Jean-Jacques and I went to Montpelier to visit our friend Laetitia, who lives in Philadelphia but was visiting her family in Montpelier. We also had been searching for cars and there was a car we were interested in that was located in Montpelier. It was far enough that we wouldn’t go just for that day but since Laetitia was visiting we decided to go and spend an evening.
We decided to rent a car and drive because the connections on the train were no good from our willage(mistake intended)to Montpelier. 3 trains, each with about an hour in between. So the night before we rented a Peugot 207 in Bergerac.
We tried a different route than when I went with Copper to Toulouse. It seemed like it went the long way but it sure was beautiful. We went through the Dordogne and then the Lot before we got onto the Autoroute 20 that would take us to Montauban, Toulouse, and then on to Montpelier. Once we got on the A20 things went quickly, 130k/h (more or less). Passing by Carcassonne to the south of Toulouse you could see the walled in part of the city. If we’d had more time we would have stopped. I have been dying to see Carcassonne for years.
Passing Beziers we could see where the Canal du Midi emptied out into the Mediterranean Sea. I would love to bike along the Canal for long distances.Maybe Toulouse to Beziers over a few days. Anyone want to come?
We made it to Montpelier and checked into our hotel. Laetitia came to meet us so she could lead us to her brother’s house. She was driving a brand new Fiat 500, white, her brother’s car. In case anyone is making a list of gifts for our birthday’s, kindly add that car to the list. C’est ne pas possible, Non, c’est possible, oui!
We got to the house and he lives with his partner on a beautiful plot of land overlooking the sea just outside of Montpelier proper. It was in the middle of an animal sanctuary so there were horses, pigs, donkeys, flamingoes, and other animals roaming all over just outside the fence. Not to forget their 3 dogs: Jules, Jim, and Callie(spelling?). We had a wonderful meal that seemingly never ended. Laetitia’s younger brother joined us too. We spent a lot of time on the deck. When you inhaled a deep breath in you could taste the sea, it was a feeling I haven’t had in many years. I could on and on about the food and you would have just had to have been there but we were served a tart that is a traditional food from Sete, just outside of Montpelier, that was made with octopus. I think we’ll drive back to Sete just to have that again.
The next day we didn’t have much time so we went into Montpelier Centre Ville with Laetitia, Sebastien, Olivier, Jean-Jacques, and I. We had lunch, walked around a bit, and had to leave. It is a wonderful city. It is built upon slightly rolling hills, with beautiful architecture, and is unmistakably a Mediterranean city. Even though it was gray and slightly rainy it left us with a wonderful impression. Who knows, maybe we’ll end up there.
The big disappointment was that the car we were looking at was no longer available. We don’t know if it sold or the listing expired, but we didn’t write the phone number down because we just looked it up. We were very disappointed. This would be the start to a few disastrous days. Read on.
When I have more time I will add some pictures.
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