Finally - the South of France!

After several departure date changes due to my doctor visits/stitches, etc, Andrea and I finally left Rennes for the south of France on Monday. After getting my stitches removed in the morning, we took a train south to Montpellier. Via good ‘ole Facebook I’d arranged to stay with Eric, my French “host brother” whose family I lived with in Lyon for a summer. I hadn’t seen or talked to him for 4 years, but that’s the glory of Facebook – random acquaintances that pop back up in your life! He picked us up from the train station and then drove into town for a night tour of the city. Early in the night we had an unfortunate run-in with one of Montpellier’s finest/most annoying police officers – or “flics” as we like to call them in French. So Andrea and I were sharing the front seat belt in Eric’s two-person car and had the bad luck to pull up right next to a cop. He took all of our ID’s and spent 40 minutes seriously looking through a book, with the help of 3 other officers, to apparently find the rule that we’d broken. We assumed that he’d give a ticket to Eric – being the only French person and the driver of the group – but he came back and gave a 90 euro ticket to Andrea! And she was actually in the real seat – I was sitting on her lap. So I guess we have a new joke – there’s a car with a French person driving a Chilean and an American … Who gets the random ticket? The South American. Yiikes. Anyway, no one’s going to pay that ticket, and I think even the cop was aware of this. Below, Andrea and Eric proudly dislaying the ridiculous ticket:

From there we walked all over the city – very lively for a Monday night, people all over the outside terraces of cafés/bars, full plazas, etc. Apparently the city has a large international student population – like Rennes but with way more fortunate weather. We had a drink at a bar (try “Faro” Lambic if you get the chance – fruity & great) and it was fun to catch up with Eric after four years. I had gotten to know his friends pretty well during my summer in Lyon, so it was interesting to get updates on all of them. He had to travel for work the next day but was super generous and left us his keys so we could stay a second night, explore the city, etc.

Tuesday we went to the nearby port city of Sete, which is one of the oldest fishing villages on the French Mediterranean coast, with canals and a distinct Italian flavor. We spent the afternoon walking around the city and canals, had a long lunch of fresh mussles outside, and then took a boat tour along the coast. It was a really small boat with a Popeye theme (music & all), and the best part was that the driver encouraged the two of us to sit on the solarium – basically just the unfinished top of the boat. We tried to listen to the guided visit but ended up taking naps and enjoying the view. Quite an enjoyable afternoon in the sun!! We came back to Montpellier in the early evening, enjoyed drinks on a cute terrace at the Rebuffy Pub – a bar frequented by locals and students, full of board games, lively atmosphere, etc. It was a short visit to Montpellier and an even shorter visit to see Eric, but well worth it.

View of the canals in Sete / Our sunny boat ride through Sete:

Nightlife in Montpellier: