A black cathedral among green volcanoes

Clermont-Ferrand owes its look to what it is built from. The cathedral, the fountains and much of the old town are cut from Volvic stone, a dark grey lava quarried a little way north of the city, so the Gothic spires stand almost black against the hills. Behind them rises the Puy de Dôme, the tallest of some eighty dormant volcanoes that run from north to south along the western horizon.

The centre is compact and easy on foot. From the sloping lanes around the cathedral it is ten minutes down to Place de Jaude, the wide main square watched over by Bartholdi’s statue of Vercingetorix, and a short tram ride north-east to Montferrand, a separate medieval town until the two were united in 1630. A large student population keeps the terraces around Place de la Victoire busy well into the evening.

Auvergne cooking is mountain cooking: truffade, potatoes fried with fresh tomme until the cheese pulls into strings, and a cheese board that runs from Saint-Nectaire and Cantal to Fourme d’Ambert and Bleu d’Auvergne. The Saint-Pierre market hall is the place to taste them. For nine days around the start of February, an international short film festival fills the city’s cinemas and lecture halls.