Haunts. By Mélanie FERRON & Anne-Florence GOENVEC

 

Going downtown

On our way home

We took our black and white photos on Wednesday 23^rd of September. It was cloudy, cold, wet and windy. We felt alone. Sometimes there are so few people in our streets that Clermont-Ferrand feels haunted …

The first picture shows a street leading up to the Place de Jaude. We see the new tramway. Clermont was the first French city equipped with an electric tram back in 1890; it was the pride of the citizens.

The second picture is a view down on Sidoine Apollinaire Street. Sidoine Apollinaire was a bishop, writer and poet of the 5^th century. As he was Auvergnat, several streets, schools and religious buildings of the region have been named after him. In the background, we can see a part of the Chaine des Puys which is a symbol of Auvergne.

These two places are different: Jaude square is the social hub of the city (usually it is very busy). We like to go there to shop and meet our friends at a café or go to the cinema. Sidoine Apollinaire is just a thoroughfare we have to take to get to school (very busy at rush hour). However, we like both places, they are two of our many haunts (hence the common title of our photos!). The pictures reflect our mood at the time, but we love our city and, no, it is not always grey, empty and sad as people who do not know Clermont often say!