Sunday, 12 September – Clermont

Today we have nothing planned – we have the day free!  We start with breakfast at home, then walk to the nearby churches to find mass times so we can get to church most weeks, sometimes in different churches.   There is a church about a block away, but it is being renovated and services are held in other buildings in the neighborhood.  There is a map posted of nearby churches, so we head out to another in a part of town we are not familiar with. 

We return through the train station, noting the open hours for a butcher shop we have been referred to by our neighbors.  We have walked 1 ½ hours already.  We take a short break, then are off again. 

We walk by one of the oldest churches in town, Notre Dame du Port, a Romanesque basilica, dating from the 12^th century.  It is on the UNESCO World Heritage list.  When we lived here 10 years ago, we attended this church often.  For the last 4 or 5 years there has been ongoing construction to clean and repair it inside and out.  Many of the older churches in France now belong to the state or city, mostly because of historical significance and cost to maintain.  They are considered national monuments and are open to the public.  We make a note of the normal mass schedule and then go inside.  It is beautiful and has been nicely restored.  When we were here before, we remember it as being mostly gray inside, but now it is shades of yellow and appears much lighter.

Then we wander through the center of town, built on an old volcanic cone, searching for a restaurant Fred has been in and wants to try again, but we have no luck.  In the process we walk another 90 minutes.  We stop to rest in Place de la Victoire, next to the main cathedral. 

Place de la Victoire

The gothic cathedral is built of black volcanic lava stone on the top of a volcanic cone in the center of town and is quite imposing. Construction began in 1248 by the architect Jean Deschamps and was not completed until the towers were added in the 19^th century by the architect Violet-le-Duc.   In the open square there is a staute of Pope Urban II, as he held a council in Clermont in 1095, calling for the first crusade. 

We have a snack of cheese and a fresh peach, then go on down the hill from the cathedral.  In front of us is the main shopping street, Rue de Gras.  In the distance is Puy de Dome, an extinct volcano. 

We pass through our old neighborhood, then make our way toward Chamaliere.  Fred wants to find the Chamaliere Bridge Club building where he used to play chess.  We stop and sit on park benches along the way.  When we locate the building, it is quiet, so we stop for another snack – chausson au pomme, or small apple pie.  A man comes out of the building and Fred asks him about the chess club, which used to meet on Sunday afternoons and on Wednesday evenings.  The man finds a contact name for Fred and says they may have stopped for the summer and have not yet resumed. 

We move on and stop again by a shopping area in Chamaliere.  There we find an art exhibition that is open and spend some time enjoying the show.  Then on toward our goal, Le Biniou in Royat, a smaller town further up the hill.  Royat has been known for years as a spa town.  There is a stream running through town that is harnessed and used in a hydrotherapy spa.  There is also a casino (gambling variety) in town and lots of mostly older people from around the country come here in spring, summer, and fall for the fresh air and water.  We just think it is a pretty place with a really nice park, and our favorite restaurant. 

We are early, it is only 5:30 and we try not to arrive for dinner until 7:00 pm, so we stop at a sidewalk café and have a mini beer and watch the people.  Apparently this  bar/tabac is the only place open to buy cigarettes and magazines on Sunday afternoon – it is quite busy.  It begins to rain, but we are under an awning, so we sit and relax. 

At 6:30 we move on toward Royat, walking beside a lovely park, with flowers along the street. 



Eglise St Leger, Royat, France



Place Cohendy, Royat, France

The church in Royat is across the stream and up the hill.  It also dates from the 12^th or 13^th century. 

We see that there is also an art exhibition in the local museum, but can find no notice of mass times.  Part of the related fortress is now home of the cycling association – remember, most of the older churches are now owned by the city or state. 

Royat, France

Then we make our way down to the restaurant.  Last week when we were here, I asked about the veal which is on the menu, but is crossed out.  This week they have veal in sauce porto, fabulous!  We start with our usual green salad with warm blue cheese dressing.  I end with raspberry tiramisu – WOW, and Fred has a 3 dip chocolate Sundae – our rewards for walking all day. 

We walk part way home, then hop on the bus.  Even so it is 11 pm when we arrive.  Fred has a 9 am meeting to off to bed we go!

Saturday, 11 Sept - Clermont-Ferrand

Fred worked this morning at new student orientation. Since I bought fish yesterday, we decided to cook Pescado Yucatan, a mexican dish we make at home



For this we needed cilantro, poblano peppers, small hot peppers, avacado, and beans.
In France this is not so easy. I started by taking our glass recycling down the street - there is a glass receptacle on the street corner just a half a block away, on my way to the Jardinier.


There I find tomatoes, and lime, but no cilantro and no peppers. He has avacado, but he asked if I would use it today and I said yes. Apparently his are not quite ripe, so he would not sell one to me.   It is good to know he will let me know these things, but now I have to go somewhere else as we do want to use the avacado tonight.


I went around the block to Leader Price and found some peppers I thought might be poblano, and bought some paper products as well.   On the way home I stopped at the pharmacy close to the house and found vitamins.


I unloaded my purchases and headed off toward centre ville or center of town. I know there is a north african grocery on the way to the main covered market, so I stop there. They have only dried peppers, in a large bag.   I pass on that and go on. I have been looking everywhere for canned beans and find lots of white beans, but no black or even red.


I eventually find a small shop that has dried black beans, and select those. I stop at the ourdoor market and ask a woman who is selling bell peppers if she has small "piments fort" or hot peppers. She directs me to the last vendor on the left and he DOES have some small hot peppers.


He also has some herbs, so I ask if one is cilantro - he says it is coriandre and lets me sniff it - I believe it is cilantro, so make my purchase. All of this conversation has been in French, so I am getting better at understanding very quickly.


I go on to the enclosed market to check out the vendors there. We would like to plan this same for guests, but need to know where to get the ingredients before we do.


Then I go on to another shop I found in the yellow pages and they have "exotic" foods - meaning specialty asian, african, and indian ingredients. I wonder around and select some hummus for our indian meal.  By this time it is noon and I am hungry, so stop for a "salade de chevre chaude" or green salad topped with heated goat cheese on little toasts - we have had this before and love it.


Then I walk home, still carrying my purchases. I put on the black beans to boil and soak while I go on my next adventure.


I read in the newspaper that in a neighboring town, there is pedal vehicle race today, and it looks like the "vehicles" are decorated, so I take the city bus to the site.  They really are decorated recumbent bicycles, pedaled by teams, all in costume. This is an annual event and apparently a serious competition. I have read that the entries are judged on both speed and on costumes and decor of the bike.  I get there in time for the introduction of the teams, which is a spectacle and takes 20 minutes longer than scheduled.

Chamalieres, France 

I stay to watch part of the race. It turns out the race is actually 2 hours long, in a circle around city blocks. I will try to post some photos of the event.

 Then I ride the bus home where Fred has started dinner. We wait for the beans to get done, then cook the fish with a sauce of tomato, green olive, capers, onions, garlic. We serve this with thinly sliced zucchini sauteed to limp and just beginning to brown, with butter and onions.  Fred thinks the taste of the fish and sauce is not "authentic" but I think the meal is wonderful.