Extinct Volcanos

Today we made yet another visit (4th I think) to the Puy de Dome in the Auvergne district of France and very close to Clermont Ferrand. We took the lazy way cog railway to the top (1442m) and soaked up the view of the numerous extinct volcanos around us as well absolutely beautiful display a multitude of alpine flowers. There were so many amazingly beautiful wild flowers! We could just make out the black volcanic rock Cathedral of Clermont Ferrand (see folio). as we completed a circular walk of the Dome. Then we spent some time watching the hang-gliders untangling their ropes and jumping off to make their descent. We were a bit perturbed by the efforts being made to recreate the Roman Temple of Mercury close to the top. Our feeling was that the remains of the temple should be left as an historic site and not rebuilt. The temperature rose to 36 degrees as we descended in to Clermont Ferrand and eventually we reached our base at Jenzat where it dropped to a more comfortable 29.