France: Montpellier

Montpellier was our actual destination in France. My mum had a five-day discussion and conference with a French counterpart she was working with. This place had a really nice small town feel. There weren't really big skyscrapers or busy traffic or people rushing all over the place..

Just sunny weather, and really warm and polite people.. Unlike Paris, I absolutely loved this town! ^^

Kyriad Hotel has a chain all over France. I'd hoped to be staying at the same chain in Paris. Their services are to die for.. ^^

Breakfast at the Kyriad.. and this is just one third of the dishes served! But, on the downside, I only got to have hotel breakfast twice the entire time I was at Montpellier. You see, while our rooms were paid for two people, breakfast is only provided for one person.. so my mum and I gilir2. An extra person for breakfast would cost EU10 per day.

Something worth mentioning: Since our room didn't come equipped with a fridge, I kept my butter from melting by placing it on our windowsill during the day.. it was that cold!

I went on my first excursion through the town on my own. One thing about France, you'll often see these chalkboards placed outside shops, restaurants and cafes, listing their offerings. And what does this particular cafe serve? various tartines (toasted breads with toppings), assiettes (platters) and of course, wine..

I don't know why, but I've noticed that temperate countries tend to have bluer skies... I loved the color, and the leaves are of one of my favorite trees: Maple! Haih, I haven't had maple anything in so long... (-_-)

Walnuts! I was so excited when I saw this that I actually ended up buying some to bring back home. Of course, my dad wasn't too ecstatic about them since the darn things were so hard to crack..

My one and only dinner out the entire time I was in Montpellier! My mum's colleague took us to a halal Morroccan restaurant in downtown Montpellier. This is a traditional vegetable stew that you eat with...

Couscous (this used to be something I ate often when I was in the US)..

And berbecued beef and lamb..

Middle eastern desserts! I had the one in the middle. It's made with fine semolina and dates, and then drizzled in sugar syrup... Highly diabetic, but yum!

On other days, this is what I usually had for breakfast, lunch and dinner.. baguettes with butter and jam. Of course, there were also the obligatory sambal ikan bilis, serunding and instant noodles, but those didn't look too pretty or interesting on camera.. ;p

Despite being a small town, Montpellier has very good public transport. This is an above-ground train called the tram, and it functions just like our Komuter. The only difference? our Komuter is less user-friendly.. (-_-)

There are fountains all over the place, especially in courtyards and public squares. I took this one because I love the pigeons that bathe there. They would circle the fountain rim for a while and then slowly dip a foot in... these two were following each other for fifteen minutes.. cute!

An apartment complex in the Antigone district. I want a house like this one! ^^

This is called Place de la Comedie (Comedic Place). Some parts of this place is very old.. Somewhere around 1200s..?

This is probably the building this place was named after: the Comedic Opera. I guess this is the entertainment center back then...

A roman aqueduct. What is that? it's an ancient waterway system that uses gravity to provide water to the residents of a town. These can be found all over France, as well as Europe and India. This system is no longer in use obviously, but many of the structures still stand..

I forgot who this is, but he might have been the founder of Montpellier. I just love the horse sculpture.. so detailed to the point of including veins! (I can't even draw a horse..)

Chateau D'eau... aka the Water Palace. Remember that aqueduct I showed you? well, this is the reservoir. And because aqueducts uses gravity to channel water, Chateau D'eau is made to stand on a hill overlooking Montpellier..

Porte du Peyrou (the entrance to Peyrou). I guess romans really love arches. You can find these everywhere in France. Historically, this is the entrance to the city, and to the Place de la Comedie..

Saint Anna's Church. I wasn't very sure if I could go in, so I didn't risk standing in front of the entrance. I love the rose windows that are featured here. Although present in many churches throughout Europe, stained glass and rose windows are French in origin. These windows are usually placed on the west side of the building..

Ah, I love flowers! they seem to be blooming all over Montpellier, even in the cold! Many of the houses and apartments sport some sort of greenery on their balconies and porches, so I've taken the liberty to capture some..

Helianthus! Amazing colors, but I wonder where the seeds are...

I don't know what these are, but they were planted side by side, and they make beautiful contrast against one another..

And that's all from Montpellier. I didn't get to go to many of the places, like the Aquarium or the Zoo, or the Mediterranean beach for that matter.. I was alone, and I didn't think straying too far from the hotel on my own was such a good idea, so I had to make do with the nearest attractions. I'd like to come back here, more than I would to Paris, actually. I heard that from Malaysia you can take an Air Asia flight to London, and then a local flight straight to Montpellier! :)

AND, you can extend your visit to Italy or Spain, the countries that border France! ^^