Getting to Montpellier

I boarded a MegaBus on 65th and Power Inn Road in Sacramento at 6 a.m. and left my wife and son with a bunch of cooked food in the refrigerator: grilled shrimp, steak, mushrooms, bell peppers, rigatoni Bolognese, an assortment of expensive cheeses, and snacks from Trader Joe’s.

Frozen bicycle art near Saint Anne

United Airlines Flight 990 was scheduled to depart San Francisco International at 2:50 p.m. and arrive at Paris Charles de Gaulle 10:35 a.m. the next day. I chose United over Air France, which also offered a non-stop to Paris, because United’s flight was on a new 787 Dreamliner, and because I was able to buy a seat with human-sized leg room. Also, I knew United would be on its best behavior after the incident in Chicago where they forcibly removed a doctor from an Iowa-bound flight because they overbooked.

My flight was one hour late out of SFO because of a delay by the

Summer of Love's 50th Anniversary.

catering company. We landed at 11:40 a.m., which meant much less spare time to make my connection to Air France in Terminal 2F. There were two Air France flights from Paris to Montpellier. The first departed at 12:45 p.m., and the second at 9:40 p.m. If I missed the first flight, the second got me into Montpellier at 11:00 p.m., which is a crappy time to be meeting the landlord and getting the keys to my flat. If the second flight was full, I would have to spend a night in Paris, which sounds cooler than it is, because I was already paying for that night at my apartment in Montpellier.

map showing destination: Paris

Paris Charles de Gaulle is a sprawling airport cobbled together over decades. My United flight parked at Terminal 1, which is in the middle of nowhere. I had to clear immigration, find the tram, and make my way to Terminal 2F in an hour and change, which, if the travel gods weren’t smiling down on me that day, could be hair-raising.

Luckily, there was no line at immigration, and I had watched enough videos on YouTube about the inter-terminal tram, “CDGVAL,” that it went smoothly. I arrived at my gate in Terminal 2F with 20 minutes to spare before boarding.

Terminal 2F at Paris Charles de Gaulle

Terminal 2F was designed by somebody famous, and it looks spectacular, which also means it is functionally challenged. There’s very little space to sit, because the waiting area is bisected by a walled-off center that drops down to a lower-level dining area and restrooms. Add to that the poor air circulation. The terminal is like a big camping tent without ventilation. People sitting on the ground. Oh, I forgot to mention there was even less space to sit because of construction.

AF7680 approaches Montpellier from the sea

The Montpellier airport is small but functional. I had never flown there, and I was happy to find everything I needed was within a few steps outside the arrivals door: ATM for cash, light food concessions, and a taxi stand.

It was sunny, clear, and 86 degrees when I arrived in the afternoon. I found a taxi and showed him the address to my flat. He told me he couldn’t drop me off at the front door, because the center of town was closed to taxis and most vehicular traffic.

Boulevard du Jeu de Paume leads up to Les Arceaux

The neighborhood where I stayed was just down the hill from Montpellier’s Porte du Peyrou, a triumphal arch that predates the Arc du Triomphe in Paris. Just beyond the Porte are the remains of Roman aqueducts, called “Les Arceaux,” or “the Arches.” The neighborhood looks straight from the Middle Ages with narrow cobblestone streets and buildings constructed of large granite. 

Typical street in Montpellier's Centre Ville

Within a few hundred feet are the Michelin Guide-listed restaurant Le Pastis, a hip bar called Le Clandestin, which features live Flamenco guitar some nights, and several blocks away, a Carrefour mini-supermarket, coin-operated laundry, a wonderful cheese bar called La Fine Mouche, a used book store, Irish pub, O’Carolans, and a friendly boulangerie, Des Rêves et Du Pain.

I met the landlord, a young and smiling Marie-Louise, in front of the apartment and got a quick tour of the 500 square-foot, split-level flat. After unlocking a black, metal gate, Marie-Louise unlocked the wood-framed front door.

Kitchen area in my flat

Once we crossed the threshold we descended two steps to stone tiles. I looked up and noticed immediately overhead were brown, painted wood beams the width of my suitcase that appeared to be in place for centuries. Immediately in front was the kitchen area with a two-burner, glass-top range, microwave oven, coffee maker, sink, and refrigerator.

Dining area and spiral staircase

To the left of the kitchen area was a four-chair dining table, and immediately next to that was the spiral staircase. I followed Marie-Louise up the stairs to the loft, where the futon bed, changing area, and bathroom were located. The bathroom had a corner shower, toilet, and sink. The ceiling beams in the loft were perfectly situated just above eye level, which meant that for the first week I hit my head on them enough that I wrapped a towel around them to cushion the impact.

Futon bed. Notice the stone walls.

 Marie-Louise gave me the keys to the place and suggested a few places where I could buy a hat, find books on the Occitan language, and rent a bicycle to go to the beach. After she left, I set out to explore the ancient, twisty streets of Centre Ville and buy groceries.

I fell asleep watching Late Night With Stephen Colbert on my iPad. Street chatter from outside the restaurant two doors down filled the background. I woke up at 3 a.m. to what I thought was the same chatter, but it turned out to be people on the other  corner standing in front of a ceramics studio. I peek out the other window

My flat at night. Street entrance on right. 

in the upstairs loft and see a young woman brandishing a bottle of bubbly. The group with her remained standing, lingering for another hour. I went back to Colbert’s monologue and finished watching the entire episode.

This happened outside our apartment in Lisbon every night, only people were throwing bottles against the curb. Every morning, street cleaners came by and quietly picked up everything. Because it was mid-August, and we had no air conditioning, we had to keep the windows open and learn to sleep through the nocturnal clamor.

Below: video clip of impromptu Flamenco guitar performance at a bar 20 feet from my flat.

The next morning, I fixed coffee and sat down at the table with a croissant from Des Rêves et Du Pain and wrote out my To Do list:

1. Practical / Logistics
1. Get a local prepaid SIM card for my unlocked iPhone. I put the time in before leaving to contact AT&T and get the secret code to unlock my iPhone 6S. It required me to do a factory reset, which meant I had to back up everything on my computer before unlocking it. It was a hassle but worth it in the end.
2. Buy a bus pass and a tram pass
3. Buy a hat so I wouldn’t fry my scalp in the sun
2. Tourism
1. Visit places in Montpellier: Fabre Museum, Jardins des Plantes (France’s oldest botanical garden), Saint Pierre Cathedral, see a movie or two at the Gaumont Theater, see a classical music performance, bicycle to the Mediterranean (Palavas)
2. Nîmes: see the arena and the Tour Magne
3. Cadaques/Figueres: visit home of Salvador Dali or re-visit his museum
4. Narbonne or Sète?
3. Organized Tours
1. Pic Saint Loup wine region
2. Roquefort cheese region
3. Walking tour of Montpellier
4. Exercise Workouts
1. Find rowing machine in town (my rowing club coach had sent me the week’s workout schedule)
2. Find out how to get to the local rowing club by public transportation

Arc du Triomphe in Paris

Porte du Peyrou in Montpellier