J'arrive

After a long overnight flight and short connecting flight, I am in Montpellier.  I was met at the airport by program staff and ushered with other students from my same program to the Hotel Iblis, next to the Place de la Comédie.  The Place de la Comédie is a large pedestrian only boulevard lined with shops, bistros, and cafés before the impressive Opéra de la Comédie (pictures to come).  I went exploring with a small group, including my hotel roommates and the girls in the room across the hall.  We went in a circuit around the Opéra and eventually found ourselves in front of the building again on the Place de la Comédie.  

 At this point, around 5:30, we were all rather hungry, most of us having taken overnight flights and not eaten all day.  We debated about what food to get, some argued for a cheap sandwich, I argued for genuine French food because, hey, I didn’t fly across the ocean to eat poor-imitation American cuisine.  We settled on a small café serving paninis, because dinner wasn’t being served in most places until 7:00 and none of us wanted to wait that long. 

The weather is fantastic compared to Michigan: about 55 F.  I do not expect it to last very long.  After dinner, the sun had set and the temperature dropped quickly.  After a brief return to the hotel so that the others could grab warmer clothes (not me, I had thought ahead), we found a traditional Irish pub that was mentioned in my Frommer’s Guide to France book in the entry on Montpellier nightlife.  It was a very neat establishment, tucked away in a very beautiful, old neighborhood.  The owner is apparently Irish himself and plays Irish music over the speakers.  Apparently on Fridays there is live music, so I will have to remember to check that out.

I have an early start tomorrow, dear readers, so I thought that I would turn in early (10:30 at the time of this writing) so that I could ward off jet lag, but I thought that I owed to you a record of my journey.  So, here you are.