Clermont-Ferrand (France)

...ancient city
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Clermont-Ferrand has an ancient history as a religious centre. Pope Urbain II preached a crusade from here, and the huge black volcanic rock cathedral dominates the city centre. Beautiful, simple Roman churches are a feature of the Auvergne and there is a wonderful example within the city centre, the church of Notre-Dame du Port. Around the churches there grew up a higgledy-piggeldy labyrinth of streets lined ...
...you can sit and sunbathe or picnic, £1 for the whole day.

Clermont-Ferrand is well worth a visit. There are relatively few tourists, the climate is pleasant and the scenery beautiful. There is plenty to do - I lived there for a year and didn’t get bored!  ... more

Clermont-Ferrand, in the Auvergne region of central France, is known as the home of Michelin tyres, but the city has much more too offer. Its history stretches back centuries, and it is located in the midst of some of the most beautiful and overlooked countryside in the whole of France. If you’ve ever looked at the picture of green volcanoes on the side of a Volvic bottle - that’s what you can see from any decent viewpoint in Clermont-Ferrand.

Clermont is fairly easy to get to, either by Eurostar (change to a French national train in Paris) or air (flights from Heathrow, but again, you will have to change in Paris). Both routes will probably cost about £100 per person. You can drive but be warned – it is a long way, probably 9 or 10 hours from Calais. There are plenty of hotels and guesthouses to stay in, and all the usual tourist info is available from the brand new office in the city centre. The region has a good website, which is available in English and French, at www.ville-clermont-ferrand.fr

The ancient city
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Clermont-Ferrand has an ancient history as a religious centre. Pope Urbain II preached a crusade from here, and the huge black volcanic rock cathedral dominates the city centre. Beautiful, simple Roman churches are a feature of the Auvergne and there is a wonderful example within the city centre, the church of Notre-Dame du Port. Around the churches there grew up a higgledy-piggeldy labyrinth of streets lined with ancient buildings, and these are now a delightful maze of antique shops, antiquarian and second hand bookshops and other quirky emporiums. Highlights include the chocolatiers where you can watch them making beautiful and delicious confectionery, the doll factory where there are heads and bodies lined up in the window, and the tiny art galleries. There are two very good heritage trails to walk marked by metal plaques set into the pavement - you can get the guides to these, in English, from the tourist information centre.

Entertainment
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Clermont has a big student population and there is always a lot going on at the University and around the town. There are two cinemas in the city centre at Place de Jaude, and they often show films in English with French subtitles - these are marked VO -version originale. Every year there is a huge festival devoted to short films, or ‘court-metrages’, and this is fantastic, although the genre isn’t big in England so few of the showings are in English.

Surprisingly for a student city, there is not much nightlife. At John Barleycorn’s, an ‘Irish’ pub near the Cathedral, you can buy expensive drinks and meet every English student in the city, but there are far better, more French, bars to be found if you explore. There you can drink pastis and talk about philosophy or politics late into the night...if that’s your thing. There are a couple of cheesy nightclubs, of which Gasoil is probably the best, but it can be unbearably sweaty, as it is the basement of a bar.

Eating out is a real pleasure - and there are a few really good, reasonably priced restaurants. Try Le Serrin on the Avenue Albert-Elisabeth for local cuisine - have a set menu and try loads of new things. Salade auvergnate, with bacon and blue cheese, is divine, as is truffade, a dish of sliced potatoes cooked with onion, butter and creamy Cantal cheese. In the heart of the old city try 1513 (quinze-treize) for their extensive selection of sweet and savoury crepes - the place is built in a labyrinth of cellars and has a great atmosphere. There is a fantastic north African restaurant in the rue de la Treille where you can get cous-cous and delicately spiced sauces ( probably the nearest thing you’ll get in France to a curry!). Pizzeria Venezia, near Place de Jaude, does lovely pizzas and a bargain weekday menu for 90fr including a glass of wine.

The surrounding countryside
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Make sure you get out into the surrounding countryside of the Auvergne. It might be best to hire a car, as public transport is severely limited outside the city. A classic is the climb up the Puy-de-Dome - one of the highest volcanoes in the region and the venue for a stage of the Tour de France some years ago. The climb is hard work but the views are great - you can see one sixth of the total area of France from the top. You may also be treated to the sight of parachutists and paragliders leaping from or landing on the peak. The nearby Puy de la Vache and the Puy de Come also have good walks. If you can drive off into the Massif Central do - there are some beautiful roads and towns to explore, and dramatic mountain scenery all around. Try visiting Orcival, Le Mont-Dore, Volvic or Vichy (seat of the French government that collaborated with the Germans in WWII).

Sightseeing and activities
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Within the city the highlights are:
Musee Bargoin - museum featuring some great tapestries and carpets, sculpture and artefacts.
Fontaine Petrifiante - centre where mineral-rich water is dripped over moulds to ‘turn them to stone’ - fascinating.
Cathedral - do not miss this! Fantastic stained glass windows, crypt and towers.
Jardin Lecoq - formal gardens containing the ruins of an abbey. Beautiful at any time of the year.
Michelin factory - apparently, the tour is quite good (but I never did get round to it!)
The outdoor olympic-sized swimming pool is great value in the summer - high diving boards and grass where you can sit and sunbathe or picnic, £1 for the whole day.

Clermont-Ferrand is well worth a visit. There are relatively few tourists, the climate is pleasant and the scenery beautiful. There is plenty to do - I lived there for a year and didn’t get bored! 

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