Clermont day #2

Today all the assistants were asked to attend an administration and training day in Clermont-Ferrand, which I previously visited (see Sept. 22). In order to arrive on time for the start of the meeting at 9:30am, we had to get the 7am train from Montluçon - which meant waking up at five. Ugh.

We met at the roundabout at 6am, bleary-eyed and groggy in the darkness. We came across nobody else on the half-hour walk to the station, where we were greeted by a rather cute one-carriage train which was to be our ride to Clermont. In my tired stupidity I had forgotten to bring my youth railcard, so I had to pay ?9.20 before I could get on the train. Ugh.

We arrived at the meeting three hours later, only for me and Minda to find that it was not for Comenius assistants, and therefore most of the information would be irrelevant for us (in short, because we're employed by our home countries as opposed to the French government). We were told we could hang around if we wanted, but it wouldn't be of much use. UGH.

It was after these three irritations that the day took a turn for the better. Leaving our fellow assistants in a cramped room surrounded by paperwork, Minda and I found ourselves free for the day by 10am. Starving, we headed into the city centre and gorged ourselves at Quick (Franco-Belgian McDonald's; delicious) before seeing some sights. The highlight of the town is undoubtedly the centre. Like many European towns, this consists mainly of narrow cobbled streets snaking their way around a cathedral, which in this case is a towering Gothic affair built in black volcanic stone.

After a coffee, Minda indulged my tram fetish and we rode Line A* to the Roger Qulliot art museum. The museum - named for a former mayor of Clermont - is a mixture of local art spanning five centuries, as well as a small exhibition of local antiquities such as stone carvings and ornate pews from churches long since disappeared. The trip was well worth it, especially seeing as admission was free, and afterwards we returned to the city centre to catch our train home.

Despite being totally exhausted by the time I slumped into bed at 10pm, the seemingly-wasted day had been quite rewarding - for example, the sandwich I bought for the train was so vast that I could only eat half of it, and the rest awaits me in the fridge for my lunch tomorrow. Every cloud...

*Quick note: Clermont actually has a "Translohr" as opposed to a tram system. A Translohr, Wikipedia tells me, is esentially an electronic bus (with pantograph) which is guided by one central rail. The whole experience is very tram-like - the only giveaways are the single rail and the rubber tyres. So there.