Riom-ès-Montagnes,
a country market town; shops, Post Office, banks, cash dispenser
(at Crédit Agricole, bear left before the Mairie,
200 metres on left); the Quincaillerie (hardware) and Gamme
Vert (farm shop on outskirts) have a selection of proper
bells for your cows. The small Casino supermarket in the
centre (lots of fruit outside) is good; Champion, on the
right as you come in from Condat, is now much cleaner than
previously; it has some good wine. The swings, etc. were
recommended by the Tong family with children of 2 and 4.
Large street market on the second and fourth Wednesdays
of the month; livestock in the cattle market. Modern Hotel.
Visit (free) the Avèze factory and taste their gentian
liqueur.
St Flour is pleasant
rather than remarkable, altogether quieter than Salers;
was fortified; museum see above; cafés; good ice
cream from the bakery; signposted city walk. The cathedral
is said to have the only black Christ in France, the statue
is life sized, we have not seen it.
Salers is a striking
country town, grey stone houses with roofs of lauzes (shaped
flat stones). The Lucases avoided the busy time by driving
through the southern mountains, reaching Salers in late
afternoon, dining on pounti, a speciality at the Hotel des
Ramparts, and returning by Riom-ès-Montagnes.
Murat has a good approach
from the north; an old town with narrow streets; interesting
antique shop, small museum of local fauna and good Friday
market.
La Bourboule is a spa
specialising in the treatment of allergies especially in
children; plenty of shops, cafés, a covered market
(halles), the river running through is the young Dordogne.
What can I add to their leaflet's claim "You will be
able to put your vital node to rest in La Bourboule".
Le Mont Dore, also a
spa on the Dordogne, which rises at a spring on the slopes
of the Puy de Sancy above the town, is smaller than La Bourboule;
a pleasant place with a feeling of busier bygone days. Winter
skiing, walks, cable car onto the Sancy.
Bort-les-Orgues (orgues
are cliffs formed from old volcanic cores) at 400 metres
has a lowland climate; not perhaps worth a visit in itself,
but just beyond is the huge dam, 390 metres across, second
tallest in France at 120 metres, retaining the lake mentioned
under Château de Val, above. For those interested
in birds, stand on the bridge and watch the brown crag martins.
Marcenat is a quiet,
pleasant country town with a fascinating exhibition about
lightning.
Allanche has remains
of early fortifying walls and a Roman bridge (it's the smaller
one, the Tourist Office used to get it wrong, but there's
now a proper sign). Excellent antiques fair in 1st week
of August. Famous too for its estive, one of the few remaining,
the spectacle even draws film and TV crews. By 1996 the
cattle were heavily outnumbered by stalls, musicians and
tourism consultants. However the traditional Auvergnat dancing
was beautiful and truly memorable and the estive remains
a highly colourful and enjoyable social event. See it soon,
before the messy, real cows are replaced by hygienic, inflatable
ones on wheels. In 2003, on 24 May.
Chaudes-Aigues has hot
springs, providing central heating to many houses in the
town, and other curiosities. Can be seen as part of a grand
day out including the Truyère gorge. There is another
one of those sad memorials in memory of the doctor and his
son who were shot just outside the town by the Germans during
the last war.
Issoire is a pleasant
town with a particularly striking abbey church - St Austremoine.
In April '96 we went to see the local poultry show; as it
was shut from 12 to 2 (of course), we lunched inexpensively
and very well at the Hôtel Le Paris behind the Office
de Tourisme, but don't go looking for it because sadly it
shut in 2000 (the poultry show is still held every year
though). Easiest approach is via Besse, then if you have
the inclination, come back over the high country - more
direct but slower - e.g. up the Courgoul Gorges (D26) or
via D32 Solignat. Good Saturday street market.
The village of La Chaise Dieu
is unremarkable in itself but has a great, rather austere
monastic church. In the gloom, the Scott family missed the
world famous Dance of Death frescoes, and the celebrated
tapestries were away at the cleaners; carved woodwork adorns
the organ and the pews are amazing but we found the whole
slightly forbidding. A nice little shop opposite sells dried
mushrooms in astonishing variety.
"A strange town in a strange setting". Since
early times the starting point for pilgrims from all over
Northern Europe, Le Puy en Velay exudes history and must
be one of France's more unusual towns, with extraordinary
volcanic pinnacles, one with a 10th century church on top,
adding to its oddity and charm. Removed from a pagan altar
by the Romans for their own temple and now part of the cathedral,
the Fever Stone was believed to cure those sleeping the
night on it. Thousands of pilgrims still set out on foot
via the Lot, across the Pyrenees to Santiago da Compostella
on the western coast of Spain. The road via St Flour that
looks direct on the map is very slow, an easier approach
is via Besse, down a pretty river valley, round Issoire
and on - allow 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Natives of Le Puy are called
Ponots.
A large, industrial city, Clermont
Ferrand has all the amenities, shops and supermarkets
you'd expect. For a treat, visit one of France's oldest
chocolate shops - near the cathedral. Several good museums,
one with an exceptional collection of oriental carpets.
Railway station and airport. Head office of Michelin tyres
which has extensive factories there.
Aurillac, Cantal's county
town, is probably not worth a visit in its own right. Known
as a traditional centre for umbrella making. The National
Heavy Horse Stud is on the outskirts - see Haras National.
Brion is a tiny village
in the middle of nowhere. From spring to autumn, cattle
fairs are held which attract people from far and wide. Eat
at stalls or picnic atop the extinct volcano overlooking
the fair field.
