Hiking Gorge de St. Guilhem

OK! Please look closely at the ruins of a monastery at the top of the mountain. When you look at one of the final pictures, you'll see that we climbed WAAAAY above that level and were then looking DOWN at the ruins. This supposedly dates back to c. 800. And we think our house is old!!!! We don't know old!





















This archway was at the very early stages of our hike. An hour later it was just a speck beneath us!






We became separated from the rest of the group - we're slightly into picture taking! A few wrong turns were chosen and we found ourselves cliffside - as this picture shows. We definitely were NOT supposed to be up there - but, it was breathtaking!





Jeni, Jenna and Molly! Very sweet girls! Look at the hiking trail we walked for approximately 3 hours. I think I walked off 3 days worth of croissants! OK - maybe not.

On our way to "The Hike"

This was a beautiful tree-lined road which led into an ancient little village on our way to Le Gorge de St. Guilhem. I think Vero told me the name of the trees is Platanos. I'm probably destroying that name - I'll do some research! To be continued.........

Montpellier Tramway

This is the inside of the tramway which snakes it's way through Montpellier. It is so extremely quiet and smooth as it runs along the tracks set into all the stone and paved streets, you cannot hear it coming. It's very Disney-ish. Notice the leaning bar for those who wish to stand (woman on left). It's a nice way to get around the city.

Near Jeni's new home, they're preparing to lay tracks for the tram to come through there. Right now there's only the bus. It will be a mess for awhile, but eventually it will be great!

Reward for a deed well done!

Feeling pretty good after having rescued Elizabeth, we went back to our room and decided to dress up for the first time and treat ourselves to a le diner francais! We were a little late for dining - 10 pm - late even for the French, so our choices were limited. We were referred to La Brasserie du Theatre - where the "food is very good and the prices not bad." (say eet wees a frensh accent). It was exactly what we wanted. Look at the glow of the place! And Richard, there was a whole cart devoted to Cognac - Remy XO and MANY I had never seen. We loved the life in the place and the sound of animated french voices surrounding us! (Not animated like cartoons - haha - animated as in lively!!!) :)






Please notice the AMAZING Profiteroles!!! Making sure I don't walk off all my weight!!! As if!!!

Rescuing Elizabeth!

Poor Elizabeth! She had been placed with a family that was - uhhhh - a little less than normal, shall we say??? She had to walk some fairly unsafe streets behind the train station to get to and from school each day. Some of the rules of the house were: Do not touch the walls, do not sit in the living room if the family isn't there, internet only after she ate her dinner, do NOT help herself to snacks or drinks and home before dark! The woman was german and they wanted Elizabeth to speak English to help their son learn - hello??? She's here to learn French!!!! Can we say Gestapo???? So, Jeni told Vero - Vero told her mother and Voila! Here is Elizabeth after we took her to meet her new French Mere - Claudine (Chloe-Deen)! Don't you just want to squoosh her???? She's adorable! We all love her! Elizabeth went home knowing that rescue was only a day away! Mission accompli!

Formal Tour of Montpellier!

Here's our group getting ready to set out on an "official" tour of Montpellier - walking tour, of course - since we haven't done enough of that! Ha! The church is a Catholic Church - St. Etienne or St. Pierre (I can't remember - there were SO many). I think our French guide told us it was from the 1200's or 1300's. He only spoke to us in French - so I grabbed at any word I could understand - ugh - my head! Anyway - it was unbelievably massive!! It took some direct cannon hits from the Protestants who were fighting the Catholics. We went inside - it was enormous - and FREEZING! Why would anyone want to go to church if they have to freeze????






The sculptor killed himself after completing this sculpture because he forgot the stirrups! Isn't that a bit drastic??










Ancient aquaducts! How in the world????











Do you love how the tour guide's mouth looks like he's saying "Heh heh heh" with that french accent???? Cracks me up!

A much nicer room!

Ok, so this room is MUCH more like it! Our first morning in Montpellier, I decided to move us out of the suite we had, so as to save $50/night. I asked for their cheapest rate - but the nicest room at that rate. Luckily, the guy at the hotel was from Canada and was very nice to us, so he told us about this room, which was the nicest of all the rooms at that rate. So, the next morning - I flew to get ready. I had to check out of our room by 11 am and then move all of our belongings to the new room. It took me four trips! AARRGHH!




I didn't have time to do my hair - so - Hello Heidi! BRAIDS! But, everyone liked them! So - there you have it! Nice room, eh? (As the Canadians would say!)








When I finished settling us in our new room, I had an hour to spare before meeting Jeni. I was in desperate need of some jus d'orange and a baguette. This was the sunny, warm place I found to spend an hour. Do you get the feel of the place?