January, 2014 – Graham Miln

Clermont-Ferrand

Our initial impressions of Clermont-Ferrand were not overwhelming. As the double-barrelled name suggests, the city is a combination of two centres: Clermont and Montferrand. They are surprisingly distinct locations.

Our hotel was located near Montferrand. The hotel was next door to a garden centre that boasted the unusual opening hours of 7am until 7pm. This is surprising in France, a country that typically closes for lunch and has less than expansive opening hours. The times were misleading and the centre did close for lunch; they just neglected to mention that in their opening hours.

Montferrand is the smaller centre but home to a set of beautiful old streets. The edges of the streets lined with medieval buildings. The buildings would not have looked out of place in a film set.

We visited Clermont, its busy shopping centre, and its towering cathedral.