Adge to Clermont-Ferrand

Adge was a fabulous place to relax for a couple of days. The beach is always nice, but this was near perfect. It was 26 degrees every day (80 to us Americans). 30 miles north of us it was raining so hard it was flooding, but here the clouds just blew over.

After some decompression, it's time to head in the general direction of Paris.

The route takes us up into the mountains of the Central Massif, beautiful country.

At one point, we cross the gorge of Garabit, where Gustave Eiffel built a railroad bridge using the technology he would later apply to a tower in Paris.

After a few hours we reach Clermont-Ferrand, an old city with plenty of history. It goes back all the way to Vercingétorix who united the Gallic tribes and beat the tar out of Julius Cesar. in 52 BC. He couldn't make it stick, though and was later captured and put to death in Rome.

Vercingétorix in the Place de Jaude

Our hotel overlooks the Place de Jaude and is a wonderful place to explore from. 

Lobby animals

Up the hill is a gothic cathedral, the Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption. It dates from 1248.

"Just around the corner is the Jardin Lecoq, originally planted to support a medical school.

Giant Sequoia

Blaise Pascal was from Clermont-Ferrand. He was a mathematician, physicist and philosopher in the 1600s. He created a mechanical calculator which is one of the forerunners of modern adding machines.