Montpellier

Place de la Comédie

And At Night

Julien opened up us his apartment to Sohail and me and even found us a huge air matress to share. He picked us up from the train station and took us first to the supermarket. We bought some beer and wine and Sohail and Julien played the 100 million euro lottery. Our dinner stop was a pizza truck that Julien talked up. He claimed the owner had multiple trucks because his pizza was so good, but Sohail and I suffered through it. At Julien's apartment, we were introduced to Ahmed, Julien's Turkish friend. Ahmed speaks very little French, but is somehow taking all his classes in French. His English was pretty good though, and he was a verry funny guy. We went out to a bar called Circus, met two of Julien's female friends, and relaxed while wasting money on drinks.

The next day Julien gave us the tour of Montpellier. We went to the Musée Fabré, which had plenty of excellent art, including an extensive modern art collection. Montpellier, naturally, has an Arc de Triomphe, which is built next to a Roman acqueduct.

Arc de Triomphe Montpellier



Aqueduc St. Clément

Crucifix at dusk

After wandering the old, narrow streets for a while, we stopped at an Irish pub and watched Real Madrid play Atlético Madrid on a TV. Julien's girlfriend appeared and we followed her to a jam-packed nautical-themed bar. The place truly was a ship's cabin, long, but with a narrow beam - proof that France has no fire safety codes.

A French Rally race finished nearby, with the awards ceremony held in the city center. From a distance we could see the winner pop his champagne and celebrate.

We got back to Julien's apartment via Tram, then car. It soon became clear that we had seen the best of Montpellier, so in the morning, Sohail and I made plans to check out other nearby cities. We were near the Mediterranean and unopposed to the beach, but our best logistical option was the city of Arles. That's where we headed next.