We took this photo of administrative buildings
in Vercingetorix Avenue, Clermont-Ferrand, on 25 February. It was a sad day.
There were few people on the streets. It was cold, but not too much. The rain
made the avenue shine. We were reminded of a disaster movie set… The facade of
the building is made of very dark grey, dirty, stone criss-crossed with lines. There’s a big, old, wooden door with
two sizeable golden handles. There are small drawings, which are supposed to be decorative. Behind the impressive
railings, there are more big buildings behind a courtyard that serves as a carpark.
This is an unwelcoming place. For us, this picture shows the sad side of
Clermont Ferrand. It is not a place tourists would find interesting.
We took the second photo in a small dark alley
called Abbé Girard Street, in Clermont-Ferrand. We find this photo very pretty
and cheerful. These "tiles" on the wall immediately aroused our
curiosity, like a small fragment of joy in this unappealing location. The pattern
is of yellow and orange flowers on a white background. Between each tile, there
is an orange square. It's not the kind of thing we would have imagined finding
in this street. Clermont has some happy hidden corners too...
Both pictures have brick-colour in them, but the two photos are very different: one is sad, the other jolly. The austere architecture in the first picture
contrasts with the curvy flowers that soften the symmetry of the tiles in the second
photo.
Clermont's architecture is mostly rather austere, but there are also pretty details. This undoubtedly reflects the various functions of the city (most administrative buildings are big, functional and self-important) and the character of its inhabitants too (someone wanted to make the street more liveable by putting up pretty tiles).
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