Last Day in France - Port Cassafieres to Montpelier

We all got up early and ate as much of the food left in the refrigerator as we could.  We finished all our packing, no easy feat, and then got our stuff off the boat.  We had a few items left over which we gave to a family who were just departing on their own boat trip.  Our cab came at 9am, and he had some time fitting all our many bags into the trunk.  Then the 20 minute trip to Agde where we caught our train to Montpellier.

When we got on, the train was pretty crowded, and we got on with all our stuff.  At the next two stops, even more people got on.  We were like sardines!  Finally we all got off, and with a great deal of difficulty, managed to drag all our stuff up the stairs (don't they know about elevators??) and walked the two blocks to our hotel.

Our hotel was very nice- The Royal Hotel.  We dropped off our stuff and began to explore the city of Montpellier.   Our first stop was the Place de laComedie, a beautiful square with shops and restaurants.  We stopped and ate lunch at one of the restaurants.  Then we wandered all over the city, which was very beautiful with both modern and very old buildings.  Then we came back to the hotel where Michael took a nap, I worked on this blog, and David and Barbara went to a bar for a cold drink.

Place de la Comedie (this and next 2 pictures)

St. Anne's church

Street in the old city

Typical tram in Montpelier

Synagogue down the street from our hotel (it was closed)

After David and Barbara came back, we all went back out to have lunch #2.  We found a snack bar in a nearby park and ate french fries like we'd never seen them before, along with some sandwiches.  Then back to the hotel to wait for their cab.  Unfortunately, the cab was ten minutes late and Barbara was starting to panic!  Eventually it came, and David and I are back at the hotel, together, just the way the trip started!

The romantic couple before we ate

Leaving the hotel

In their taxi

Montpellier is a very nice city that I'd never heard of.  It's almost like a mini-Paris.  It's filled with students - we saw several schools - and the area has many upscale shops.  The people seem to be very fashionable - I've seen more well dressed men and women here than anywhere else on this trip!  There also seems to be a very substantial gay community here.  I really wish we could spend another two days here because there are many museums and other parts of the city that I'd like to explore!

After Barbara and Michael left, David and I relaxed and showered and then at 8 o'clock, decided to go out for another meal (even though we really weren't hungry).  We wandered around, back to the  Place de la Comedie and the other nearby streets to find a nice place to eat.  There were many restaurants and bars with tons of people sitting at tables outside.  We found a cute little place and ordered a large salad with three skewers of meat (chicken, beef and sausage) to share.  While we were sitting there, two English gentlemen sat at the table next to us.  We struck up a conversation and chatted with them throughout dinner about every topic from their jobs, to our trip, to the Royal family and France.  We had a really nice time and they were very interesting to talk to.  After saying goodbye, we headed back to our hotel, stopping off first at a gelato stand for a last dessert!

Place de la Comedie at night (above and below)

The two Englishmen we ate dinner with.