Visiting Montpellier

I stopped in Montpellier for three nights on my way to Nice before the St. Patrick's Day gala. Founded in the 10th century by counts from Toulouse, it features Europe's first medical school. Currently there are 60,000 students in Montpellier to add to the energy of this grand old city.

VERY narrow trail for the train with water this close on each side.

Anyone know the story of these buildings? Homes before the water's course was changed?

Esplanade Charles De Gaulle

De Gaulle Statue

There are more than fifty hotels particuliers, grand homes built by wealthy merchants. The only way to visit them is through two hour tours provided by Tourist Information. I took one, and the guide was very thorough (I guess; it was all in French), but it only took us into the courtyards, as they are now all private residences. (The medical school can also be seen by a TI tour, but they are only on the weekend.)

There were classes being held here, similar to US adult university classes.

There was an exhibition of Linda McCartney's photography in the Pavillon Populaire, which I especially enjoyed, as there were many pictures of her family growing up, the Beatles, and other famous musicians. (Can you remember the first time you heard or saw the Beatles? Did you also see them on Ed Sullivan on that fateful Sunday night!)

Okay, where did those nearly 50 years go??

Pavillon Populaire

Famed Resistance leader.

 The Centre Regional d'Histoire de la Resistaance et de la Deportation, a two room resistance museum, www.memoire-resistance-fr.fr is not far out of the city and a ten minute walk from the tram, albeit a bit hidden away with some signage, but none on the actual building!. They had audio-guides, and I found this very interesting as well.






Musee Fabre is the most popular attraction on Trip Advisor, and while this is not a huge museum, there are two buildings, one of which is the Hotel Sabatier  in these three pictures. built in 1874-75 (so I did get to see an authentic residence after all!).

The main building has a varied collection of European artists from Raphael to Matisse. It was recently renovated for 62.7 M euros, with 44.41 M euros coming from Agglomeration Community of Montpellier. Wikipedia defines " agglomeration community (French: communauté d'agglomération) is a metropolitan government structure in France, created by the Chevènement Law of 1999. It is one of three forms of intercommunality, less integrated than an urban community but more integrated than a community of communes. Agglomeration communities consist of a commune of at least 15,000 inhabitants (or a prefecture with less than 15,000 inhabitants) and its independent suburbs."

There are several famous outdoor spaces, which will be coming into their glory soon. I walked through Place Royale du Peyrou and by the Jardin des Plantes. The former has an Arc de Triomphe, a statue of Louis XIV, and a water tower. It overlooks the city, so there was wonderful views. Its openness felt quite grand, and I could imagine the coaches driving around the yard.

Inside the water tower

Water tower from a far.

View into Les Jardin des Plantes from the street

I spent three nights with Florence, another interesting Couch surfer!

Wonderful camellia in her backyard

She is very handy and did a lot of the work herself on her charming home. (When I told her the story of the flat tire on our St.Raphael house exchange-escapade, she asked, "Couldn't you change the tire yourself?" We could have, but the bolt was too rusty to remove it.) She and I took a delightful walk along the River Lez, near her house, when I arrived, and she also went to the Resistance Center with me. Couchsurfing www.couchsurfing.org is such a wonderful way to really get a better understanding of other cultures! (You can sign up either to meet people or ask to stay with them. You can also offer to do the same from your base.)

And then I was off to Nice. See you there!!