Every design for Clermont-Ferrand

Ever noticed how the Puy de Dôme seems to follow you around Clermont-Ferrand? The dormant volcano, crowned with communications towers, rises above the Chaîne des Puys just to the west, and the whole city lives within sight of a landscape on the UNESCO World Heritage List. It is a city of students and researchers, home to Michelin and to one of the world's leading short film festivals.

The Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption stands on the central knoll where the Roman forum once was, built of the black lava stone that gives the old town its colour. Down on the Place de Jaude, the Statue de Vercingétorix by Frédéric Bartholdi rides above a promise of liberty for all. L'Aventure Michelin tells the story of the tyre company founded here, and the Musée d'Art Roger Quilliot gathers the city's art.

The image that stays with you is those dark Gothic spires set against a ridge of green volcanoes.