Montpellier est une belle ville

I have finally made it to France. Not just anywhere; the South! I am studying and living in Montpellier which is in the languedoc-roussillon region. My day consist of 3 hours of French lessons, 5 hours sitting in a cafe and the rest wining, dining and letting loose. Due to the fact that my peers and I have so much free time, we basically do anything we want; go for bike rides, beaches, shopping. Anything and everything under the sun. Even when we don't feel like going out, we would still meet every night, sit outside at bars and people watch all throughout the evening.

Taking a break from work and living in France has probably been the best thing I have done in my life. I experienced an epiphany, things slowed down and allowed me to enjoy the life the way it should be. Yes, I should be saving for a house at my age but when I owned one 3 years ago, I was sad and miserable. Do I really want to jump back on that bandwagon?

Anyway, the French course is hard, it is taught completely in French. Although my French is slowly improving, I am not progressing as fast as I initially thought. Maybe I need to spend less time in cafes and more time at home studying. The first week has been very eventful with 32 degree heat. A group of us went on a 6 hour bike tour and laid at the beach. On Sunday, I went to watch might Montpellier vs Toulon in the French Top 14 (It's Frances version of our Super 14). Rugby fans should know by now that the coach of Toulon is the one and only Tana Umaga who recently signed Jonny Wilkinson. Unfortunaly Sonny Bill Williams did not turn out for Toulon due to surgery on his leg but Jonny Wilkinson played a brilliant game. The match was intense with Toulon leading with a 15 point margin but Montpellier came back fighting and scored a try at 79:53sec. Final score Montpellier 21 - Toulon 20. Montpellier did not win the game, Toulon lost the game. Montpellier missed 5 penalties; they need to invest in someone that can kick an oval ball.

I also made a mistake of getting a haircut here. Trying to explain that I wanted the sides faded short and textured on top is like telling your dog to pour you a pint. Check out the epic fail video. It is uncommon to find someone that actually spoke a bit of English. Retailers would help you out as much as possible but will not know a single word; it's great. For all those that have this idea that living in France will allow you to immerse and pick up the language quicker, WRONG! They don't even want to speak to you. What is the point of having a conversation with someone when all you can say is 'I am from New Zealand, when I get up 8 o'clock, I shower and brush my teeth' or 'I am going for lunch, do you want to join me?' When you do meet a local, all they wants to do is speak English. So what I have been doing instead is hanging out with students that are learning French and we would try to speak completely in French. If someone doesn’t know a word, someone in the group will be able to correct them. Shopping and eating out are also great ways to learn. You tend to move away from text book French and converse using shorthand. Well its 9pm and time for coffee number 7

a bientôt mes amis

Room in Montpellier - 11.1 MB
Bad Haircut - 5.3 MB

Sam




One of many la plage








Montpellier vs Toulon

Italy Excursion

After an early morning flight from Edinburgh, we were greeted by Eileen and Noel in Pisa. The plans for the next 7 days in Italy were Pisa > Cinque Terre > Venice > Rome. Pisa is small and there is really not much happening in the city. The only attraction is obviously the leaning tower of Pisa. When we got there, all you could see were tourist doing stupid poses as if they were pushing it over. It was funny because EVERYONE was doing it so I decide to unbutton my shirt and started posing like Zoolander making sure there’s a little Asian guy in the background of other peoples photo. But it came to our time to look like dorks and away we went to devise a plan to make it look good; it wasn't. 3hrs later, we were back on the train heading to Cinque Terre.

Cinque Terre translates to 'The 5 Terraces'. 5 terraces, 5 towns, 5 locations. Each town had their own unique touch; some are known for their restaurants others for the beach. We stayed in Vernazza which was known for its nightlife and partying we did. You can access each town by catching a train which cost €1.40 else you could take nice mountain treks around and through the hills. We only managed to hike between 3 terraces as Cinque Terre was all about leisure.
The walk still took us 3 hrs. Diet of fresh seafood, pizza, pasta washed down with Italian beers and wine. The 3 nights flew by without notice. Cinque Terre is very well known to the Italians and it has yet to be discovered by tourist. You can have fun without hearing loud geezers. Next stop, Venice.

Now what more can I say about Venice. The word 'Venice' is amazing on its own. It is beautiful and romantic but with not much to offer. Don't get me wrong, it's a great place but theres really not much there. All the shops are the same; they all sell venetian masks and silly glass things. Venice is not complete with a ride on the gondola's. I was sceptical at first but after seeing Venice from sea level really gave you a sense of freedom and pleasure. It was 8pm and there were 7 of us in the group, everyone was fluffing around not knowing where to eat or what to buy. While Noel and I dragged our feet, we came across a stall that sold cocktail. While we were watching the cocktail getting made, I started to give the bartender a bit of crap saying stuff like 'It better not be water, I'm watching you', all the regulars started to give him shit as well and the drinking began. Drinks were on the house because the bartenders were all hammered; no one cared, it was as if only friends drank at this little 3m x 2m stall. When the cocktail stall closed, we walked 5mins to the next stall (it was a chain) and kept drinking. The night was blurry and the next morning was even worst. What a night to remember (or not). 2 nights down and off we went to Rome.

Everyone knows Rome, even if you haven't been there, you know that the Sistine Chapel is there along with St Peter's Basilica, Colosseum, Pantheon, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain. There was a lot to cover in 2 days. I don't think I need to go into the details but every landmark was astonishing. A picture tells a thousand words. After 5 nights of pizza and pasta, I ate kebabs for lunch and dinner for 2 days. It was good to get some meat in me. The weather in Italy was around 35 degrees; a bit too hot for my liking. The Sistine Chapel has a no talking, keep moving, no photos policy but on this occasion they allowed it. It was madness; Flashes going off everywhere! Back home in London now where I will spend 1 weeks packing and relaxing before I fly out to Montpellier to start my French lessons. Let's hope I can cope.

Cinque Terre - 5.7 MB
Drunk Venice - 5.5 MB
St Peters - 3.3 MB

Sam

Stupid Pose

Vernazza Beach








During our Trek











Venice







Rialto Bridge at night








Calm.......








The Party Beings








Spanish Steps








Trevi Fountain








Pantheon








Creation of Adam








Outside St Peters Basilica








Mighty Colosseum