Montpellier

Saturday September 22, 2007


Today, we swapped traveling partners. We took Jackie & Dennis to the train station in Montpellier this morning in the dense fog and rain from Fraisse to about Narbonne. Actually Dennis was doing the driving, but it warn’t much fun! These roads are a challenge at the best of times, but today was a little tense. Shortly after Narbonne the rain went away and by Montpellier it became clear that all the nasty weather was in the south.

We parked at the train station and after casing the joint, met up with Tony & Jackie at the Brasserie de la Gare. We proceeded up through the walking streets in the old town. The city definitely has a vitality indicative of Montpellier’s status as the major French city of the south. We stopped around lunch for a drink and walked across the street for frites and paninis that we brought back to the sidewalk café we’d stopped at.

Later, we walked Jackie & Dennis back to the station, where we parted company as they waited for their 1409 TGV to Paris. With Jackie & Tony now in tow, we headed back south along the coast via beach towns Sete and Agde. The beach was looking a lot bleaker this weekend than last, but this would be a great beach in good weather with its long stretches of smooth sand. By the time we hit our road back to Fraisse the drizzle and fog returned- maybe it never left. Tony & Jackie will have to wait for a clear day to truly appreciate the route into this place. Thanks to our stop at the
Sigean Intermarche, we had a great dinner of mussels, chicken, pasta, salad and crème caramel and called it a fairly early night.