Beautiful architecture in Clermont, east side.

The walk starts at the "Maison de la Culture" tram stop. This route does not return to the starting point, but the circular route can be completed by tram.

(S) Opposite the theatre, turn left, then right onto Rue de Rabanesse. At the Château de Rabanesse, an old house with a square tower on the left, turn left along the wall with the quirky plaques. On Rue Kessler, walk a few dozen metres to the right to discover the contemporary architecture of the École Supérieure des Arts, then retrace your steps and continue straight ahead on Rue Kessler. This university district is undergoing rapid change, and other interesting architectural features may well appear here in the future. Continue straight ahead until you reach Boulevard François Mitterrand and cross the tram line and then the boulevard.

(1) Enter the Jardin Lecoq on the right. Immediately turn left, cross the rose garden and continue straight ahead until you come to the beautiful rectorate building, which also houses the garden's technical services. Then turn right, pass a beautiful beech tree, then turn left onto the path. Go straight ahead, pass another beautiful beech tree with protected roots, note the rear of the rectorate building, arrive in front of a house with yellow shutters, and note the "Byblis pleure" fountain on the left.

Turn right, pass in front of the bust of Henri Lecoq, follow the path that descends to the right, pass in front of the "natural fountain", then continue to the left (noticing the façade of the Capuchin Chapel behind the gates on the left) to exit the garden and arrive at Cours Sablon.

(2) Turn left, continue straight ahead at the crossroads, still on Cours Sablon, using the pedestrian crossings to cross to the other side of the street, which has more beautiful buildings. At the first street on the right, Rue d'Amboise, walk back and forth to see the interesting façades at numbers 5 and 8.

Back at the intersection, continue along Cours Sablon on the right. Pass in front of the headquarters of the 4th Air Combat Brigade, where you can't miss the helicopter in the courtyard. At the next intersection, note the beautiful administrative court building on the left and continue straight ahead, still on Cours Sablon.

(3) Pass in front of the Hôtel Cote-Blatin at No. 9. At the end of Cours Sablon, continue straight ahead on Boulevard Trudaine, pass the Business School, then walk along the beautiful colourful façade of the Jules Ferry School. You will finally arrive at a very large crossroads at the end of Place Delille. Keep to the right and you will soon reach another crossroads, dominated by a monumental war memorial. Opposite, you will see the beautiful building of the old post office. Go around this crossroads on the right, to pass to the other side of the war memorial and cross Avenue Albert et Élisabeth.

(4) Walk past the entrance to the old post office and immediately turn right onto Avenue Charras. Notice the pretty façades on the left at the next intersection. Continue straight ahead (there is an unusual restaurant façade on the right). Further on, at No. 22, note the beautiful house with its well-crafted contemporary door. At the intersection with Avenue d'Italie, continue straight ahead on Avenue Charras, noting Villa Giraudon on the right-hand corner. You will come to a fork in the road, separated by the narrow, rounded gable of an Art Nouveau-style house with bas-reliefs on the Avenue de Charras side (very sober, headquarters of the Charras community centre).

(5) Take Rue Jeanne d'Arc on the left of the building, passing in front of Saint-Joseph Church (two interesting houses opposite, bordering Rue Saint-Joseph). How can you not notice, further on the right, the curious red building with a turret called the Château Rouge? At the next intersection, you will find yourself in front of the station. Turn right and then right again about 50 metres further on, onto Avenue Charras. Pass the passageway on your right that leads back to Saint-Joseph Church, then a street on your left to return to the intersection with Rue Jeanne d'Arc.

(5) Turn left onto Rue de Riom, continue straight ahead until you reach the T-junction with Avenue de l'Union Soviétique, arrive at a large crossroads and cross Avenue d'Italie.

(6) Then take the pedestrian crossings on the right to cross Avenue de Grande-Bretagne, towards the remarkable Lycée Jeanne d'Arc building, "one of the finest examples of school architecture of the Third Republic" according to Prosper Mérimée. To go around the building on the left, go straight ahead, turn right onto Avenue Carnot, note the bas-relief decorating the wall of the Lycée Blaise Pascal on the other side of the street, turn right onto Rue Auguste Audollent, note the beautiful sequoia tree in the courtyard of the Petit Lycée on the right, follow Rue Delarbre to the right, cross Avenue de Grande-Bretagne and reach the intersection with Avenue d'Italie.

(6) Follow this avenue to the left. Continue to the intersection with Avenue Albert et Élisabeth and turn left onto Rue de Thiers (pretty corner house). You will arrive at the square with the Marché Saint-Joseph market hall (built in 1892). Go around the building on the left, then leave the square via Rue de Maringues. Note the beautiful façade of the Restaurant Hôtel Ravel (built around 1900) on the right.

At the crossroads with Avenue Albert et Élisabeth, note the interesting Art Nouveau façade (in need of renovation) opposite, then walk back and forth about 50 metres to the beautiful buildings at numbers 22 and 24. Back at the crossroads, continue straight on along Avenue Albert et Élisabeth and head for the crossroads with the war memorial, at the corner of the old post office.

(4) Turn right, cross Avenue Charras and turn left. Then keep to the right to reach Place Delille. Walk past the hotel and use the pedestrian crossing to reach the centre of the square, towards the beautiful fountain (built in 1875). Turn right to reach the tram line that runs along Rue Montlosier, noting the façade of the former Pharmacie L. Gros at the corner of the square, and follow the tram line to the left to reach the Delille-Montlosier stop, the terminus of this walk (E).

Very easy discovery walk, no special equipment required.
The route takes you along large, rather noisy boulevards.

Discover more hikes in this area with a description or the Visorando app here and more generally in the Puy-de-Dôme here

Photo album here

Rabanesse Castle.
Lecoq Garden.
Administrative Court building.
Cote-Blatin Hotel.
Villa Giraudon.
Jeanne-d'Arc High School.
Halles Saint-Joseph Market: farmers' market organised by the Jonquille association. Around thirty producers, both conventional and organic, sell their products directly to the public every Friday morning.
Fountain on Place Delille.
Former L. Gros Pharmacy, scheduled for renovation as part of the planned redevelopment of Place Delille (project submitted in 2022, see information panels on the square).