Last Monday we took an early morning train from Barcelona to Montpellier and traded in our “si”s for our “oui”s.

We’re staying in a cozy studio flat in the historic alleys of old town, right next to Carré Sainte Anne – a neo-Gothic church that was converted into a modern art museum. The steeple above the buildings has become our north star when we get lost meandering through the alleys.

Established in 1220, the University of Montpellier is considered one of the oldest universities in the world. Nate read in A Distant Mirror how 14th century medical students from here were involved in researching causes of the Black Death.

When we first arrived, we couldn’t find the toilet (it wasn’t in the bathroom). We eventually discovered it hidden inside a small standalone ‘closet’ space near the front door. In the past week, we’ve come to realize this is common in many houses in France.

Here’s an artistic rendering of the toilet. For real life reenactment, check out Nate’s microblog.

We spent the first few days of the week wandering through Montpellier.

Sète
A 20 minute train ride from Montpellier, Sète is a gorgeous port town on the Mediterranean. Although it was a very windy day, we got lucky with lots of sun. We also got lucky when we stumbled on the town’s weekly outdoor marché, where we picked up a poulet roti and frites from Chez Rocky and ate it by the canal, with hungry friendly seagulls for company.

On a whim, we decided to leave the town center and wander into its hilly suburbia, criss-crossing different neighbourhoods along the way. After a long climb (while second-guessing our ability to reach the top), we were treated to a stunning panoramic view of the town below. We looked out over its terracotta roofs, narrow canals, and the large blue expanse of the Mediterranean Sea.

Afterwards, we descended an almost vertical shortcut back toward the familiar canals. We decided to take a later train back to Montpellier so we could enjoy a glass of vin rouge by the water.

Carcassonne
The day we set out for Carcassonne, the trains decided to play havoc with us. Three canceled trains and six hours later, we finally reached the fortified medieval city. (On a regular day, Carcassonne is only one and a half hours away.)

This region of France has been getting the most rain it has seen in the last decade, evident from the torrential currents flowing through the Canal du Midi.

We walked through the city onto the drawbridge leading into the castle (it’s where we took the photo on top of this week’s newsletter). We were greeted by an ethereal, almost haunted ambience of the castle against gray skies. Our home for the night was within the rampart walls, and it was magical to see the castle lit up at night. We fell asleep to the view of the city lights below and howling winds outside our stained glass windows.

The next day we met up with Nate’s aunt and uncle, who picked us up from Carcassonne to take us to their home 20 minutes away, a village also in the Aude region at the foothills of the Pyrénées Mountains.

Liz and Joe gave us a tour of their lovely home and fed us a delicious homemade lunch. We marveled at the furniture Joe built and the beautiful touches they’ve sprinkled throughout their home. It perfectly complements the architectural integrity of the medieval stonework characteristic of the houses in their village.

As we chatted and chatted, time sped by too quickly, and it was time to leave. Liz and Joe took us on a quick tour through their village in the windy cold. For the few hours that we spent with them, we saw sun, rain, and even some sleet! They drove us back to the Carcassonne train station, where we caught our train back to Montpellier.

One more delayed train later, we finally made it back to Montpellier. After spending the last 24 hours on the quiet cobbled streets of the Aude, walking through the university crowds out on a Saturday night was almost startling.

That brings us to today – we’re wrapping up our stay in Montpellier, our first French city of the trip. We still catch ourselves sheepishly grinning at each other when we say gracias instead of merci, por favor in place of s’il vous plait. We’ll get the hang of it eventually.

Next stop, Nice.
You can be sure to expect lots of puns in our next newsletter ;)

Hope you’re all having a lovely weekend!

Bisous.