Clermont-Ferrand: The City

During a weekend in September I had the opportunity to visit Clermont-Ferrand. The city is about 60km from Vichy, a 30 minute train ride.

Fun Facts about Clermont-Ferrand:

• Clermont-Ferrand is slightly larger than Topeka, KS with about 14,000 more inhabitants.
• The original name of the city was Augusto Nemetum.
• The center was established where the Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Clermont is at today (pictures below)
• In 848, the castle of Clarus Mons gave its name to the whole town. In 1731 it merged with the small town of Montferrand, and together became Clermont Ferrand.
• Clermont-Ferrand is home of the headquarters of Michelin, the global tire company.
• The Place de Jaude is the most famous public square of the city. There is a statue there that was sculpted by Frederic Bartholdi, the man who created the Statue of Liberty. It is of Vercingetorix on a horse. (pictures below). Vericingetorix took command in the revolt against Roman forces during the reign of Julius Caesar.
• There is a chain of volcanoes surrounding the city called the Chaîne des Puys.

I went with a few friends. On the right is Hanna, she is from the Netherlands. Allissa in the middle, of course! On the left is Shen, he is from China. He actually came from the same school as Hanna. He was studying abroad in Netherlands, and decided to study abroad in France while studying abroad. Talk about some guts! An didn’t make it in the picture. She is from Finland.

Waiting for the train at the Gare de Vichy

We grabbed a train on a Friday after class. We arrived at the station in Clermont a little after 2pm. It was my second trip on a train since my arrival in France. It felt really good to have an idea of what I was doing!

Entrance to the Gare de Clermont-Ferrand

My first impression was definitely not the same as the one I got from Vichy. It didn’t seem as magical because it looked a lot more modern. This what somewhat to be expected as it is more industrialized than Vichy.

First street we walked down.

Since the trip was somewhat last minute we didn’t have a plan, so we decided to just walk around and explore the city. We had picked up a map of the streets at the train station so we headed towards the center of town. Not far from the station we ran into a type of church. We took a few pictures from the outside and kept walking.

The streets were beginning to get really narrow, and it was much more hilly than Vichy. I noticed that there were many fountains and sculptures throughout the entire city. I really appreciate how the French display their history/culture in this manner.

We found a Domino’s Pizza. They obviously had to adapt their delivery system. It would be so fun delivering in one of these!

Scooters!

We eventually made it to the Cathedral Notre-Dame de Clermont. This cathedral was breathtaking. There was a group of tourists outside the door. They were all just hanging out by the front doors, so we weren’t sure if it was closed or not. We also weren’t sure if we were allowed in. I went up to the doors and there was a sign for tourist so we headed in. I am so glad we checked!

There were beautiful stained-glass windows throughout.

These pillars are ENORMOUS!!

First-View of the Cathedral

Facing the front

Facing the back

We also found out that you can take a self-guided tour up to the top of the cathedral. It was only 2 euros, so we decided to go for it. It was literally a winding staircase for what seemed an eternity. I felt dizzy and exhausted by the time we got to the top, but the view was definitely worth it.

You can see the chain of the volcanoes in the horizon.

I LOVE how these next two pictures turned out!! To my luck, the batteries in my camera were running out. I had to keep turning my camera off and on to get any pictures. We had to stop at a little convenience store to buy some more. Definitely worth the investment!

We headed back down and asked the information desk attendant her recommendations on things to see in Clermont. She pointed us in the direction of some gardens and museums. We headed towards the gardens. There was a slight chance for rain that evening. We were hoping not to get rained out, but luckily we just had a slight drizzle for a few minutes.

On the way to the gardens we walked by the Place de Jaude. There was a mall and lots of shops around the plaza. I got to see the statue of Vericingetorix.

View from the front

Side view without the overcast.

The words “J’ai pris les armes pour la liberté de tous” are inscribed on the statue. They mean “I took up arms for the liberty of all“.

Fountain outside the mall

After entering the mall we left and finally made it to the gardens.

Sculpture right outside of the gardens.

There was a very beautiful and welcoming gate into the gardens. Everything was so colorful and it was very nice to see a lot of people there enjoying the outdoors.

Entrance gate.

Statue right by the entrance.

Little swan/duck house in the pond.

So many gorgeous flowers!

These pigeons were not scared. I was standing 6 inches from one! It reminded me of all the pigeons in Santa Barbara.

Standing on the bridge above the pond.

Sweet castle-looking entrance at the end of the bridge. 

There was a face troll sculpted into the side of the wall. It reminded me of the story of the troll living under the bridge!

Here is An! She met up with one of her friends shortly after.

Peacock made out of plants and flowers!

There is a textiles and modern art museum right across the street from the gardens. We really wanted to visit, but we got there 10 minutes before they closed so we weren’t allowed in. Luckily, there was another museum not far from that one, which was open for another hour. The museum we visited is called the Museum Henri Lecoq. It is a natural history museum.

This is the museum that was closed. I took a picture of it anyway because the building was pretty.

This is the entrance of the museum we visited.

The museum was separated by floors, with each floor dedicated to a different topic. The first level was dedicated to people in history. There was a section on Blaise Pascal and his contributions to mathematics. Pascal’s triangle anyone?

The evolution of the calculator.

Pascal family facts.

The second floor was dedicated to botany and geology. Some of these were the size of my torso!

There was also a floor on zoology.

There was an ostrich behind me!

Eggs, shells, and butterflies.

There was so much to see, but with only an hour it felt like we breezed through each floor. I am amazed at the attention to detail some of these buildings received. Even the stairs in the museum were beautiful!

We were pretty hungry after leaving the museums so we decided to head towards the station and stop at a place on the way. Little did we know that we would actually run into a basilica. This one is called  la basilica Notre-Dame-du-Port.

Side View

Corner angle

View looking to the front.

We were able to go downstairs. The feeling was really creepy but the stonework was just as amazing.

We bought postcards here as well. By the time we were done, we were starving!! We needed to be back at the train station so we ended up eating at a Kebab restaurant. I ordered a plate with salad, fries and kebab meat. The taste of the meat was a lot like carnitas.

Definitely had leftovers!

The owner and the ordering window.

This restaurant was right across the street from the Gare, so when we finished having dinner, we walked over and waited for our train home.

One of my favorite things about Clermont-Ferrand: There were metal plaques throughout the city of famous people in history. They were built into the streets.

Few more pictures of the narrow streets:

I’m sure there is so much more to see in Clermont-Ferrand that we did not have time for. I did go back to hike one of the volcanoes. (Following post will be about the hike) I may visit the city again since it’s so close, we’ll see!

Thanks for reading!

Au Revoir

XOXO -Karen