We recently had some really nice weather around 60 degrees so Ryan and I decided to take advantage of it and visit Brioude which is about an hour away. I heard they have a Saturday market so we decided to check that out. The drive itself was beautiful and was a sweet reminder that we live in FRANCE!
When we got to the market, we noticed a lot of people lining up and later found out it was a march through the town for the recent shootings in Paris. This market was a little different than the one in Clermont as it was mostly produce and food and they didn’t have any “yard sale” type items.
After the market we visited La Basilique Saint Julien. This is the first cathedral we’ve seen in France; we haven’t even seen the inside of the one in Clermont yet! It was really beautiful and had a very tiny spiral staircase to the top where you could overlook the entire church. The ceiling had some really pretty paintings as well.
For lunch we stopped at a small crêperie. Then we stopped at a patisserie to get a pastry and ate it outside while enjoying the sun and a cappuccino.
Before we headed home, we stopped in Lavaudieu which is a small village outside of Brioude. It was so tiny I couldn’t imagine living there, especially as a child. It had beautiful stone architecture, quaint homes and “hotels”, and a pretty stone bridge over a small river that runs along side the village. It was very quiet and we didn’t see many people.
It was a great way to spend the day and just a taste of what we’ll see and do during our time here!
The Pawlowski's Go To France 