5 Ways to Experience Hidden Clermont-Ferrand
There is more to the capital city of Auvergne than meets the eye. Here are 5 ways to experience hidden Clermont-Ferrand.
From Britain to Auvergne: An Interview with Chef Sam Wydymus
British chef Sam Wydymus is the managing director of Terroir 63, a restaurant in the Auvergne-based village of Olliergues.
Winter in Auvergne: Dog-Sledding Adventures
In Auvergne, winter frequently arrives without warning. One minute the sun is shining and the weather is mild enough for a jean jacket, and the next the wind descends like a screaming chorus of banshees, frantically dumping snow onto everything in sight. When this happens, the tramontane dells of Sancy and Cantal — with their […]
A Banquet of Demigods on the Puy de Dôme
France has many mountains, but only one Olympus: the puy de Dôme. In the 18th century it was the site of a notorious banquet of “demigods”.
Henri Lecoq’s Haunting Encounter with the Brocken Spectre
The mountain hunters of past centuries have seen unaccountable and terrible forms in the mountain mists, and legends have carried the phenomena from the plainly natural to the weirdly superhuman. – J. Gordon McPherson The world is full of haunted places — each with its own bone-chilling claim to infamy. That said, few places can […]
Hidden Clermont-Ferrand: Maison Savaron
The Italian Renaissance, to which Clermont owes the lovely maison de Savaron on rue des Chaussetiers, makes its presence felt in Auvergne. -Marcellin Boudet Anyone who admires Renaissance architecture will find much to marvel at in the older quarters of Clermont-Ferrand. Here mazes of uneven cobbled streets almost always lead to a quiet square or corner […]
Occult Auvergne: How to Become a Werewolf
Obtained by a 19th-century physician, this ritual from Auvergne tells you how to become a become a werewolf.
Hidden Clermont-Ferrand: The Oil Pit of Poix
The Oil Pit of Poix is natural wonder of Hidden Clermont-Ferrand, a marshy pond composed of bitumen, salt water, and other hydrocarbons.
Hidden Clermont-Ferrand: The Ancient Fountain that Changes Everything to Stone
Hidden in a forgotten corner of Clermont-Ferrand, St-Alyre is an ancient thermal fountain with seemingly miraculous powers.
What to See in Beast of Gévaudan Territory
It was in Gévaudan that this wild beast had established his everyday encampment…Nevertheless, this monster repeatedly made incursions into Auvergne, especially in the region of Saint-Flour, where it devoured numerous victims. And to save themselves, the parishes of Auvergne joined forces with those of the Gévaudan… -François Fabre The isolated highlands of pre-Revolution Gévaudan and […]
