Montpellier
On Monday we woke up after our exhausting trip on Sunday to blue skies and an altogether sunnier frame of mind. Although this unit has some (okay quite a lot of) faults, it actually is a lot better than we first thought in our tired state last night. It's very French! But we are in France .... so you've got to accept that things are done differently here.
God bless the little Carrefour corner store across the road. We were able to stock up on some necessary food items, and later we found a Lidl store down the road which had a bigger range of goods. Still no kettle though ....
John went off on his own to the nearby airport to pick up the hire car. He doesn't mind a challenge or getting lost whereas Barb almost hyperventilates (grrr - wadya mean almost?) when faced with such things. Susan and Barb spent the morning exploring the unit's cupboards and drawers and eventually located a chopping board and tea towels which we hadn't found on the first day. Betterer and betterer...
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| John got the hire car safely "home". That's our unit on the second floor behind the tree |
John and Barb ventured into town to check out the parking there and to do a bit of exploring. Susan stayed back at the unit to rest a bruised and swollen foot. No long walks for her today!
It was a scary ride in to town. The trams, the one-way narrow streets and not to mention driving an unfamiliar left hand drive car made it extra scary. We found the major parking area which is right opposite the Gare St Roch (where our train came in yesterday). It's only a modest hike from there into the Place de la Comedie, which apparently is one of the largest pedestrian only squares in southern Europe. Pedestrian only?. No one's told the miriad cyclists, the lunatic electric scooter riders or the plodding noddy train - we had to keep our wits about us.
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| Back at Gare St Roch again! |
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| All these train stations seem to have massively high ceilings |
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| The streets of Montpellier have a Meditteranean feel (Well, we ARE on the Meditteranean here!) |
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| Barb spots an old fashioned Carousel and can't stop smiling. She LIKES! |
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| The Place de la Comedie is vast! This just one corner of it. |
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| That's the Opera building |
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| We find ourselves in an out-door cafe looking out on the square |
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| Barb is in heaven when she finds Creme Brulee on the menu. Delicieux! |
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| While we're sitting there a Noddy Train goes past .... might be fun! |
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| Colourful trams abound |
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| Did we mention the colourful trams? This one is Barb's favourite |
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| This building amused us ... it's got a painted facade to cover a boring blank wall. Even the people looking out the window are painted on. |
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| Barb has found a mini Arc de Triomphe |
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| John has found coffe just the way he likes it |
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| And a pretty French waitress who understood Barb when she made the order |
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| We popped into the Tourist Office for a map and found that we'd misunderstood. The trams aren't free (unless you're over 65 and live here). Oops. |
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| Barb in front of the Hotel de Ville |
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| John in front of a statue of Manitas de Plata, flamenco guitarist, who he saw in concert in 1968 .... blimey .... so long ago! |
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| John on Le Lez bridge |
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| Another view of Le Lez |
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| A hotel near us that houses the best patisserie we've found so far |
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| Back "home" at the apartment Barb and Susan try to figure out the washing machine |
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| No instructions ... not even in French. We eventually figure out where to put the clothes in |
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| We chuck in a sachet of this... |
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| Et voila! We have clean clothes again |
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| We discovered a Pharmacie in town that hires wheelchairs - it's quite possible we'll need a twin one as both Barb and Susan are struggling with all the walking we're doing (Dunno who the expect to do the pushing) |
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