We’ve had a busy few days in the Auvergne region seeing lots of what the region has to offer (still no snow, though).
On Monday, Anne took us to the top of Puy de Dôme, a large lava dome in the Massif Central mountains. This is part of a chain of extinct volcanoes. Many of the craters are now lakes which have a depth of up to 500 metres. To get to the top, you have to take a 10 minute ride on a cog train. The number of visitors each year was becoming unmanageable, so they removed the carpark from the top and installed the train which commenced operation in 2012. For those who are a little more active, you can walk or cycle to the top... we took the train!
Apart from there being a spectacular view, the Puy is also the site of a second century Gallo-Roman temple to Mercury. The remains of the temple were found in 1873 during construction work for a weather station. Part of the temple has been reconstructed to show how it might have looked. There is a little museum which explains the Roman history of this area as well as copies of artefacts found at the site of the temple.
On the way to Clermont-Ferrand, we drove past some lovely farmland. While some of the animals are no doubt in barns at this time of year (even though the weather is unseasonably warm) but there were still a number of sheep in the field and some of the lovely cows that provide milk to make Saint Nectaire cheese.
We were lucky again to have such beautifully blue skies because the black volcanic rock of Clermont-Ferrand certainly stood out in these conditions. It’s a bit miserable when it’s bleak. The cathedral is the most striking with its black gargoyles and with the black rock framing the vibrant stained glass windows.
Clermont-Ferrand is the birthplace of three famous personalities: Vercingétorix (the Gaul who supposedly threw his weapons down in front of Caeser in defeat), Pope Urbaine II and Blaise Pascal (a famous mathematician) and their images are found on metal discs which are embedded into the footpaths of the town.
After a lovely day of site seeing we headed back to Vichy where I prepared a curry for us all to enjoy.
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