Our apartment complex, with some sunshine the morning we left.
Our stay in Clermont-Ferrand was short and sweet. The apartment-hotel worked out really nicely for us and we enjoyed several home-cooked meals. There was even a dishwasher, which I could hardly remember how to use, it's been so long since I've seen one!
With my breakfasts I had quail's eggs! They were tiny and delicious.
We didn't see quite as much as usual during this leg because David had a bad cold (he's better now), the weather was variable, and many of the churches were under major renovation work. But we still got a good sense of the area and checked out some interesting churches.
The Auvergne is a region with quite a different landscape from Burgundy. It's covered in extinct volcanoes and has several natural springs, so it is a very fertile and lush area. Most of the hills are carpeted in thick forests that are just beautiful. Seeing all those trees and healthy meadows just makes you feel like you can breathe better!
The churches of the Auvergne are different too. In Burgundy, the Romanesque churches tended to be creamy colored and their main feature is the sculptured west door. But in the Auvergne, the churches are made of grey volcanic stone and the west fronts are very plain. Instead they decorate the east end with beautiful patterns of inlaid stone, which is quite a unique feature. The downside is having to get going earlier on our photography trips, because we have to catch them in morning instead of evening light!
This nice example is in Clermont.
Broader view of the same church.
Unfortunately the entire interior of this church was under renovations so I couldn't go in. But I did sneak into the construction site to take a photo of the interesting tympanum over the south door.
And more renovation disappointments were to come! This is St. Austremoine in Issoire, the first church we visited on our main day out (Friday June 13). The scaffolding was such a bummer! It's wrapped around the part I wanted to see the most - the pretty mosaic decorations as well as some unique exterior sculptures of the zodiac signs.
But I just had to do my best to work around it. Here's Cancer and Leo.
The side view was better.
Inside, it was all pink madness. This was done in the 19th century, and art historians don't appreciate it. I don't either.
But under all that pink is some nice Romanesque architecture.
And the crypt was nice and unpainted.
By the time we got to our next church the weather was worse, but it was in such a nice location that it was still pretty spectacular. The church and the village stand on a forested volcanic hill and both are called Saint-Nectaire.
View of church and village from a higher hill nearby.
Preparations in the mobile photography studio.
Closer view of Saint-Nectaire Church, with some Photoshop treatment by David.
Like the other Auvergne churches, it has some pretty stone details on the apse.
D'oh! Most of this church is closed for renovations, too.
Fortunately, however, the best part is still accessible. It has some of the largest and most copiously-carved capitals I've ever seen! And they still have some of their original medieval paint.
Here Doubting Thomas touches the Holy Armpit. Oh, OK, Jesus' side wound.
The kiss of Judas, with an interesting extra I haven't seen before - Jesus grabbing the ear of a bystander! My best guess is that this symbolizes Jesus reprimanding Peter for chopping off the ear of an arresting soldier.
Unidentified scene.
By the time we finished our tour of the church we needed lunch and a bathroom, and happily we found both in high quality at a bar-restaurant next door. The proprietors were so friendly and made us some gigantic sandwiches to go. We ate them in the car up on the hill overlooking the church, serenaded by birds and cow bells. It was absolutely fantastic.
I really regret not taking pictures of the sandwiches. We were so hungry and I had the wrong lens on the camera... but still. They were made of slices of delicious homemade white bread about one inch thick and the size of a football. David chose "Le Big Relais," which had smoked Auvergne ham, local cheese (which was just the right amount of stinky), and potatoes. Mine didn't have "Big" in the name, yet it came on the same-sized bread, and with smoked ham and butter as fillings. I didn't eat it all, but I also tried a small round apple pie thing. So, so delicious.
At the end of the day we visited Clermont's Gothic cathedral. The exterior is especially interesting because of its black volcanic stone.
Inside there were lots of pretty stained glass windows, most of them from the 13th century, including this nice rose window.
And some fun medieval murals, too.
I also forgot to mention that Clermont has a huge Michelin factory, complete with huge ski-like ramps for (presumably) testing how well the tires roll! There was also another big office building on the outskirts of town near our apartment. An internet search has revealed that Clermont is the headquarters of Michelin, which was founded in 1888. They originally made tires for bicycles and horse-drawn carriages before cars were invented!
Next post: our very scenic drive south from Clermont-Ferrand to Provence yesterday, with a stop at a couple unique churches along the way.
