Discovering the small characterful towns of Puy-de-Dôme

In the Middle Ages, the village of Artonne in Auvergne had a fort. The remains of the towers of its two ramparts are still visible. Surrounded by greenery, this town surprises with its southern appearance. Especially when bright, warm light floods its small stone walls, the Saint-Martin Collegiate Church and its 13 fountains, two of which are classified as “historical monuments”.

“The small village of Artonne has everything of a big one, since it is one of the first sectors which was inhabited in Auvergne due to a particularly favorable situation on the hillsides”, says Sylvain Pasdeloup, head of the tourist office, Terra Volcana, the Volvic countries.

It is built halfway up the slopes of Puy-Saint-Jean. With a short hiking route, you climb there to enjoy a superb panorama of the Puys chain and its 80 volcanoes, listed since 2018 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

You can also see the plain of Limagne with the Monts du Forez in the background. Artonne has a botanical conservatory with vines that tell its story. The winegrowers’ houses and the large complexes made up of private mansions and castles testify to this intense wine-growing activity in the 19th century.

Another curiosity of Artonne, the Moulin Fradet art workshop. “Uenameller on lava, Nicole Guillien, offers both enamelled lava, it is this volcanic stone that we will pass under strong heat, at more than a thousand degrees, then we will be able to enamel it and create works of almost eternal art. This Fradet mill is a small natural setting at the water’s edge.”

The equestrian center, Equit’et sens, offers rides for beginners and experienced riders, to explore the region. He is also organizing a big spring hike of 20 km on Sunday April 3.

5 km away, in the old fortified town of Aigueperse, we go to Maison Vernet on the main street, where the traditional praline of Aigueperse is perpetuated. Its original recipe dates back to 1850!

“Aigueperse is located on the edge of a former national road which took Parisians to the south. So we brought pralines to motorists who were in traffic jams. And it’s a Proust madeleine from uprooted Auvergnat, this praline! “

And then Auvergne and its cheese nuggets…

“At home, we have a little cheese called Maringuois, it’s a Gaperon farm made from raw cow’s milk and pink garlic from Billom. Only one producer still works on it, as her mother and daughter did. grandmother, and you can taste it at the Maringues market, it’s the city of tanners.” Patricia Ribier produces Maringuois in Luzillat, where it is salted, peppered and molded with a cloth.

TERRA VOLCANA TOURIST OFFICE