy-en-Velay and the source of the Loire

Route description

Take the A75 south from Clermont-Ferrand and then the N102 to Brioude, whose basilica of Saint-Julien is the largest Romanesque church in Auvergne. Detour 10 km to Lavaudieu, a small village with a Romanesque cloister and wall paintings in its abbey church. The N102 then continues east over the plateau to Le Puy-en-Velay, about 130 km from Clermont in total.

Just before Le Puy, stop at Polignac, where a ruined fortress sits on a flat basalt butte. Le Puy itself is a town of volcanic needles: the cathedral on its hill, a red statue of the Virgin on another, and the chapel of Saint-Michel d’Aiguilhe on top of an 82 m rock. The old town is steep, so park near the Place du Breuil and walk.

Le Puy is the starting point of the Via Podiensis, the main French route of the Way of St James, and pilgrims leave from the cathedral each morning. Head south-east via Le Monastier-sur-Gazeille into the Mézenc massif, a high, open plateau of farms with heavy stone roofs. Stop at the Lac d’Issarlès, a round, deep crater lake with a beach.

Mont Gerbier de Jonc, a cone of volcanic rock at 1,551 m, stands above the farm where the Loire begins in a stone trough. The climb to the top takes about 30 minutes. From there the D122 and D578 descend steeply through the Ardèche mountains to Aubenas. Snow is common on the plateau from November to April, and fog can be thick.