Clermont-Ferrand – Between Vercingetorix and Michelin

If you want to know more about pneumatic tyres than you ever wanted to, visit the L’Aventure Michelin in Clermont-Ferrand, which tells the story of the local firm from tyres to restaurant and travel guides. Bibendum, the Michelin Man, is omnipresent, including a fountain (below left) that used to grace a swimming pool.

However, the town’s claim to fame extends much farther back than that. The Gauls beat Caesar nearby in Gergovie in 52 BCE – although Caesar then won the two subsequent battles later the same year, putting an end to the Gallic Wars. No matter, in Clermont-Ferrand Vercingetorix rules – at the art museum with Jeanne d’Arc (!), and on the central square of the town (below left and right). The town is composed of two parts, Clermont and Montferrand (the latter has some well-preserved houses, see above right).

As the town is on the Massif Central, a chain of mountains, ‘puys’ is nearby (see below left), with the highest, ‘Puy de Dôme’ providing a view over the town (title picture) from 1465 m. There are also ruins (partially reconstructed) of an antique temple of Minerva on the top (below right).