Tag: Auvergne Rhone Alpes

Much of this little village of just 1,500 people is a shrine to the former parish priest and cure, Jean-Marie Vianney, who served in Ars sur Formans during and after the Napoleonic era and is now revered by the Catholic faith as Saint John Vianney.

The village is dominated by the 19th century Basilica of Saint Sixtus (Saint Sixte in French) which was built just three years after his death around the original 12th century church where he ministered. The body of the priest is held in a glass reliquary inside the Basilica. Close by are 3 other significant buildings being (i) the Chapel of the Heart where the Saint’s heart is kept in a second more magnificent reliquary (his heart was removed for veneration, it being normal practise in those days to bury the heart of aristocracy separately) and (ii) the presbytery (which contains many of his personal possessions) where he lived during his time as a parish priest and (iii) a semi underground church, Notre Dame de la Misericorde, which was built in 1959 to mark the 100th anniversary of the Saint.

Also near the centre of Ars sur Formans is the Monument de la Recontre, a life-size statue symbolizing the arrival of Father Jean-Marie Vianney in the village in 1818 and meeting the little shepherd Antoine Givre – “You showed me the way to Ars and I will show you the way to heaven”. There is also a superb model depicting the village as it was at that time and a Grevin Wax Museum (a bit like Madame Tussauds) which was created in 1994 and comprises 17 lifelike scenes of the Saint’s life in Ars.

All credit to Jean-Marie Vianney but, so far as I am concerned that would have been it about Ars sur Formans except that, over a cup of coffee and a crepe in the Creperie des Dombes, I got talking to a visiting Irish American priest by the name of Father Edward Murphy. ‘Father Ted’ (I mean no disrespect) talked to me a little about the life of the Saint and explained how it was that this modest little cure came to be the Patron Saint of Priests and why more than 350,000 people now make a pilgrimage to this village every year. Father Ted’s enthusiasm and love for the cure prompted me to do some research and, I’ll not go into too much detail here (you can always google him yourself), but; yes, I can see why he is revered as the Patron Saint of Priests. It is said the priest “had the power of healing and to read the hearts of his penitents”. I don’t know about that but his drive, dedication and total commitment towards his congregation appears second to none. He believed that he could do penance for his parishioners and he lived his life that way. Within a few years of arriving in Ars, his fame had spread throughout France sufficient to attract 300 visitors a day to the parish and in 1858 an estimated 100,000 pilgrims flocked to Ars. Seems to me he proved to be a legend in his own lifetime.

Vanya doesn’t have the same interest in such matters as I do but, we were never going to keep her out of the village‘s only creperie…

Thanks again to Father Edward Murphy for making my visit to Ars sur Formans that bit more interesting… and safe travels.

We were on our way into France to escape Switzerland’s rain and Vanya picked out a camp site in the Savoyard at a place called Saint Genix sur Guiers. Neither of us had heard of the place before. Imagine our surprise when, later that day after we had checked into a campsite in the town, I read a post on facebook by friends of hours who had overnighted in Saint Genix just 24 hours earlier! These friends were walking a Camino from Geneva to Le Puy en Velay and this route took them along the GR65 which passes, amongst other places, through Saint Genix (and ultimately on to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain). Small world or what?!?

Okay, so a little about Saint Genix. The town is located at the confluence of the Rivers Rhone and Guiers and it’s proper name is Saint Genix les Villages. The town was known as Saint Genix sur Guiers until, in 2019, some civil restructuring saw it merged with the two villages of Gresin and Saint Maurice de Rotherens and formed into the new commune of Saint Genix les Villages. Much of the signage in the town still refers to Saint Genix sur Guiers.

