Tuesday, 20th of May 1997:    Clermont Ferrand - Marvejols

We now arrived in the volcanic region of the "Central Massif", also known as the region of the "puys" (pronounced as "pwees"). The most famous puy is the 1462 meters high "Puy de Dôme", on the left in the picture.

The "Puy the Dôme" is a volcano of the Pelée-type. This type of volcano is notorious because of its violent, catastrophic eruptions that produce gas-clouds (called "pyroclastic flows") with temperatures up to 850 degrees Celsius. Other types of volcano in this region were able to create lava flows of over 15 kilometers long! But don't be afraid... the volcanoes in France aren't active anymore, so it is safe to visit the region.