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!
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.
Preparations in the mobile photography studio.
Closer view of Saint-Nectaire Church, with some Photoshop treatment by David.
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.
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.