It is a small fairly unassuming town of just over 3,000 people which became famous for it’s Gateaux Saint Genix. This cake was created by a local pastry chef, Pierre Labully in 1880. In truth it is more a Brioche than a cake. It is a bread made with leavened dough to a fairly common recipe but Labully made it his own by adding pink pralines (sugar coated almonds) and topping it with sugar before baking. The resulting product caught on and is now made all over France. The Gateaux Labully bakery where the product was first created was closed for holidays during our visit but I was able to get one from the Gateaux Saint Genie bakery on Rue de Couvent. It is quite tasty but proved a little too dry for me.

There’s not a great deal to the town in terms of things to see or do. Why else would I go on so much about a cake that I didn’t really enjoy? However, it has a little church, L’Eglise Notre Dame de l’Assomption, which is worth a visit. By Roman Catholic standards it is simply adorned but it is charming. I particularly like the entrance with it’s curved staircase and and the fact that there’s a plaque inside honouring the town’s war dead (1914-1918 and 1939-1945). Such plaques are not that common in French churches, nor English ones for that matter.

Next door to the church on Place de l’Eglise is a bar-restaurant (Cafe des Sports) which appeared during our visit to serve as much a focal point in the town as the church itself. It was full of people on the two occasions I visited it; once during the day to reserve a table for dinner and again that night to enjoy the dinner. The welcome on both occasions was warm and friendly.

A few photos of the town…

… and a fine sunset the other side of the Guiers…

Some 200 miles north of Millau, in the Allier Department of the Auvergne, is the tiny village of Herisson; 600 inhabitants, a handful of shops, no hotels and only one bar-restaurant. We stumbled on the place while looking for somewhere to stay and it very quickly blew me away. It’s a picturesque medieval village in a most delightful setting on the River Aumance and it is brimming with history and character.

We parked the Van in the municipal campsite and made our way through the Parc Louis Bignon towards the centre of the village. In case you’re interested, Louis Bignon was born in Herisson some time in the 19th century and rose to become one of France’s most famous chefs and the owner of ‘Cafe Riche’ which at the time was Paris’s most fashionable and expensive restaurant.

From the park, there is a footbridge across the River Aumance which leads to La Porte de L’Enfer, one of two surviving medieval entrances into the village. The views from the footbridge, both up and down the Aumance, are splendid and some of the charming stone houses on the river bank are more than 500 years old.

The most obvious feature of the village and the one I was intent on visiting first is the castle. It is in ruins now but was constructed in the 14th century by the Dukes of Bourbon (on the site of earlier castles) and is steeped in history having been besieged by the English at least twice during the ‘100 Years War’ and again by Protestants in the French ‘Wars of Religion’. It was a small civil war between members of the Bourbon family which finally resulted in it being dismantled in the late 17th century by order of a certain Cardinal Mazarin. It’s walls were then used in the construction of many of the village’s existing houses but what remains of the castle is now protected.

For a village of just 600 souls, Herisson is very well provided with churches. There are four in total; five if you count the 12th century church of Saint Pierre de Chateloy which is just outside the village. My favourite is the 19th century Church of Notre Dame with it’s wonderful staircase at the entrance and some beautiful stained glass windows.

Others to be seen are the Eglise de Saint Sauveur in the village centre (most of the church is 17th century but the belfry dates back to the 12th century), the 16th century church of Saint Etienne and the 17th century Chapelle du Calvaire. This latter building sits on a small hill on the edge of the visit and offers a great view over the village towards the castle.

Originally there were three medieval gates into Herisson. Two still stand, the 14th century Porte L’Enfer (also known as the Porte de Varenne) and the Porte de Gateuil…

As mentioned previously, there is just the one bar-restaurant currently open in Herisson; that is the ‘Auberge’ and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the place. The service was friendly and attentive (despite the fact we were the only diners interested in eating at one of the outside tables), the wine was local and the food was fine given we were staying over for just the one night.

Although the last to finish our drinks at the restaurant, we weren’t too late. We had a fairly long drive the next day and there was still one more place to visit before we could leave in the morning. Herisson is the French word for hedgehog (see photo below of house with hedgehog tiles) and there’s a small distillery in the village (the Monsieur Balthazar Distillery) which produces a whisky called ‘Hedgehog’. Now that’s got to be worth a try.

post script: Hedgehog is actually bourbon with a high corn content, barley and rye – As Charlie Endell would say “That’s nae a whisky. That’s a dirty glass”.

