Montpellier

Our first impressions of Montpellier were not especially good ones. The town on arrival appeared a bit concrete jungle like. The little park we walked through to find L'office de tourisme was quiet and a little littered including broken glass. It was like being at the aftermath of a party that we were not invited to. But lo and behold we hit the main square and the city did buzz. We promptly booked ourselves on a walking tour of the old part of the city and stopped of for a drink while we were waiting to soak in the atmosphere. The tour was good. Montpellier is the gay capital of the south of France and our tour guide did not disappoint. He did the tour in French but we had audio guides to translate him.

Highlights were an underground bath for Jewish ladies in particular to go when having a dirty time of the month etc. Also the replica of the arc de triomph, which we climbed. It was only 90 steps so the view was worth the effort.

Lunch was in a little square our tour guide had directed us to off the main tourist route. We were a little late for the apparently strict 12 - 2 lunch hours. It was a nice lunch, however the maitre de seemed a tad on the grumpy side, especially on the question of whether we wanted coffee or not. Although we had already answered no twice he had to insist a 3rd time as he wanted to turn the machine off.

On return to the campsite it was wine o'clock. This is a very important time that, a bit like Easter changes every time. Wine o'clock is whenever and usually as soon as we arrive back onto the campsite. Later in the evening Lukas and I decided to go for a late night dip in the sea, while still drinking wine. Seems safe I think!