We did not have class today so decided to take a day trip to Vichy, which is a small town near Clermont. It was only a 30 minute train ride. The weather has been pretty nice here lately...until today. It's just like Kansas where mother nature will tease you with some nice weather and then come swooping back in with cold. In Vichy, it happened to be snowing pretty good...the whole day! It was pretty snow, and we braved the weather and saw what we could in the little town.
The town of Vichy has a little bit of a dark history as it was declared the capital for the Germans during Nazi-occupied France in WWII. The French do not like to talk about this, and we saw no remnants of the war or memorials in the town. The town prides itself, however, on its "sources" which are fountains of water considered to have healing properties. One is supposed to drink these for health and wellness. All of the 'sources' were closed because of the season. Bummer. I will have to return to have some of this special water. The town is also known for some good shopping, however, many of the stores were closed...because of the season? haha. We enjoyed walking around and observing the cute and oh so french architecture, as well as the large parks. When it came time for lunch, "food swings" it as we were all very hungry. The first two restaurants we went to were closed. haha. A restaurant closed for lunch! So French. We finally found a little Italian joint and had some pastas, pizzas, and wine.
The town was nice, alas, walking through the snow only sufficed for so long before we decided to get back on the train to Clermont, and into our beds for a little sieste.
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