Over the years we have stayed in a lot of places in France, but never in this area so we set out to explore a little of it. We didn’t fancy going too far after our very long day yesterday, so we nipped into the nearest town, Riom, to do a bit of shopping & fill up with fuel. Its always interesting to stroll round supermarkets in other countries, and we did just that in the local E.Leclerc – strange cheeses and many different types of bread lie cheek by jowl with
delicious tarts and pastries, fresh fish and shellfish are there for the taking – and then of course, there’s the wine.....





We decided we would go up the Puy de Dome that we saw in the distance yesterday & maybe have lunch up there, so off we went. The weather was lovely now, so a trip to the top was definitely on the cards, and once we’d parked in the enormous car park (they must expect a LOT of visitors) we bought our tickets for the funicular railway which is now the only way to the top. A large visitor centre and posh trains were completed 2 years ago, banning all traffic to the
summit but at least we could enjoy the views on the way up.


The website said that we should definitely book ahead as the trains were likely to be full and the queues huge, but we didn’t – and there were about 10 people on our train. As we travelled up, the views over Riom & Clermont Ferrand were impressive, but as we neared the summit it was obvious that the weather gods were going to punish us for our temerity – it got progressively more & more misty until we disembarked in thick cloud at 6 ◦C and a howling gale!












We had lunch in the restaurant (indifferent food, full of coach parties making merry and
absolutely NO view) then ventured outside to have a look. The wind was really cold & very strong as we went onto the viewing platform, and all we could see were the ghostly outlines of the nearest fir trees waving in the fog. I’d read that there was also a Roman temple on the summit, (the Temple de Mercure, built in the 2^nd century AD but only discovered in the 19^th), so we trekked upwards to find it. The wind was so strong it was actually quite frightening on the exposed path so we took a quick photo of it in the mist & retreated into the VC to have a look at the displays while we waited for the next train down.



It was uncanny – we left in 6 ◦C and fog, and as soon as the weather gods realised we’d given up, they lifted both the temperature and the mist and supplied us with good views again on the way down. How annoying! The weather was back to blue skies and sun back at the site, so we could now appreciate its hilly situation and the views it gave. It had a nice shower block with the largest cubicles I’d seen anywhere, a swimming pool for the summer season and a small
restaurant, ditto – and all for €14 a night. Bargain! Although he had very little English, Monsieur was very nice and very helpful, giving us maps of the area and ordering our bread.