Puy-de-Dôme and around

We have just spent 3 very different days in this central area of France , staying in a camp site about 60km north of Clermont Ferrand.

Neri-les-bains – bath-time!

It was drizzling away on the Sunday , but as the Harrogate of central France was just up the road, we thought : if you’re going to get wet anyway, let’s at least have warm water. So off we went.

But when we got to the actual spa experience, there was a problem . If you’ve ever been to the baths in France, you are probably ahead of me here. Spot the difference between these 2 garments –

A) is a tried and tested pair of decent British swimming shorts. Modest ( including inner mesh ) and practical (pockets), and available ( in my bag). It was also banned in this establishment. Option (B) on the other hand is a flimsy , revealing piece of lycra which you really don’t want to imagine on a 60 year old bloke. It was also available, … at 21euros. But even better, when the lady on the reception desk was briefing (ha !) us on this requirement, she asked what size I’d need. Medium , I said. She fixed my ‘shorts area‘ with a critical stare, and said “….LARGE “. Lianne was in stitches. Anyway we did eventually have a very relaxing couple of hours in the spa.

Up the Dome

Monday, everything shuts, so time for some exercise. Decided to climb this famous volcanic lump ( that’s what a Puy means) , so off we went . There is now only one approved route up by foot : you park at the base and have a 350m ascent up a winding grit path. Amazingly this takes less than an hour – it’s only about a mile and a half ( which means the incline must be something like 15% I think ? Somebody check my sums). It was touch and go whether we’d get any views , as when we set off the peak ( at 1400m) was covered in clouds, but we were in luck …

It’s all very impressive , but the weirdest thing is what they’ve stuck on top of it all. This is what I saw looming out of the most as we approached the summit ….

And then the mist lifted further, and we walked around to see this bizarre architectural combination :

The hypodermic needle bit is an early TV transmitter that 1960s town planners decided would add to the character of the place. The vast stone edifice in front dates from the 2nd Century AD, and was a Temple to Mercury ( who I suppose was in a sense responsible for whizzing news updates around before we had telly). At the back you can see the original bits which have collapsed even worse than the BBC, and in the foreground the first bits of the refurb they are undertaking. There’s a whole museum behind this explaining vulcanology and the Roman / Mercury then – it’s really good ! Spent a happy hour or 2 up here till it got a bit nippy and we went back to the car.

Rambling around

Weather still very cloudy today (Tuesday) so just went for a local walk around our campsite area. Loads of buzzards, jays, kestrels were out. The area itself is much more gently sloping than the Ardeche and less wild, but also seems poorer. A lot of derelict housing, both in the local towns ( Montaigut, Eloy-les-mines..) and among the farms round here. Local produce seems to be mainly beef cattle ( Charollais) and forestry ( clear cutting pine trees to leave some ugly scars on the hills). But the walk was fun and I did feel right at home here…..