We had a bit of a drive ahead of us on our way to the Alps, and so stopped off for a break in Clermont-Ferrand (home of Michelin tyres). The town is the gateway to the Massif-Central mountain range and surrounded by a volcanic landscape. The town of Volvic is nearby, famous in Europe for its mineral water, and featuring the Puy de Dom volcano on its bottles.
The drive to the top of the Puy de Dom was well worth it:
And gave us a great picnic spot!
2 comments:
Finally caught up with reading your latest blogs! I may be biased but I thnk the castles in France are more beautiful, more clean-cut lines,feels warmer and the grounds are magnificent!!
Would you agree?
I'm not sure I'm qualified to answer yet as apart from over 10 French castles I've only seen Windsor Castle and Neuschwanstein to compare... hardly fair! But the Loire chateaux enjoyed a rare time when castles didn't have to be defensive and could be romantic, and comfortable to live in and people were rich enough to afford their dream residences. And French chateaux owe a lot of their charm to their age, say compared to Ludwig IIs relatively new Neuschwanstein which still feels a bit too polished. (-: They certainly knew how to build.
Post a Comment