This was the last farewell to our French walking life for this year.
We had come to the end of the Way of Geneva with three days to spare, and after a day of delicious leisure, we decided to make a little foray to St-Paulien, north of le Puy, and stay in a hotel for the night, then wander back by a different route.
Just over the ridge from le Puy we came to the extraordinary village of Polignac, with its fortified castle crouching on the stump of a volcanic plug.
Further on we came to a high plateau, part of the former province of Forez, and looked over the edge to the distant Loire river in its gorge.
We spent the night very pleasantly at the hotel in St-Paulien, and returned via Borne, with an unintended few kilometres on a busy highway.
Passing Polignac again, we entered le Puy on the traditional main route, in the company of the ghosts of centuries of former travellers.
Day 25: Le Puy-en-Velay to Saint-Paulien
Day 26: Saint-Paulien to le Puy-en-Velay