Car Hire in Saint Etienne, France
St Étienne, 78 km northeast of Le Puy, isn't a particularly attractive town. Almost unrelievedly industrial, it turned out a leading armaments manufacturer, covered for kilometres around by mine workings, warehouses and factory chimneys. However, like a lot of other industrial centres, it has fallen on misfortune, and the demolition gangs have moved in to raze its archaic industrial past, which does not include in its charms.
The centre is bland, and also the mood is that of downfall mainly because the closure of the coal fields, but its
Musée d'Art Moderne at La Terrasse, in the north of the city (daily except Tues 10am-6pm; 28F/?4.27) justifies a detour for any individual with an interest in twentieth-century art - a quite unexpected treasure house the latest work, both pre- and post-World War II, with a great modern American section, in which Andy Warhol and Frank Stella figure prominently, together with the work by Rodin, Matisse, Léger and Ernst, and rooms filled entirely with French art, imaginatively presented to exciting effect. La Terrasse station is served by frequent trains from St-Étienne's central station, Châteaucreux. The Musée d'Art et d’Industrie, 2 place Louis-Comte, is also good on St-Étienne's industrial background, along with the development of the revolutionary Jacquard loom.
Ljao/jan/1v21
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