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Published: June 18th 2010
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So today was my big day to check out Montpellier as it is my only full day here. I started by just wandering around town for a couple hours looking for nothing in particular but still seeing a lot. Last blog I mentioned I would talk about the city so here it is. It is fantastic, one of my favorite places on this trip so far. It only has about 200,000 there and it feels like less. The city is pretty condensed and has just a friendly and lively ambience 24/7. A lot of this can be contributed to the university here and all the internationals it attracts. While the city has no real defining monument the downtown is made up of a bunch of 18th and 19th century buildings which have been well preserved. The city is incredibly clean as well. All you really need to know about the city though is that they ALWAYS have something fun going on in the main plaza. Right now they set up this beach volleyball court with some stands and have been having tournaments that everyone can play in as well as a few demos and what not. Also, I should note that
cathedral
massive cathedral in montpellier the stereotype that the French are stuck up, especially towards Americans has not been seen at all. Everyone has been incredibly friendly and willing to communicate with me in English. I really wish I had more than a day here. Also, I love all the sandwicherias around town where you can get a nice lunch for cheap and just sit at a table outside and people watch. Been doing that a lot. Back to the action.
Back on a real keyboard. Thank god. So I should now mention that Anil and a lot of his couchsurfer friends are pretty big outdoor activity guys. This area is fantastic for bike riding which is real popular and they like to take day trips out 30 or 40km outside of Montpellier to these hiking areas or hot springs or whatever. So Anil was kind enough to lend me his bike for the day while he was at work and I was told a pretty easy bike ride is one down to the beach. It was about a 15km ride directly south along the river. The path was just finished so it was quite a smooth and enjoyable ride, except for the crazed
path
bike path to the beach dog that chased after me and bit my foot. It got all shoe though so no pain and no chance of infection or whatever. Got down to this small beach town and went over to this pier with a bunch of old french guys sitting there fishing. It was great. I took it easy and found a flat rock out by this small light house and just took a short nap in the sun before heading back home. It was great to get some good exercise and see the countryside. I really wish I was around here for the weekend since they are taking a pretty long bike trek out to this secluded lake which looked amazing in the pictures. Oh well. Had a quiet evening watching Les Blues (french football team) play Mexico. They lost again. They haven' even scored a goal yet haha so no one can make fun of me for supporting the USA. All in all a great day in and out of Montpellier.
Side Note: I was surprised to discover just how alive and well hitch hiking is here in France, particularly in the south. I thought this was an art that had died
pier
pier back in the 70s but I was dead wrong. Anil and his buddies do it pretty often when the place they want to check out is to far to go to by bike. It is a pretty accepted way to do things and no problem so far. I was asking them if they ever had to wait a real long time and he said the worst was just waiting on the highway for 45 minutes but that was the only long wait. Thought that was pretty cool. End of tangent.
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