Montpellier France - Finally got around to Blogging

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It's been a long time since my last blog entry and so much has happened that it's hard to know where to start. I lost contact when I was in France when I busy exploring the sites and experiencing new cultures. In a way neglecting my blog shows that I was out having a great time in new exciting places instead of spending my time hunched over a laptop alone. This month I have been to Paris, Montpellier (South France), Prague, Ostava (Czech Republic) and now Vienna. Right now I am writing this entry sore, bruised, tired but happy after a day of amazing dance classes at Impulstanz. I've had a long bath to soak my aching body and a home cooked meal, staying at a beautiful Airbnb apartment by myself. Julia the owner of the apartment is away in Italy for the week I am staying, so for the price of renting a room I am lucky enough to have the whole apartment to myself! A nice little treat after having very little space over the last two months.

Lets start at the beginning on July.

I arrived in Montpellier on the 4th. The train trip was not exactly smooth sailing. I couldn't read my 'Print at Home' ticket because it had printed the coach number and seat number all jumbled up. When I had managed to find an attendant to help solve the problem and went to find my seat there was an old woman sitting in my seat. I tried to let her know that I thought it was my seat and was annoyed that I didn't have the easy way of showing her my ticket number. She just glared at me and made it quite obvious that she didn't speak English. The train was about to depart and I feeling stressed and very over tired from a poor nights sleep staying at a noisy hostel and the fact it was only 6:45am. I found another attendant who reluctantly helped me and got the woman to realise it was not her seat. She looked very embarrassed and her mood towards me changed with her saying sorry over and over again before shuffling off to her correct seat. I think it was having only 3 hours sleep but once I sat down my eyes filled with tears with the stress of it all. I couldn't help thinking that if I had been traveling with someone else it would have been a situation to easily laugh off and say “Why me?” but alone things can feel far more scary and stressful. With 3 hours on to sit and reflect on the train I realised that I had done it and was on my way to a new place and that these little troubles will make me stronger and more worldly in the long run, and that I should brush them off and not let it ruin the day.

As soon as I got to Montpellier I was feeling very tired and weighed down with my travel pack so I took a taxi to my Airbnb accommodation where I was to meet my new host Mohamed. He was running late and was not home when I arrived so I waited out on the footpath. I had only sat down to wait for a minute when two of his neighbours across the street came to talk to me and check I was alright. Two old women dressed in matching aprons and smock-like dresses. Neither of them spoke any English so I told them in French that I was Australian and that sadly I did not speak French. They fussed over me and invited me into their house to wait for Mohamed, but I felt a little unsure so I politely declined and remained outside. They went back into the house and came back shortly with a glass of cordial for me while I waited. I was blown away by their kindness and care for me. It made me realise how far away from home I was at that moment but instead of feeling homesick I felt looked after and it gave me a very good feeling that Montpellier was going to be a friendly place. And it was going to get even friendlier. It didn't take long for Mohamed to arrive home. He apologised for being late and welcomed me into his lovely house. The house was one storey with a beautiful vegetable garden and home to a little cat called Gigi and her neighbourhood friend who liked to make himself at home Fillano. Mohamed instantly treated me like a friend and made me feel very at ease for my first Airbnb experience. In my room he had left a bunch of maps, brochures and a Dance festival program that he had picked up knowing I was a dancer. He spent time with me explaining buses and trams and how to walk into the city centre, La Comedie. I couldn't help thinking that this treatment was far more preferable to arriving at a hostel and trying to work it all out myself using the free WIFI. With Mohamed's directions I ventured off to La Comedie to have a look around and get my bearings of where exactly I was. It only took about 15 minutes and I was in the centre standing next to a beautiful fountain of the three graces and surrounded by so many beautiful old buildings. I lost my way in some of the little streets, looked at some of the lovely shops and then arrived at a lane market selling food and celebrating a wine festival with live music. During the summer there are a lot of festivals happening in Montpellier, not just dance but jazz, comedy, art, food and wine.

