So we made it to Le Puy without too much trouble on a strike day. We caught the train to St Etienne then a bus to Le Puy. At the sncf information desk we were told that there would be a limited service instead of the usual schedule. Only one train to St Etienne was running in the morning, at 0824 from Gare Part Dieu. The bus left St Etienne at 0930 and got into Le Puy at 1155. We were able to book and pay for our train the evening before when the schedule for the strike the next day was released. They weren't able to book our tickets for the bus(run by sncf) altho they usually can, maybe it was a glitch in the system. We bought the bus tickets once we got to St Etienne. Hope this helps. Everyone was very helpful. Buen Camino/Bon Chemin