If you guessed from the title of the entry that it has some relationship with France, you are totally right and I have to congratulate you for having an extremely sharp eye for languages. Spain neighbors two countries and since Portugal is in the opposite direction to Asia, I had to drive to France. I heard it is a very exotic place full of nuclear plants, cheese smell and people wearing crocodile logos... but what did I find? Volcanoes! Lots of countryside! And cheese smell, of course.
Spring arrives rather late in Auvergne, the area in France where I stopped for a few days. It is mostly located on highlands and surrounded by old volcanoes, which makes the weather colder than in other places on the same latitude. Flowers were timidly blossoming in the countryside, near many trees that still had their winter attire.

When I had recovered from the exhausting bike ride from San Sebastian, using mostly secondary (and tertiary) roads, I decided to tackle the highest volcano in the area. Its name is Puy de Dome, stands 1400+ meters over sea level and makes a great day hike from Clermont-Ferrand, the nearest city and my temporary base.

The first part of the hike was not very special, mainly following the road from the city until it reaches the protected area around the volcano. Then it becomes very nice and picturesque, cutting across the forest and finally going up steeply along the southwestern slopes of the volcano.

Upon reaching the top, one is rewarded with excellent views over the entire region. This includes many other nearby smaller volcanoes, distant mountains and lots of forested areas. There are some winding trails on the crater itself, on a smooth and green terrain that reminded me of Scotland.

From a practical point of view, I had no major problems and I actually ended up having a very good time in Clermont. My arrival was not the best, since I had to pay 38 euros for one night in a 'hostel' that was actually a students' residence. There was no shared dorm and the individual rooms were smelly and had no WiFi... plus my bike had to sleep in the street.

However, the next day everything improved when Maryon, a local girl who is a member of CouchSurfing (CS), accepted to host me at her place. She left the following day but gave me keys to her apartment and allowed me to stay as long as I wanted, so I made it four days in total. I have to thank her for her hospitality since I would have left the city much sooner otherwise. We also went the first evening together to drink Belgian beer at a new pub where the local CS group was gathering. I met interesting people, including a French girl who wanted to start her own goat farm in the near future.

From all my preconceptions, the one about cheese proved to be still valid. People are really into it and I was able to try excellent goat cheese available at any supermarket. Regarding people wearing crocodile logos, I saw some of them but not too many to be a problem. And I could not spot one single nuclear power plant... the Frenchies must be hiding them very well not to scare the tourists...