Montpellier October 2009

15 October 2009 - Bristol to Montpellier

Firstly directly from Maddy's diary .... cause she says it well.

Yesterday we all got up extra early so we could get a lift into Newport. From Newport we had to walk to the station, so we could get to Bristol Temple Meads. Once we got there we had a look around and got our boarding passes printed at Protocol. Then we had to walk to the bus station so we could catch a bus from there to Bristol International Airport. We got to the airport and we were all excited. We had to go through security which was boring. We were waiting for our flights to be boarding, and then it was ready to board and we were even more excited, then we got in the line, then we got on the plane and Maddy (I) was bounding up and down. It was a long flight but a short flight. We didn't have any food on the plane, one because you had to buy it and two we didn't bring any, so now we know to bring some !!! We got off the plane in Montpellier. We got our passports stamped and carried on. We got a shuttle bus to near where our hotel was and then we found it. It looked like a very nice hotel and it was. We went back to get some food for dinner but we didn't find anything (everything was closed). We tried the restaurant in the hotel but it didn't work because the waiter only spoke French, not English! In the end we got something out of the vending machine. We had a good sleep that night. In the morning I got up a little ater (he he). We went for a wanda to find the city centre and we did !!! We went to one of the main malls called 'The Polygone'. It was big. It was funny trying to buy things in another language but luckily some people spoke English !!! We went to an art gallery and that was cool seeing all the paintings. We saw paintings by Peter Paul Rubens, Nicolas Poussin, Cabnel, Gustav Courbet, Monet, Degas, Manet, Delacroix, Raphael, Renoir, Mattise and Jean Hugo.

Then we went to all the back streets which are little lanes with shops either side. We explored around the place. For dinner we had baguets and some cheeses (brie and camebert). We, well I had a good sleep. We woke up and went to the the tram stop outside the hotel to Odysseum which is where the aquarium is. The aquarium was so cool because there was alot to do there. One of my favourite things was fishing boat with an animated scene. It was really cool.

Thanks Maddy

Yes, we arrived safely, Ryan Air were fine - but as Maddy said no food, no drink but it was only an hour and half, and really for 4 pound return you don't expect luxury, although the planes were comfy.

On arrival, we got the airport bus into the city and headed up to the hotel, after checking in we needed dinner but nearby was closed and so we walked back into town, getting quite late at this stage, and the reason everything appeared closed was that we totally missed going to where we should have gone ie the main city centre so it appeared to be a quiet place - but not so we found the next day.

Here is the website for those who wish to look at the area http://www.ot-montpellier.fr/en/

The first day we spent exploring and found so much to see, and quite easily as everything is well signposted. We did some sightseeing and then headed to the The Place de la Comédie which is the main 'centre' of the town (some photos are there with markets in the background and also sitting by the park). This is a great area for restaurants/cafes, markets and also the Art Museum was off this Musée Fabre which was beautiful - wonderful art.

This area sits between the new bit mall 'The Polygone' and the older town of the winding lanes full of lovely boutique shops, so many lanes you could get lost in them - just watch when a car comes down (photos also above). Also despite the fact we have coats on it was warm and sunny, just that once you take it in the morning you need to keep it as no point going back to the hotel to drop it off - so despite the appearance of coats they were not really needed.

For dinner we opted for the supermarket got breads and cheeses and took them back to the hotel - along with some deliciously rich flans. A lovely day had by all.

The next morning we headed onto the tram and to an area in the other direction of the city called Odysseum, apart from the obvious things there, it had an Ikea - France and Ikea, now thats a holiday ..... they also had a large shopping area, but the main reason we went there was to go the aquarium (oh I just noticed it is raining here, first time in about 4 weeks so although signalling the first of the cooler days it is probably welcomed by many ... anyway moving on). The Aquarium The Mare Nostrum Aquarium was fantastic, one of the best we have seen as it had so much in it - not just a tank but lots of interactive things to see and do - a submarine set up to walk through, a simulation of being in a boat lost in a storm (see video loaded here somewhere), the fish of course, penguins, rain forests. We all enjoyed. Oh and we also stopped into a chocolate shop - where we all enjoyed a piece.

Then we headed to the shopping area and found lunch, then headed back into the city again and did more exploring. We found first the The Peyrou -the royal square- (photo sitting on the base of the statue), then the The triumphal Arch, a cathedral and many other beautiful pieces of architecture and history. Then winding our way back through the lanes we looked for a great place to stop for dinner, we found a lovely crepe shop in a lane which was fantastic. How had a crepe with snails in it - generally if you found a snail in your crepe, well, you'd send it back .... but no he ate it, and Joseph had some and seemed to enjoy it.

From there we looked around more (not dark till later) and then back to the hotel, enjoyed my last drops of the French wine and then early night as we had to be up at 6am to get to the airport for our flight back to Bristol. We did manage to get up that early and walked to the airport shuttle and after worrying it was not going to arrive in time as we couldn't work out the timetable we then reread and realised yes it was fine, then after about 10 minute other people arrived so all good. One woman came up and asked me in French if I knew if the bus was running today - I understood that, said yes and then that I spoke English, to which she broke into Aussie English, she lives there and was heading into London on the same flight.

So that was about us for the weekend, too short and a wonderful place to visit - would recommend it. On Saturday we head to Italy and are looking forward to that very much as well.

Adding photos of the Aquarium and the video in the next post as it is getting a big large :)