Issue No. 12

Mountain Towns
Riom is an historic town with 16 listed
monuments and a further 57 registered
monuments. There are many beautiful old
houses with internal courtyards and a
famous clock tower with 128 steps to the
top from where the views are fabulous and
worth the effort of climbing and having
your chest thump like a drum. The Saturday
morning market is very pretty and watching
everyone go about their business is a great
way to get a feel for this pretty town.
The local wine is Saint-Pourcain, made
from grapes grown in one of the oldest
vineyards in France. And, it would have
been plain wrong not to have visited a
vineyard whilst there. A wine tasting is a
must and I visited Domaine Grosbot-
Barbara where the guide gave a long and
passionate explanation of his craft, though
eventually he did open several bottles. -
delicious!
Credit: Callips, Wikipedia
Moulins and the Museum of Ballet
If someone had told me before I went to
the Auvergne that one of my favourite
moments would be a visit to a museum of
ballet costumes I would have laughed. But
the next morning I visited the National
Centre for Stage Costumes which is based
in a former Cavalry barracks in the town of
Moulins. It is the home of over 10,000 set
costumes from the Opera National de
Paris and the Comedie Francais and
features many outfits created by France’s
top designers and the way in which they
are displayed is truly stunning.
Fans of Rudolf Nuryev the great dancer
(who died in France) will love the exhibition
of the costumes he danced in as well as
many of his personal effects.