Bonjour, France!

Chapitre II: Montpellier

April 24

10:00: Already in Montpellier, and already feeling tropical. We head to the Antigone square in search of food. And food we find: paella from the Sunday morning market. I adore paella. The vendor has no forks, but I don’t mind! Scooping rice with mussel shells under palm trees and blue skies – what more can you ask of a holiday in the south of France? 

13:00: Walking through Place de la Comédie and the adjoining gardens. Spring is well and truly here! We continue to the Musée Fabre, “one of the biggest museums in France”. No kidding. I actually get lost – a feat I won’t even manage in the Louvre!

18:00: ZAT! (Zones Artistiques Temporaires) Festival – we see “a man who falls”, as my roommate bluntly puts it, and “a man who washes hands”. The latter may have left me a little perplexed, but the first definitely deserves more credit than that. Not only is he was an amazing trampolinist, he performs to Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1 in G, 3^rd movement. I recognise the piece without needing to read the program, so that, dear reader, should give you a pretty good idea of how much I love it.

April 25

9:00: Sunday morning stroll through the Jardin de Peyrou. Such serenity. I don’t blame my roommate for wanting to live here one day. The Porte du Peyrou (nicknamed l’Arc de Triomphe, for obvious reasons) and the beautiful Château d’Eau...

11:00: I fall in love with the Quartier de l’Ancien Courrier, an old neighbourhood of Montpellier. Wandering down narrow alleyways, stumbling upon cute crêperies... 

 

14:00: A spot of shopping at the Odysseum. Sounds impressive for a shopping centre, doesn’t it? Well, it sure is. I find a shop called Stradivarius...that sells clothes and accessories. No matter, I buy a bag to support the excellent choice of name.

15:00: Sick. Sicker than I’ve been in years. But no details needed here. That’s the last time I try to save money and a bad stomach by buying food from a supermarket though – street vendor next time! How ironic.

19:00: I drag myself out of bed to see the Modigliani Quartet in concert at the Montpellier Fêtes des Luthiers. And boy am I glad I do. One look at them and all sickness is forgotten... Four beautiful men playing Webern, Beethoven and Debussy on four beautiful instruments – I can’t think of a better way to recover!