Why Clermont-Ferrand (C-F from now on)? Two main reasons. Firstly, I wanted to see the old Charade motor racing circuit.. Secondly, the Puy de Dome ( another childhood memory to be revisited). As it turned out there was a bonus third reason that came along……
The Charade circuit is well up in the hills above C-F. It’s still very much in use today at around 4 km in length, but it used to be much longer, indeed 8+ km. Built round an extinct volcano, it was really like a mini-Nurburgring with some pretty good fast corners, undulations, etc. It used to host the French F1 Grand Prix, apparently still being used up until 1972. Only a small section is now used for racing, the majority of the rest now being public roads. Here it is below in it’s full glory.
Do you detect there is a bit of a theme emerging for this holiday ????
Anyway, that was an early morning jaunt, to beat the traffic in C-F ( considerable !). Now it was off to the Puy de Dome. I haven’t been here for nigh on umpty years, where umpty is at least 40 !
All very organised with proper car parks ( and a train !!!), the site being run by an organisation called Panoramique des Domes. I decided to chicken out and go up in the train and walk down the mule track, especially as it was (yet again !) getting to be a hot day.
There used to be a steam train service, which I find hard to believe, but see pix below. The steam railway ran from 1907 to 1925. It connected Lamartine in C-F (elevation 390 metres) to an artificial platform near the mountain top at 1,414 metres. The railway was 14.7 km long and operated between 1907 and 1926 – at a loss.
It was decided to construct a new railway in 2008. Construction work was started in March 2010, opening to the public in 2012.The current train is all overhead power and centre rail rack system.
Anyway, on to the summit……
As you can see from the pix below, it was an absolutely brilliant sunny cloudless day, which brought out a particular kind of human loonie. I’d noticed these guys getting on the train with what looked like oversized back packs, which did not appear to be too heavy. When I got to the windward side of the Dome, I saw what was going on – paragliding !!!
Here’s a few more at the summit:
So, the descent. Originally tourists came up by mule on quite a rough twisty old track. Going down was a bit perilous, as it was dry and dusty. Only fell over once. One very fit guy RAN (yes RAN) up and down the complete track from top to bottom at least twice or three times, whilst weak old me descended the once. He must’ve been training for an ironman event, or something.
People were very determined about walking up. I came across one group who were attempting to get a young lad with cerebral palsy up to the summit. He had a whole load of very strong supporters and one poor lad had to push his empty wheelchair up the rougher bits. Amazing !
The afternoon temperature was creeping ever upwards towards 30 degree C, so my next stop was in the welcome air conditioned relief of the Michelin “adventure” museum. This was the “bonus” visit, as I had no real idea that C-F was the centre of MIchelin-land.
Getting past the obvious in that it is just really a big advert for Michelin, it turned out to contain some interesting stuff. With the French children still at school and it being a Thursday as well, it was relatively uncrowded, so turned into a pleasurable stroll through French motoring history, from the Michelin perspective.
Although the two Michelin brothers started out supplying push bike tyres ( using long distance races asa means of publicity) they also got into providing assistance for the early motorists, in the form of roadside signs, detailed routes (also adopted by the AA in the UK) and helpful guides ( which continue to this day).
MIchelin also experimented with using tyres for rail travel, to provide a smoother ride. One of these rail cars (called a Micheline) resides in the foyer of the museum. Apparently Madagascar has the other 2 of the 3 remaining Michelin Rail buses in the world. Still working, if not on a daily basis.
Here’s a few pix of things that especially interested me:
Back at the hotel, I decided to have a bit of a walk round Royat – needed supplies for the next day’s travel as well. It’s a bit of a faded spa town, but has beautiful, well kept gardens with plenty of shade – most welcome !
A few more of the town itself:
Tomorrow I break my own rules and go on a LONG autoroute to the South, the famed A75……