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From Avignon to Montpellier |
May 12th 2003
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Hello again people!
As you may have seen we have been successful in uploading some pictures into our previous posts, and also this one as well.
Our time in Avignon flew by, and finished quicker than we would have hoped. On our last day there, we headed accross the Rhone to Avignon's sister city, Villeneuve-les-Avignon by bus. This small picturesque town was a great pleasure to explore along with it's cute and very quaint market.
We were brave and purchased some strange looking 'balls', which were nicknamed 'testicles' by us... let's just hope that they weren't ;) They tasted fine whatever they were hehee.
We then clambered up the hill to a tower and used our student cards to get in on the cheap! After a climb, we emerged into the sunshine, and found ourselves looking at a wonderful panorama of historic Avignon, and the Rhone gliding gently past.
After we ventured back accross the Rhone by foot, and took a well favoured stroll through the old town of Avignon, our day had gone once more, and it was time to head back and pack.
The next morning, we were raring to go to our next destination: Montpellier. The journey was a quick hour, and we arrived early on in the day. After a few wrong directions, we finally arrived at the nearer-than-we-thought-to-the-station Hotel Colisee-Verdun. This ** hotel gave us the two things we hope for in every hotel (cleanliness and safety) and a little more (a bath!!)
Apart from the view out of our window being slightly scarred by a sex shop in an adjacent street, our 4th floor chambre gave us great views over the area.
After settling our cases into the room, we eagerly set off to explore Montpellier. We were sold already upon entering the main city's square, Place du Comedie. With it's fountain centrepiece, cobbled flooring, glorious architecture and numerous grand looking cafes, we were already sold. The icing on the cake (especially for Rich) was not only the 'Cafe Grand Riche' on the square, but also the incredibly funky tram system running right through Montpellier.
These excellent trams would easily put the UK transport system to shame! The futuristic architecture of the stations were really inkeeping somehow with the square, and the whole thing blended in seemlessly. We were intrigued so we bought a couple of 'aller-retours' from the excellent LCD screened, multi-lingual machines and headed for the Polygone shopping centre nearby.
After a really quick exploration and two Haagen-das 'brownie emotion' sundaes, we took a tram back and up through to the north of the city, and we hopped off to explore an exotic botanical garden nearby. We then headed up hill, alongside the palace and the Arc du Triumph, to another garden which enticed us along to a marvelous 18th century aquaduct.
Then, walking throught the old town, we headed back to base.
Day 2 here, and we headed to Nimes, an historic city boasting Europe's most complete Roman remains. Arriving after 30 mins on the train, we spead to the 20,000 capacity ampitheatre and paid, only to find ourselves bang in the middle of a guided tour! Ouch! Despite this, we found the place fascinating, and got good pics too despite the tour. It was also suprisingly interesting, teaching us about the history of this great relic. We then headed through winding streets in the old town (yes, including 'Rue Fresque' Tessa!) and arrived at the 'Maison Carree' a Roman forum -- and wasn't that nice!! Along the river, we ventured into the Jardins du Fontaine, a formal garden (the first public garden in France - 1750). This had gorgeous staircases and obviously great fountains too. Hidden amongst manicured trees was the 'Temple Diana', a crumble of Roman goodness ;)
We then climbed uphill through wooded paths and streams until we reached the 'Tour Magne', a tower giving us panoramics of Nimes from the top of this Roman structure. -- Another day quickly eaten up by time!!
Day 3, and onto Narbonne. Dispite an amazing Gothic cathedral, we were a little disappointed by the huntingdon-like affair, and didn't stay for long -- perhaps getting too harsh after venturing to such fascinating places?? hee hee.
A little laundry promised that another scintillating afternoon swept by! ;)
Day 4 (and this would be today) -- Yes, it's 6 days until Rich's birthday (how could I forget??!) -- we decided to give Adge a miss as we were eager to spend our time here in Montpellier, not to mention the fact that our book didn't rave about the place. After another trip on the tram, and a walk through Antigone - a swanky new development of high rise appartments encircling fountained squares lined with cafes. The silvery glass and sand-coloured brick gave us inspiration for future plans! Humm.... now what a mystery ;)
Now in this Internet cafe, we're up to date again and now ready (after over three hours in here with many differing emotions due to this bloody keyboard) to explore Montpellier again, but hopefully not for the last time!
Our travels take us to Toulouse tomorrow for three days, and we will be pleased if our stay there is half as enjoyable as the past few days here have been.
Keep safe everyone, and behave yourselves as we will be back in just over a month!!
Love from Katie and Rich
xxx
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Listed by : Katie
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