Auvergne #2

... Continuing from the previous post, Auvergne #1

After our visit to Le Puy-en-Velay, we drove back to Geert’s apartment, where she finished preparing yet another feast – this time for us as well as two of her long-term friends, Chris and Marietta Freeman, who were driving through on their way from Spain to their home in London.  The food and the conversation were both superb.

Our last day in Clermont-Ferrand was to be relaxed so that we could see the town itself, including its magnificent black cathedral and a totally different church, Notre Dame du Port.  These two churches are both beautiful but totally different.  The black cathedral is built with volcanic stone, which explains its color.  In spite of its color, it has a surprising delicacy to the stonework.  Notre Dame du Port, on the other hand, is built in the Romanesque style, more typical of churches in the Auvergne.  Both of them have exquisite stained glass windows.

Just around the corner from Geert's apartment is a large square (Place) surrounded by stores like Galeries-Lafayette and with fountains and statues in the center.

One of the statues is of a mounted warrior, whose name is obviously unpronouncable:

who is a hero who was from Clermont-Ferrand.  He led the Gaulois to a great victory over the Romans back a few centuries.

From the square we entered the narrow streets and smaller shops of the old city, and eventually the Cathedral Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption, the black cathedral.

The closer we got to the cathedral, the more it dominated the view.  It was awesome, in the real sense of the word, like looking an an ocean liner from right below it.

The cathedral had beautiful stained glass windows, that were very hard to photograph in the very dark room.

There is also an impressive organ, which I didn't get to hear.  That will be for another trip.

After the cathedral, Geert took us to another ancient church, Notre-Dame-du-Port, in the Romanesque, rather than gothic style.

The stained glass in this church was also gorgeous, but equally hard to photograph.  I loved the way the light through the colored windows played across the walls of the church.

We climbed several floors up in a building behind the church to get a bird's-eye view of the roof.

The details and textures are amazing!

After a fabulous lunch of whole baked fish in a lovely park, we boarded the Flixbus for our return trip home to Lyon.  The level of hospitality that Geert demonstrated was spectacular and not one we will be able to duplicate.