Theme Week Auvergne – Le Puy-en-Velay

29 July 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  8 minutes

Chapel Saint-Michel d'Aiguilhe © W. Bulach/cc-by-sa-4.0

Chapel Saint-Michel d’Aiguilhe © W. Bulach/cc-by-sa-4.0

Le Puy-en-Velay (literally Le Puy in Velay; Occitan: Lo Puèi de Velai) is the prefecture of the Haute-Loire department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of south-central France. Located near the river Loire, the city is famous for its cathedral, for a kind of lentil, for its lace-making, as well as for being the origin of the Chemin du Puy, one of the principal origin points of the pilgrimage route of Santiago de Compostela in France. In 2017, the commune had a population of 18,995.   read more…

Theme Week Auvergne – Issoire

28 July 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Town Hall © Krzysztof Golik/cc-by-sa-4.0

Town Hall © Krzysztof Golik/cc-by-sa-4.0

Issoire is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France. Issoire is located on the river Couze, near its confluence with the Allier, 40 km (25 mi) SSE of Clermont-Ferrand on the Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée railway to Nîmes. Issoire is situated in one of the fertile plains of the Petites Limagnes—basins that follow the Allier from its source in the Massif Central to the Grande Limagne north of Clermont-Ferrand and on to the Loire.   read more…

Theme Week Auvergne – Montluçon

27 July 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

Château of the Dukes of Bourbon © Lionel Allorge/cc-by-sa-3.0

Château of the Dukes of Bourbon © Lionel Allorge/cc-by-sa-3.0

Montluçon (Occitan: Montleçon) is a commune in central France on the river Cher. It is the largest commune in the Allier department, although the department’s prefecture is located in the smaller town of Moulins. Its inhabitants are known as Montluçonnais. The town is in the traditional province of Bourbonnais and was part of the mediaeval duchy of Bourbon. Montluçon is located in the northwest of the Allier department near the frontier of the Centre-Val de Loire and Nouvelle-Aquitaine regions.   read more…

Theme Week Auvergne – Aurillac

26 July 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  8 minutes

Town Hall © Pline/cc-by-sa-3.0

Town Hall © Pline/cc-by-sa-3.0

Aurillac (Occitan: Orlhac) is the prefecture of the Cantal department, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as Aurillacois or Aurillacoises. The Jordanne river flows through the heart of the commune from north to south where it joins the Cère just south of the commune.   read more…

Theme Week Auvergne – Riom

25 July 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

© Espirat/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Espirat/cc-by-sa-4.0

Riom (Auvergnat: Riam) is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.   read more…

Theme Week Auvergne

24 July 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon voyage, Bon appétit, Theme Weeks Reading Time:  10 minutes

Regional specialities © flickr.com - Sylvie burr

Regional specialities © flickr.com – Sylvie burr

Auvergne (Occitan: Auvèrnhe or Auvèrnha) is a cultural region in central France. Since 2016, Auvergne is not an administrative unit of France, but it is generally regarded as similar to the land area of the Province of Auvergne, which was dissolved in 1790, and the larger administrative region of Auvergne, which existed from 1956-2015. The region is home to a chain of volcanoes known collectively as the “chaîne des Puys“. The last confirmed eruption was around 4040 BCE. The volcanoes began forming some 70,000 years ago, and most have eroded, leaving plugs of hardened magma that form rounded hilltops known as puys.   read more…

Montbrison in the Loire department

28 March 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  4 minutes

© Nezdek/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Nezdek/cc-by-sa-4.0

Montbrison (Arpitan: Montbréson) is a commune in the Loire department in central France. Montbrison was the historical capital of the counts of Forez, and today it is the principal city in the Forez.   read more…

Romans-sur-Isère in southeastern France

7 May 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

© Toutaitanous/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Toutaitanous/cc-by-sa-3.0

Romans-sur-Isère is a commune in the Drôme department in southeastern France. Romans-sur-Isère is located on the Isère, 20 km (12 mi) northeast of Valence. There are more than 50,000 inhabitants in the urban area (if the neighboring town of Bourg-de-Péage is included). Romans is close to the Vercors.   read more…

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