Things to see and do Les volcans d'Auvergne

Go and meet art in all its forms! To help you, the Sommet Urbain Clermontois (SUC) association has created a tour that will guide you through the heart of the old town... but not only! The circuit includes nearly 45 places - galleries, artists' studios, antique shops - and dozens of works of street art to find through the alleys of the central plateau. Among them, works by Clermont-Ferrand artists, knitted graffiti or the mosaics of the renowned Space Invader. The leaflet is available at the FRAC and in the partner places.

From Victory Square, get off by the rue des Chaussetiers, made up of very old houses with the beautiful stone facades of Volvic. The Savaron house, built in 1513 for Hugues Savaron, King's adviser, is occupied by a walk, whose inner courtyard reveals a turret, a gallery connecting the two building bodies, and a cul bearing the arms of the Savaron family. At the end of the street you can see antique arcades dating back to the th century. Join Rue des Gras, parallel to the Chaussetiers. It takes its name from the stands that formerly made it up, before it was open on a gentle slope. It is a bit of the postcard of the old town, giving on one side on the cathedral façade, and on the other on the dome of Dome. You can reach the pedestrian and pedestrian street of 11 November, which leads to the rear of the opera house, and to the northeast corner of the place de Jaude. The place serves as a theatre for large demonstrations of all kinds. His new face is only a decade and favours pedestrians. In the summer, its 27 fountains refresh this clermontoise bowl, a former volcanic crater. A few meters from the tramway, the statue of Vercingétorix, works by Bartholdi (1902), was symbolically placed in the axis of Puy de Dome and Rue Blatin, which traces right to Chamalieres. That of the older General Desaix is his counterpart on the other side of the square. Apart from its numerous terraces of cafés and restaurants, its three cinemas (four if you count the cinema of the Ambiances Saint-Dominique), Jaude is also the point of access to the shopping centres Jaude and Square Jaude II. Finally, the newly restored opera house adds its beautiful illuminated facade to colourful illuminations that dress up in the evening.

Located in the authentic dining room of one of the finest palaces in the city, a beautiful exhibition of minerals, fossils, jewels and objects in fine stone, and funny machines…

The Saint-Dominique district stretches from the Avenue of the United States to Rue Gabriel-Perished, and although not part of the central plateau, it remains an important place in the city. A relatively calm and pleasant place in the day, with its terraces avenantes in semi-pedestrian streets, it agite at night. Among its special features are its impressive number of restaurants of all kinds and of all horizons, its nightclubs and its places of pleasure… St. Dominic's Street is still very strongly associated with prostitutes who have made it their favourite place since the closure of brothels after the war. Let's also mention the presence of the Ambiances, a little cinema art and trial, that the chance of circumstances has made some sort of revival of its ashes after various events. Côté Jaude, the rue des Minimes leads to the church Saint-Pierre-des-Minimes (which contains, for the anecdote, Pascal's certificate of baptism); to the opposite is the courthouse, then Fontgiève street ("Jewish fountain"). Saint-Dominique remains a popular neighbourhood for strong identity.

The École Supérieure d'Art de Clermont Métropole delivers two state diplomas, art option: the DNA and the DNSEP. Courses are available for young people who wish to take the entrance exams for art and design schools. The library specializing in contemporary art is open to the general public, who can also attend courses and workshops. ESACM organizes conferences, study days and exhibitions, including those of its graduates, as well as various events. It has a FabLab dedicated to digital art, the first of its kind in France.

It is around 1827 that La Bourboule has its first hotels, but starting in 1860 the real transformation began. The first hotel to be built is the Grand Hotel de l'Etablissement, next to the thermal Baths. The old Palace Hotel was built Avenue avenue near the same time. Hotel Métropole, work of Teillard, Hotel des Iles britanniques de Gradin, Hotel Richelieu will follow.

With the evolution of the automobile and mechanization of agriculture, the place of the yuan in rural society had been reduced as a matter of grief. It's not enough to think of a garage today to leave its tyres, pistons and valves… to build or restore wheels… wooden! And yet Alain Montpied and his wife made this choice and regret it. In a workshop whose tools and achievements would not have déparé a workshop early in the century - from the xxth century - Alain Montpied takes on board the ancestral gestures, the techniques that these craftsmen have been handing over to generations of apprentices, companions and masters. But who may want to make or redo a wooden wheel? It is hard to imagine a market for this kind of product, or rather for these art objects! And yet, roues wheels, first cars, horse cars of all kinds with their country, old drawn pieces of artillery… interest nowadays more and more private collectors or museums, in short you will have understood more and more of them. Alain Montpied's masterpiece as we were saying in the job: the wheels of the famous Fire reconstructed by Michelin for the centenary this year of the Gordon-Bennett Cup. So, Charron in the st century? It is a roule affair!

From Clermont-Ferrand, go towards Pontgibaud on the D941. After the col des Goules, take the D559 on the right. Park on the parking lot. The path starts along a fence, for a loop circuit of about 6 km and 2 hours (blue markings). Through undergrowth and beech forests, the walk leads to the two interlocking craters and allows you to overlook the volcano of Lemptégy. The path goes along the crater of the puy des Gouttes. From here, a magnificent view of the south of the Chaîne des Puys opens up.