Tired and with sore blistered infected feet from my “comfy Ecco travel shoes” I went to a pharmacy to buy some antiseptic and made a row to throw out my shoes when I found a bin. I started walking back to the house, only to get lost and take a wrong direction. Mohamed had told me I could call him if I was lost so I did. In 5 minutes he arrived on his scooter to help guide me back to the house and explain to me where I went wrong with my directions. When we got home it was 9pm and he was ready to break his fast and eat his first meal for the day and offered for me to join him. He had cooked fish patties with herbs all from the garden. It was delicious! He was an excellent cook and his company was really lovely. He had perfect English, as well as French, Spanish and Arabic. He told me how he is a math teacher and that he also teaches disabled children. His girlfriend teaches English and travels around a lot, which was why he was renting on Airbnb, because he would get bored living alone with his cats and that he liked to improve his English. When I went to bed that night I felt relaxed and comforted that I was staying in such a safe house with someone so kind and easy to talk to.

The next day after a skype session with Mum and Dad I left the house with a packed lunch and backpack of supplies for a day of sight seeing and exploring the city centre. I walked for hours along the cobbled streets marvelling at the old buildings and enjoying the summer sun. Winding up a hill were little streets filled with gorgeous shops, cafes and restaurants. It took a lot of will power not to give in and shop. I sat listening to different buskers and could not help feeling happy with life and content to be a woman of leisure. At the very top of the hill I came across a small Arch de Triomphe, beautiful park, and old aqueducts. Here I had an incredible view of the city and went crazy with my happy snaps. On the way home I stopped at a little patisserie (far too tempting to walk past!). Here I met the most lovely girl who worked there and explained to me all the tarts and pastries, and hinted that I should try her favourite, the Raspberry and lemon cream tart. It was beautiful with a golden pastry crust, something my mum always complains about in Australia where the pastry is always anaemic and sadly pale. I can happily say this was the best tart I have ever eaten.

That night I went to see my first show for the Montpellier Danse Festival by the Alonzo King Lines Ballet on at the Agora theatre. This theatre was an outside theatre so we had to wait until 10:30pm for it to get dark enough for the show to start. Call me a Nana but by then I was tired. The show was not exactly to my taste. There was no doubt in my mind that the dancers were all extremely talented and performed the material beautifully, however the balletic movement was spliced with awkward flexed feet and intricate movement that stopped all of the flow I normally enjoy from ballet. It was impressive but not aesthetically pleasing for me to watch. The costumes were also mismatched which disappointed me for such a big company. I did enjoy the power and athleticism of all the dancers and how beautiful everything looked on the outdoor open theatre at night.

The next night I went out for dinner with Alice Holland, one of my teachers from WAAPA. She was here for the festival and over FB saw that I was around. We decided to have a nice meal out in La Comedie and then attend the Jan Fabre performance at Agora together. It was nice to have someone familiar to spend time with and talk to. I had never spent any time with Alice outside class and it was great to be filled in on all the WAAPA/Perth independent dance scene goss. We ordered a 3 course meal with dishes that were exotic, saying "When in Rome...or France". Alice ordered Steak Tartare and I ordered a baked camembert. It was so rich, gooey and something I never thought possible; too much cheese for one person. After two glasses of Vine and a chocolate fondant we set off to see the performance. Jan Fabre performed a solo that was very dark, challenging and filled with a lot of French dialogue, leaving Alice and myself very lost to what exactly was going on. But I felt the emotion, sensed what was happening and understood a few words. At times in the piece he embodied an aggressive beast, threw himself violently around the space in a haze of swirling fog, spat out coins and placed them around the stage, bit his own thumb to bleed whilst tearing open his shirt open, beat his chest and howled like a mad man. I had never seen anyone embody a character like he did. It was both impressive and scary. Even without understanding the dialogue I was deeply moved by the piece and very interested to see more of Jan Fabre's work.

