Living in the suburbs - Montpellier

1. View to north west

2. Montpellier 'Arc de Triomphe'

3. Tramway at the Place de Comedie

4. Place de Comedie

5. the Promenade de Peyrou and statue of Louis IV.

Wednesday 5 May
OK, the weather has been up and down. We arrived to high cloud and warm temperatures at midday Wednesday but by the afternoon the temperature was hovering around 9C and it was raining! We thought we had left the cold behind in Germany, where it was 4C at Hahn airport when we boarded our flight.

The Peugeot Open Europe guy was waiting and so was our 207, ready for the beginning of our 4 month adventure. Aircon on and Tom Tom (GPS) fired up we were on our way. No hassle way to get to where we want to go, except for some reason our guide didn't say 'you have reached your destination' and we had to go around the block again ... at French lunch time in one of the many University districts - it took 10 minutes I swear.

Mdme Coquil (the cleaner) was waiting to show us around the house - how to use the coffee machine, where the washing machine and dryer was, where the fridge was (behind cupboard doors), all those important things - and we settled in. Still not over jetlag, so spent the afernoon unpacking, then sleeping then realised it was 6.30pm and we needed some groceries (although there was a good stock in the fridge).

The garden is well stocked with a cherry, fig, 2 olives, lots of roses and a eucalyptus tree! Of course the fruit is nowhere near ready yet, but when we come back at the end of June...?.

It took a journey in the wrong direction and hold ups in peak hour traffic before finally getting to the large Carrefour on the northern outskirts (in fact only about 10 minutes by car from here) - should have remembered they are always on the outer ring road. bit mystified by the apparent lack of local boulangerie and mini supermarket.

Thursday 6 May
What a difference some sunshine makes, even if it is still quite cool, with a keen wind, so we rug up, and equipped with a map showing the tramway routes head off. How good is this? Smooth, modern, efficient fast rail type trams show up every 8 minutes and drop us off, just 1o minutes and 5 stops later at the Place Comedie and the historic centre where we find the Office de Tourisme. Museums might be the go if the weather is no good, so we get a three day Montpellier card, which includes free entry and all transport for 31 euro each and includes the excellent temporary exhibition in the Musee Fabre. By the time we are finished there the sky is blue and it is possible to shed layers, at least out of the wind.

Lunch at a small brasserie which has paella for 9.90euro including a glass of wine and yummy bread (of course - refills no question, no charge). We are outside - negative, there are smokers at the next table, positive the sun is shining and we are thawing out. However the smokers start chatting to us - Australian? World cup here 2007 - do we know George Gregan? He now plays for Toulon. We must go there to swim!
The historic centre is delightful and hilly - I imagined Montpellier as all flat. The shops are pretty good as well and Liz manages to buy some good walking shoes - light and not too closed in.
Back to rue du Triolet and another late siesta, checking emails, reading and enjoying a coffee on the terrace in the sun.

Friday 7 May
Google has helped us find all the markets and when they are open. We try the one on Place Albert 1er which operates on Friday and Saturday but there isn't much there so we walk to the centre and the Halles Castellane, a permanent covered market, which is excellent, and buy supplies for dinner, then can't resist the opened local oysters - 3.50 euro for 6 - as a sort of morning snack - it is 11am after all. Arthur takes the shopping home and Liz finds Polygone - a shopping mall, just off the Place Comedie where she has just 40 minutes to max the plastic, too much of a challenge even for her. Arthur is back in time to meet up for lunch in a Salon de The nearby (blog later on eating in Montpellier).

Just a short tramway, then bus trip takes us well out into the suburbs, past the zoo, to the Musee Agricole, the agricultue and food museum which starts in the stone ages with the hunter gatherers and finishes with the multi national agriculture today and all the political and economic implications that brings - an excellent overview, but I think I am museumed out today and we get home - it has been a lovely sunny day and warm enough to shed coats and enjoy shirt sleeves. However the forecast is not good for the next few days.

The public transport system is so good. Why can't we have something like this in Sydney and Newcastle?