SIR,—I have never been in Noumda which Mr. Peter Michaels
describes as 'a graceless industrial township which, but for its exquisite climate and situation, might be mistaken for a displaced Clermont-Ferranc This odd remark suggests either that Mr. Michaels has never been to Clermont-Ferrand or that his standards of gracelessness are odd. Clermont (as the locals call it) is, as befits the capital of Auvergne, not a graceless industrial township but a dignified if austere city in a magnificent situation. It is grey and some think grim, but it is not graceless. It has one of the most magnificent romanesquc churches of France, Notre-Dame-du-Port. It has a cathedral, not of the first size or beauty, but of some elegance and with the added curiosity value of being a 'Gothic revival' cathedral of the thirteenth century. There are one or two interesting austere Jesuit-style churches. There are several attractive , Renaissance and eighteenth-century houses in Cler- mont and more in its partner, Montferrand. Round the old city on its clara mons, where the first Crusade was preached, are the new industrial suburbs that grew up after the First War. These are not lovely, but they are clean, by French standards modern, are scattered over the attractive countryside and provided with magnificent views. If Clermont is graceless, what are we to say of Widnes?—Yours faithfully,
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