AURILLAC, the provincial capital of the Cantal, lies on the west side of the mountains, 98km east of Brive and 160km from Clermont-Ferrand. In spite of its good main-line train connections and the fact that its population has almost doubled in the last forty years to around 30,000, it remains one of the most out-of-the-way French provincial capitals. If you want to sleep in a Aurillac hotel, have a look at this site. It was until recently a major manufacturer of umbrellas, though that seems doomed to eventual extinction, like its older traditional lace-making and tanning industries. It is now mainly an administrative and commercial centre, with important cattle markets in the suburb of Sistrières on Mondays. Although there are no important sights, it makes a pleasant and unpretentious place to stop over on your way into the Massif Central from the west.The most interesting part of town is the kernel of old streets, now largely pedestrianized and full of good shops, just to the north of the central place du Square. Rue Duclaux leads through to the attractive place de l'Hôtel-de-Ville, where the big Wednesday and Saturday markets are held in the shadow of the handsome grey-stone Hôtel de Ville, built in restrained Republican-classical style in 1803. Beyond it, the continuation of rue des Forgerons leads to the beautiful little place St-Géraud, with a round twelfth-century fountain overlooked by a Romanesque house that was probably part of the original abbey guesthouse, and the externally rather unprepossessing church of St-Géraud, which nonetheless has a beautifully ribbed late Gothic ceiling. At the back of the church, past a delightful small garden, rue de la Fontaine comes out on the riverbank by the Pont du Buis, with a shady walk back along cours d'Angoulême on the other side to the Pont-Rouge and place Gerbert, where there is an ancient lavoir, or washing place. On a steep bluff overlooking this end of town towers the eleventh-century keep of the Château St-Étienne, containing the town's only worthwhile museum, the Muséum des Volcans (Jan to mid-June & mid-Sept to Dec Tues–Sat 2–6pm; mid-June to mid-Sept Mon–Fri 10am–6.30pm, Sat & Sun 2–6.30pm; 4), with a good section on volcanoes and a splendid view over the mountains to the east. Southeast of the town towards Aubrac, the road leads through Carlat, once an important feudal fiefdom, as well as the particularly attractive villages of Mur-de-Barrez, Brommat and Albinhac, with some lovely old houses and curious churches in the latter two villages.
Pages in section ‘Aurillac’: Practicalities.
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