Cantal

For the cheese, see Cantal (cheese).

Cantal is a department in south-central France.

History

Cantal is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Auvergne.

Geography

The department is part of the current region of Auvergne and is surrounded by the department of Puy-de-Dôme, Haute-Loire, Aveyron, Lot, Lozère, and Corrèze.

The principal towns are Aurillac, Saint-Flour, and Mauriac. The topography of Cantal is hilly, the highest point is Le Plomb du Cantal, 1858 m

Climate

The department of the Cantal has different types of climates according to the geographical position.

The west is well watered, thanks to abundant precipitations coming from the Atlantic . The temperatures are smooth generally, whereas the East is much more dry and fresher.

As a matter of fact, the precipitations fall in abundance on the central relief. To this fact, it is necessary to add the effect of the altitude: the climate is quite cold in winter (It snows almost every winter) but it can be very hot during the summer (especially in the southern part of the department which has borders with Aveyron and Lot)

In the central part of the department, that it is to say highest grounds, the altitudes surpass 1000 meters easily: The cold can be strong, The snow falls in abundance and can remains up to six months on the tops. The temperatures can fall, in the heart of the winter, until - 15 °C, whereas at the top of summer 25°C is reached easily.

The weather forecast of the television networks often indicates Aurillac as the coldest city of France in the morning. It is not necessary to put in doubt the temperatures observed by Meteo France, but it is necessary to give precisions. The explanation is simple:

• The scientist weather station of Aurillac is to 640 ms of altitude.
• The temperature diminishes of 1 °C each 150 ms.
• Meteo France only puts an index of 30 cities on the map and Aurillac is the only city in altitude.

These low temperatures on the morning can let suppose an inhospitable place with gray and low sky. The reality is totally different: In Aurillac the fog is rare and disappears quickly. There is a generous sun all the year long and the strong wind is next to nothing. The Cantal is already the south (same latitude as Bordeaux) and the duration of isolation shows it: We just have to compare the annual number of hours of isolation (average from 1991 to 2000):

Nimes: 2590 h - Millau/Clermont-Ferrand: 2120 h - Aurillac: 2080 h - Toulouse: 2010 h - Bordeaux: 1990 h - Lyon: 1930 h - Limoges: 1870 h - Tours: 1800 h - Nantes: 1690 h - Paris: 1630 h.

The Cantal is a department of average mountain which altitude varies between 250 ms in the valley of the Lot River and 1855 ms in the top of Plomb du Cantal. The temperature divergences can be very important from a place to the other. It is not colder in the Cantal than in other regions of average mountain like the Vosges or Jura. The prevailing winds and the relief divide the Cantal in 4 climatic zones:

• The West is subject to oceanic winds which brings rains.
• The mounts of the Cantal and the Cézallier, which constitute an obstacle, has a specific climate : It rains and snows quite often.
• The Planèze of Saint-Flour and the region of Massiac are less watered, thanks to winds coming from the North and the South.
• The plateaus of the Margeride and the Aubrac have a hard climate in pleasant winter and in summer.

Demography

The inhabitants of the department are called Cantaliens or Cantalous.

Cantal is still one of the most isolated and unpopulated French department (with Lozère and Creuse). For exemple, the Valley of Brezon is very isolated.

Tourism

Located in the Parc Regional des Volcans d’Auvergne, the Cantal is a department of little urbanization. There is mainly a tourism of middle mountain, especially a green tourism, in contact with nature.

The most visited places are the Puy Mary (1787 ms) considered like one of the prettiest panoramas of Europe, the Plomb du Cantal (1855 ms), the village of Salers, the Throats of the Truyère (with the viaduct of Garabit, the castle of Alleuze), the town of Boisset, Pierrefort... The Parc naturel des Volcans d’Auvergne features several inactive volcanos. Cantal also has numerous castles.

Tourism of spring / summer season:

Among the various acvtivities proposed in this department, there is the discovery of the “Massif Cantalien" through the peatonal, horsing or mountain biking excursions (tracks are especially designed for this) Aquatic sports are also enjoyable, thanks to numerous lakes. The department also proposes "more classic" activities like scaling, canoening or fishing. The relief also allows to practice free flight: Parapente fans frequent the sector around the Puy Mary or the valley of Brezon.

Tourism of winter season:

Thanks to its relief, the Cantal can count on a good snow level, which enables to practice winter sports. The station of the Lioran (greatest ski-resort of the Massif Central) enables alpine ski (with specific adaptations for snowboard) or ice-skating. Excursions in raquetttes are also possible. All through the department, several hundreds of kilometers of tracks of cross-country skiing are counted.

See also

• Cantons of the Cantal department
• Communes of the Cantal department
• Arrondissements of the Cantal department

External links

• Template:En icon Cantal Tourism Guide
• Template:Fr icon Prefecture website
• Template:Fr icon Council website
• Template:Fr icon Cantal, from the Chamber of Commerce
• Template:Fr icon Tourism site provided by the General Council