We spent 11 days hiking on mountains and exploring villages in the Massif Central, a highland area in the South-Central France in Auvergne region (department of Puy-de-Dôme) that consists of plateaus and extinct volcanoes (altogether about 450 of them of which 115 are in Chaîne des Puys, the youngest and Northernmost mountain chain) that have not erupted in the past 10000 years. We stayed in the capital of Puy-de-Dôme, Clermont-Ferrand, the city about the same size as Grenoble, and made day trips by car to the surrounding areas. None of the volcanoes was very far from Clermont; the farthest we drove was about 50 kilometers to Puy-de-Sancy.
Originally we had booked one week from Saturday to Saturday, but then we realized that Tuesday being a public holiday Monday was also a day off, so we extended our vacation for three more nights. Unfortunately we had to move to another Airbnb apartment; the first one was really nice, clean, and well equipped (recently renovated by the owners, who were really proud of their work), the second was none of these.
Day 1: From Grenoble to Clermont-Ferrand
We took mostly smaller roads to Clermont-Ferrand, and on our way we visited Site Le Corbusier in Firminy near Saint-Étienne, where we planned to visit the museum of modern art on our way back (but our plans changed!). The site constructed between 1961 and 1965 consists of several buildings by this renowned architect: a stadium, swimming pool, cultural center, and church Saint-Pierre. The housing unit is located a little farther away. We did not go there, since we have already visited one in Marseille. Just our luck we arrived at the site when the lunch break started, so we did not visit the cultural center either, just wondered around the area for a while.
Day 2: Clermont-Ferrand
We spent our first whole day exploring Clermont-Ferrand, instead of heading to the mountains, since we expected the trails to be rather crowded — but we had no idea how crowded! After the morning run to Parc Montjuzet hill, we strolled around the city quite aimlessly, finding almost all places closed.
Day 3 started rainy so we did not plan any hikes for that day. Besides the main volcano on Chaîne des Puys, Puy-de-Dôme, was all in clouds. The rain dissipated quite soon, though, but the day remained cloudy. Except for the morning run to Jardin Lecoq we spent the day at our apartment trying to concentrate on the work we needed to, if not finish, but to progress during this vacation week. We had an excellent Wifi so there was nothing to prevent it from happening.
Blaise Pascal passed under this port during his short life, but not in this location; it used to be part of Château de Bien-Assis owned by his brother-in-law, and was transported rock by rock here to Jardin Lecoq in 1915.
Day 4: Puy-de-Dôme (1465m) and Puy-de-Pariou (1209m)
Puy-de-Dôme is the most noticeable volcano in the chain of volcanoes (Chaîne des Puys), because it stands alone and is higher than the neighboring mountains; its distinctive shape can be seen from tens of kilometers away. It is the youngest volcano in the chain; it was created by an eruption almost 11000 years ago. It is also one of the most visited volcanoes in the area. There are two routes to reach the summit on foot, but most tourists take the panoramic train up. We walked the Southern trail, which is an old Roman road; it was a very steep gravel path, and we had decided not to take our hiking poles with us. We toured the rim, and then descended on the Northern slope on stairs to reach Col de Ceyssat. From there we climbed to Puy-de-Pariou on stairs and toured the rim, but did not descend to the crater.
Day 5: Banne d’Ordanche (1512m) and Puy-Gros (1485m)
This was our longest hike both timewise and distancewise. First half was an easy stroll on a dirt road that gradually ascended to Col de Saint-Laurent. From the pass there was a steeper trail and then finally stairs up to the summit. After returning to the pass, we had a steep descent and then a steep climb to Puy-Gros. We stayed up on the Puy-Gros for quite a while before descending to Lac-de-Guéry. This was a very scenic hike, and not too difficult even without hiking poles and in regular running shoes.
Day 6: Puy-de-Lassolas (1183m) and Puy-de-la-Vache (1167m), and Puy-de-Vichatel (1095m)
These hikes — in the morning to Puy-de-Lassolas and Puy-de-la-Vache, and in the afternoon to Puy-de-Vichatel — complete the first part of our Auvergne vacation. The second part will contain more visits to villages than hikes.
Unlike on the Day 5, this time we remembered to take the hiking poles with us, which was good decision since the climb to Puy-de-Lassolas was very steep. We could see a mix of horror, amusement, and disbelief on the faces of people coming — or sliding — down without anything to support or slow them. Even with the poles, in hindsight, we were happy about the direction we decided to visit these two volcanoes: go up to Lassolas and down from la Vache. The loose scree was easier to climb than descend, and there were stairs down from La Vache.
As you may have noticed, we were really lucky with the weather (with the exception of that one day), and this is the trends that continued for the rest of the vacation: a lot of sun, but also strong, chilly winds on higher altitudes, but the sun kept us toasted.