We wouldn’t have come to Le Puy en Velay (it’s not Vanya’s kind of place) except that I thought there was to be a preview of the “Puy de Lumieres” (light show) while we were there. In fact, it is to be previewed in two weeks time with the main event running in July and August. The preview weekend is the best time to visit because you get to experience the full event without the large crowds which are standard during the French holidays. For the unaware, eight of the principal sites in Le Puy are lit up during the “Puy de Lumieres” in the most vivid colours for at least two hours every night and a spectacular light and music show follows. Those sites lit up include the cathedral, museum, theatre, town hall, the old bridge over the Loire and most impressive of all, the complete Rock and Chapel of St Michael.

Two sites lit up in Le Puy during a previous Puy de Lumieres

No matter, many of Le Puy’s principal sites are still worth seeing even without the light show and you can buy tickets from the local tourist office and from the sites themselves which offer discounts when visiting three or more locations. I bought such a ticket (I think it cost me 10 Euros) and this allowed access to the three locations which most interested me:-

Le Rocher et Chapelle Saint-Michel d’Aiguilhe: This is Saint Michael’s Chapel built up on a volcanic rock known as the needle. You only have to look at the rock to see the association with a needle. The chapel was built in 961 upon the instructions of the local Bishop after he had completed a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela It’s a short sharp walk up a staircase to the chapel itself and well worth the effort. The views over the town are tremendous.

Two photos I took of the outside of the chapel…

… and inside

Rocher Corneille et Statue Notre Dame de France: The Statue of Our Lady of France has been built on the town’s highest point (another volcanic rock, this one some 757 metres high). The statue is made from the metal of 213 Russian cannons seized during the Crimean War. You can climb up inside it and there are a few small windows. One of the advantages of visiting outside of the holiday season is that I had the place almost to myself and was able to open one of the windows.

The Statue of Our Lady

Inside the head of the Statue of Our Lady.

A couple of views from the viewing platform, one down on to the Cathedral and the other over to the needle.

The Cathedral of Our Lady: This 11th-12th century Romanesque cathedral complex (the starting point of the Via Podiensis pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela) has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1998. It contains many interesting features including an unusual 134 staircase leading up to the front door, a statue of the Black Virgin, 12 century cedar wood doors and some quite beautiful cloisters. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see everything I wanted to see of the Cathedral. It closed for the day as I arrived.

Walking down through the old down past the cathedral and on into the commerciual part of the town.

Later in the day, just as it was getting dark, Vanya and I made our way back into Le Puy from our campsite on the edge of the town (almost directly underneath the Aguilhe) and, even without being lit up by the aforesaid Puy de Lumieres, some of the sites/sights looked impressive although; overall, Le Puy doesn’t really do it for either of us. It struck us as a dirty and untidy place and, having seen most of the three monuments that I wanted to see, I’m not convinced that either of us would return.

Apologies. It’s 4 June 20023 as I finish writing this short entry about Le Puy en Velay and we visited the town almost a month ago. We are now back in England and, once again, I have been remiss in terms of keeping up with my blog. Needless to say, any further entries as to Tour 7 will also be more than a month out of date but, I’ll do my best to make up this record.

This was one of the prettiest camp sites to date and certainly the most friendly. We were parked up right alongside the Ardeche River and decided to stay two nights, notwithstanding the mosquitoes. Thank goodness we had Avon’s Skin So Soft, the most effective midge repellent by far.

The camp site restaurant was not doing food but the owner reserved us a table at the “La Maison Restaurant” and very nice it was too with Vanya and I both going for Saint Jacques et Crevette followed by the largest Creme Brulees.

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The next day was about chilling around the pool and enjoying some beers Vanya had found in the local supermarket.

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