It's been years since I posted here, but, again, I want to save images and memories from this month-long trip to France so they will be easily available to share and see again.
I am spending the month (May 14 - June 14, 2017) around Montpellier, France. I got the idea for this trip when looking for places to which to move after the last election. I had always liked the idea of spending some time in one place in France rather than bits here and there as I have in the past. So this trip could be the beginning of a new phase in life or, more likely, just another adventure. Either way is fine with me!
I should explain that the Two in Tumbleweed Two is Tom, mentioned at the beginning of the blog. We are still together, but apart sometimes to do our own things. He didn't want to come to France and he doesn't like spending so much time in a plane so he's in Arizona, supporting his son as he hikes the Arizona Trail.
Montpellier is a university town of about 500,000 in the southeast of France. It is 6 miles from the Mediterranean and 2 hours from the Atlantic and pretty near Spain.
Below is the entrance courtyard to my apartment which is three flights up (apparently pretty common for France).
I love my little refrigerator which has a special rack for keeping wine cool.
Views of other rooms in apartment follow.
View from my living room window/balcony.
I live in the historic center of town, mostly old buildings, some dating from 1300. It is closed to motor traffic, except for drop off and pickup with special ticket. Many streets are way too narrow for cars. We walk or bicycle everywhere in this area. Notice the colored lines around and going away from this area. Those are the four tramways that you can hop on for about $2.00 and go fast to anywhere you want in the rest of the city. They connect to buses on same ticket to go farther away.
No matter whether you need to ride them or not, it's so fun to see the trams coming and going. At the train station, you can see a minuet of several at one time as they come in from different to weave their ways to their train station stops
They have, according to the line, four decoration themes: spring, summer, winter and fall.
To me, these trams are so cuddly and cute, I just want to wrap my arms around one and hug it to me. Actually I apparently haven't taken a photo of one of the cutest. It'll be in the next blog, for sure.
I don't remember which church this is. There are many large glorious ones, including one just a block from my bedroom window that starts ringing the hours beginning at 8 in the morning. That's a big help - otherwise I'd have no idea of the time. Not . . . !
Yesterday, I bicycled the six miles along the Riviere Lez from Montpellier to a beach on the Mediterranean (Palavas des Flots). Along the way, I saw the beginning of a paddleboat race.
My bicycle was a Velomagg. There are 75 locations around the area, including the beach and in the surrounding suburbs. You punch in your credit card, get a number, and are charged about $.60 for every hour you use the bike during the next 7 days. Just park it at one of the locking stations when you don't need it and pick up another when you are ready to bike again
A scene on the way to the beach.
Another scene. Apparently, these black and white ducks (shelducks) are the most common duck in this area.
At last, the beach. I did buy a mat and catch some sun. It was cool when the clouds came over and warm with the sun out. Notice, my photo emphasizes all those sailboat masts in the background. (I have a sailboat at home that I haven't sailed much lately. This picture is for my sailing friends.)
On the way back, I stopped to get a picture of these men carefully rigged for fishing in the river. There poles were so long they could reach much of the way across. I thought John and Tom might like seeing these serious strategists.
Remember that first picture on this blog post - the one with the girl in the red dress in the empty courtyard where I am staying? Well this is that same courtyard this last Saturday night! A couple of bands, maybe more (I left for a while to have dinner) played from sometime in the afternoon (I was at the beach) until about 2 p.m. My landlord had warned me it would be happening. It turned out it was fun to be right in the middle of a happening, able to stay down there with them for a bit and then watch, and sometimes dance along, from above.
Today is Sunday. Businesses and shops area closed giving me impetus to do something less harried than stalk the streets. I took a tram out to a natural area and walked. Later, when I got off at a station, I asked these two girls where there might be a restaurant. They told me nowhere there. They then took me in hand, along to a different tram stop where we caught a different line back into Montpellier. Along the way, we, neither speaking the others' language very well, got to know each other a little. The one on the left is from Morocco and the one on the right is from Algeria. They said they were best friends and had met in school. They pointed out their school and toward one off their homes
as we passed. When we got to Montpellier they took me to what they considered a suitable restaurant and told the waiter that I wanted to have lunch there. (I do just fine in this situation actually, but it was fun to be looked out for.) Then they went off to meet friends to eat "fast food" as they originally intended.
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