Quote:
Originally Posted by Sundae Girl
...I think it's French blood from more recently than the Dark Ages - the month I spent in the shadow of the Puy de Dome - where Volvic mineral water comes from - felt like coming home...
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We visited that area a few years ago - about the time that Volvic started its UK TV ad campaign - it's an awe-inspiring region. We also visited relatively close-by La Chaise-Dieu during the same trip. Have you been there? A village set in a cup-like bowl in the mountains. Beautiful to see, but it unexpectedly and sadly suffers from car exhaust pollution which settles there because it has no means of escape. We couldn't work out at first why the inhabitants were walking around with towels across the lower face. As the morning visitor numbers (and traffic) grew, we discovered the reason.
I also stayed in the Haute Loire region as the French leg of the student exchange we had at our school. I visited the other famous puy then, Le Puy-en-Velais where the plug of volcanic rock that forms the puy supports an enormous staue of 'Our Lady' which visitoirs can enter and ascend to the shoulders and head - much in the manner of the Statue of Liberty.