On Wednesday 9th, a beautiful sunny day I set off on an adventure to visit the Pont du Diable (Devil's Bridge), La Grotte de Clamouse (Caves) & Saint-Guilhem-le-Desert (voted 2nd most beautiful village in France) all about an hours journey out of Montpellier by tram and two busses. The directions I was given to visit the area by the tourist office were very confusing, even confusing Mohamed when he helped try to make sense of it all for me. So when I was waiting for one of the buses I would have caught the wrong bus if it had not been for a kind lady selling tomatoes from a crate with a budgie on her shoulder who asked me if I needed directions because I looked lost. Luckily she was going the same way as me and put me on the correct bus, helping me pay the correct amount for the ticket. People in Montpellier are far friendlier then in Paris. Probably being such a small city people have more time for each other. On the bus I met an English guy who had lived in Montpellier for 2 years and spoke even less French then I did. He was with his brother and his brother’s girlfriend who were visiting. They were all very nice and made the bus trip far more enjoyable and social. When we got on the bus we went out separate ways and made sure to warn each other that the last busy was at 5pm, and not to miss it. I first visited the Pont du Diable, Devils Bridge. A beautiful bridge overlooking a gorgeous river. About one person a year dies on the bridge after diving into the water below. The river is narrow and on either side are rocks, so I don't know why people think it’s a good idea to jump, but I did witness idiots doing just that. Walking on the pebbles to the water I walked past two lifeguards busy watching over all the swimmers. They called me over and asked me where I was from in English. They could tell I was foreign and asked me to have a coffee with them. They were both so friendly and interested to hear all about Australia. They looked very beachy and like they would dream to be on a Perth beach and surfing, minus the sharks they told me. They kindly told me that if I missed my last bus home to come back and see them because they were driving back to Montpellier home after their shift and that I could come back with them if I needed. Again, how lucky am I to meet such friendly people!! After the bridge I caught a shuttle bus to the La Grotte de Clamouse caves. Here I went on a tour of the caves accompanied with a trusty audio to translate what the guide was saying. Inside the caves I found a whole new world. I had never seen anything so beautiful and strange. Stalactites and stalagmites, soda straws and fossils filled the enormous caves everywhere I looked. In the main chamber there was a light show to classical music. I had previously heard of such things happening at other caves and always thought them to be tacky but seeing it in person was really spectacular! The coloured lights were beautiful and very magical. I felt like a little girl watching a Disney movie. The tour took about 45 minutes and I wish it could have lasted longer but I had to get a move on to see the Saint-Guilhem-le-Desert village before my bus home. The village was very small and winded up this tiny hill to a beautiful old Abbey. Some of the shops were tacky touristy, but only a few. The rest were lovely craft shops, jewellers, hand made toyshops, ice-creameries and local houses. Everywhere there were flowers planted on baloneys and colourful painted doors. It was so quaint and perfect, making it easy to see why it would be voted 2^nd most beautiful village in France. It looked untouched and showed no signs of modern change. I spent a long time in the toyshop looking at the fluffy rabbit soft toys (rabbits being my favourite) when I realised that I had only 5 minutes to catch my bus. I had to run down the hill, trying to dodge tourists to make it back to the bus on time. Thankfully the bus was late 😊

On my last day in Montpellier I saw a French film for the dance festival about the making of a dance show involving children. It was an hour long and although I didn't understand the words and it was not subtitled I enjoyed the documentary and was touched seeing adult dancers working with children and dancing together. For the rest of the day I had planed to visit the beach but was faced with windy weather that changed my mind. Instead I sat in the city park reading and people watching. A rare indulgent activity you can do when you have no job, no time commitments, no places to go and no one to see. Over the hours I observed and noticed the strangest mix of people sharing the park. The park was quite small and shared by children playing on a playground with parents wheeling their prams around and enjoying picnics. But what was strange was that this was all happening right next to teenagers drinking and listening to rave music, homeless people sleeping under trees and drug dealers dealing and fighting over payments with their big dogs on ready to attack. There were no police around, which at first seemed very unsafe. However with no police fights quickly broke up with a shove or a single punch and peace returned. It was all very bizarre. In Australia with our no drinking on the street rules there would have been police monitoring the area and I'm sure that with their involvement fights would have escalated further. Sitting next to the dealing and fighting there was not a moment where I felt unsafe, which was surprising.

That night Mohamed invited his Australian friend Nigel over for a dinner party so I could meet the 'other' Aussie in Montpellier. Nigel was from Adelaide, a scientists and very easy to talk to. He had met Mohamed the same way I had, through Airbnb when he first arrived in Montpellier and they had quickly become friends. Mohamed cooked a French meal of crepes for us using organic tomatoes and herbs from his farm, fresh mozzarella and French blue cheese, salmon and salad. We ate outside in the garden and drank chilled hibiscus tea and wine till 12:30am, laughing and telling stories.

When I first booked my stay through Airbnb with Mohamed I never imagined that I would have such an incredible stay and be looked after so well, fed and welcomed so warmly into his home as a friend. I am truly lucky to have met him. My stay in Montpellier would have been very different if I had stayed somewhere else. The next morning I felt very sad to say goodbye and leave. Mohamed made me promise to text him when I arrived in Paris to my new Airbnb accommodation and if I was safe. I will never forget his hospitality and the kindness he showed me.

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