Another beautiful day in the Auvergne!

We are so fortunate to have such nice program directors!  Marie-Elisabeth took Kathy and me on a tour of some of the towns along the Chaîne des Puys, which is the range of volcanoes in the area.  (I asked ... none of them are active.  I was having visions of evacuating students from flowing lava.)  After going through the suburbs of Clermont, we drove through several small towns all within the local area.  Our first stop was the Buron Dame Tartine in Le Mont Dore (http://www.auberge-dame-tartine.com/), a restaurant and inn converted from an old farmhouse, where we ate regional specialties (many with the amazing cheese and ham from the Auvergne - miam miam, as they say here). 

View of mountains from the outside of the restaurant

Another view - it's a big ski area in the winter

Kathy and Marie-Elisabeth in front of the Buron Dame Tartine

We drove back to Clermont-Ferrand on parts of the Rue des Fromages d'Auvergne.  Yes, that translates to "the road of cheeses of the Auvergne."  Not only does it go through towns in which they make excellent cheese (what were you thinking? that it was paved with cheese?) such as the tasty Saint-Nectaire, but it goes through other amazing towns.  From a distance we saw an old castle, and we stopped in the medieval town of Besse, which still has buildings from the 15th century in use today.

Church at Besse

street in Besse with volcanoes in background

House where Queen Margot stayed when she visited some time in the late 16th century

City gate in background

Now we prepare for the start of classes tomorrow, followed by a welcome gathering in the evening, then my first Comparative Torts class on Tuesday morning.  Au revoir!