Montpellier

Knowing nothing about Montpellier except rumors of beaches, Kim and I without question headed south on the train from Carcassonne. As we were about to catch our train, bad news arrived via text message- our connection in Montpellier, a cousin of Kim's friend, fell through. We decided to still go, of course, and continued forward blindly. As we depart from the Gare, we check into the nearest hotel and head to an internet cafe to figure out hostels for the next few days. The next morning, trekking through the center of the city in search of our hostel, we are in awe of what we see. Montpellier is gorgeous with it's beautiful architecture and busy streets. Because there is a University of Montpellier, everything is hip, students everywhere. We've agreed that we both liked it here more than Paris. It actually seems more french in a way, it's modern and young built around the old glittering beauty and culture. 

The main square, view of Place de la Comedie.

Exploring the small, unique side streets, students occupying every inch!

The first thing that we do after checking into our hostel is head to the beach. Only a few miles to the coast, we figure out the tram and bus system easily and spend the rest of the afternoon basking in the hot Mediterranean sun, curling up with our books and journals in the warm white sand. The small town that our beach spot was located looked a lot like somewhere in California. The strip was filled with shops, gelato stands, palm trees, people showing too much skin...

Kim being thrilled that the water is actually warm!

Me with the brightest most unnatural color of gelato I could find. It was delicious.

Avenue off the beach strip with a boat filled canal to the left.

Kim drinking coffee at a cafe, typical behavior ;)

After that day at the beach, the weather took a turn for the worst forcing us to explore other attractions in Montpellier. We visited the Musee Fabre, seeing the amazing and inspiring work of Eve Gramatzki, Albert Ayme, Emil Nolde, and many others. We also ventured through theJardin de Plantes, where we saw all kinds of vegetation (and sneakily picked a few flowers for pressing) and saw the Palais de Justice and Place Royale du Peyrou. It all was breathtaking.

Random people in the Musee Fabre with the work of Pierre Soulages. Incredibly huge panels of what looked like thick combed tar. 

Kim on some steps in the Jardin des Plantes.

A lovely dinner out consisting of pizza, salad, and wine at Arezzo. Very gratifying.

Our last night in Montpellier, we found a vegetarian restaurant called Tripti Kulai. The most tasteful food I've had in a while.

We've decided to take the train to a little town directly on the beach called Sete, in hopes that the sun will come back for us. Montpellier overall was awesome, really fun and dazzling city. I highly recommend it to anyone.

C'est bon,

Au revoir

Camille