MURAT, on the eastern edge of the Cantal, is the closest town to the high peaks and a busy little place, its cafés and shops with a bustle uncharacteristic for the region. It is also the easiest to access, lying on the N122 road and main train line, about 12km northeast of Le Lioran. Rather than any particular sight, it's the ensemble of greystone houses that attracts, many dating from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Crowded together on their medieval lanes, they make a magnificent sight, especially as you approach from the St-Flour road, with the backdrop of the steep basalt cliffs of the Rocher Bonnevie, once the site of the local castle and now surmounted by a huge white statue of the Virgin Mary. Facing the town, perched on the distinctive mound of the Rocher Bredons, on your left as you approach, there's the lovely Romanesque Église de Bredons (July & Aug daily 10am–noon & 2.30–6.30pm; free), containing some fine eighteenth-century altarpieces. One of the finest of the old houses is now open to the public as the Maison de la Faune (July & Aug Mon–Sat 10am–noon & 3–7pm, Sun 3–7pm; Sept–June Mon–Sat 10am–noon & 2–6pm, Sun 3–5pm; €4), full of stuffed animals and birds illustrating the wildlife of the Parc des Volcans.The monument to deportees on place de l'Hôtel-de-Ville and the name of the avenue des 12-et-24-Juin-1944, opposite the tourist office, both commemorate one of the blackest days in Murat's recent history. On June 12, 1944, a local Resistance group interrupted a German raid on the town and killed a senior SS officer. In reprisal, the Germans burnt several houses down on June 24 and arrested 120 people, 80 of whom died in deportation. Near the river, below the Rocher Bredons, a stone with an inscription marks the spot where the villagers were assembled before being deported. The tourist office is at 2 rue du faubourg Notre-Dame (July & Aug Mon–Sat 9.30am–noon & 1.30–7pm, Sun 9am–noon & 3–7pm; Sept–June Mon–Sat 10am–noon & 2–6pm; tel 04.71.20.09.47), and you can rent mountain bikes from La Godille, opposite, or from Bernard Escure, in place Gandilhon-Gens-d'Armes. The gare SNCF is on the main road, avenue du Dr-Mallet, where there are also some good places to stay. The most comfortable is the Hôtel des Breuils, a handsome, ivy-covered bourgeois house at no. 34 (tel 04.71.20.01.25, fax 04.71.20.02.43; €40–55; closed Nov–Christmas & April), with a heated outdoor pool, while at no. 22, there is the equally friendly and simple Les Globe-Trotters (tel 04.71.20.07.22, fax 04.71.20.16.88; €30–40; closed Oct 25–Nov 8). A few doors down at no. 18, Les Messageries (tel 04.71.20.04.04, fax 04.71.20.02.81; €40–55) has somewhat clinical rooms, but the restaurant (from €11.89–19.82) serves up good hearty cooking, including home-made terrines and fruit tarts. The town's campsite, Les Stalapos, is southwest of the centre in rue du Stade (tel 04.71.20.01.83, [email protected]; closed Oct–April).
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