Paris - Montpellier + Photos

Sunday 08 February

J: Je voudrais une croissant
J: Je suis enchante
J: Ou est le bibliotheque?
J: Voila mon passport
J: Ah, Gerard Depardieu
B + J: Un baguette, ah ha ha, oh oh oh oh

Singing yet?

Pretty much that’s all that was going through my mind as I crossed the linguistical nightmare that is French. If you’re reading this and you’re still at school, here’s my advice: LEARN A LANGUAGE. And no, the language of “music” doesn’t count.

France. Well, what do you say about France, other than IT’S AWESOME. I stayed in a hostel in Montmatre, you know, where Picasso and Van Gogh used to hang out. It’s a very relaxed, arty part of Paris with a nice feel to it (hmm…a very expensive feel too – Paris is probably the most expensive city in Europe…).

I did a walking tour run by a company whose guides don’t get “paid” in the traditional sense; you just tip them at the end. The tours are fantastic, the guides really know their stuff, and they definitely keep you entertained and informed for the 4 hour of the tour.

I stayed 4 days in Paris. The Louvre was okay – they had shut some of the rooms for restoration work, but the Mona Lisa was still open. I was actually pleasantly surprised by her. Everyone had been going on and on about how small the painting was, so I expecting something tiny, but it’s not that small. Also in the Louvre was the Venus de Milo.

But the best part of Paris was the Musee Rodin. Ahh, Rodin. I discovered his work in Cardiff and then again in Liverpool. But in Paris, there’s an entire museum devoted to his sculptures. This museum has been one of the highlights of my trip.

From Paris I headed south to Montpellier (thanks for the tip Caitlin!). Montpellier is in the south of France, on the coast. The central area of the town is made up of cobbled streets with tiny little boutique shops (though try as I might, I couldn’t find a supermarket…). I arrived on a Saturday which was a nice, sunny day. What I didn’t realise, was that on Sundays, Montpellier pretty much closes down for the day. The art gallery was open, which occupied a couple of hours. Otherwise…nothing. Oh, and then it started to rain. Not just drizzle, but someone up there was just upturning buckets of water down. So I gave up. I went back to my hostel and took advantage of the free wi-fi!