I was not sure which country or city in Europe to go to for the next 10 days before I begin my German language course in Vienna. I was hoping to meetup with my yogi friends in Milan but that didn’t pan out so I ended up coming to Provence. Why? Well, I had been to Nice and the French Riviera before and had fallen in love with Southern France. So, I decided to come here and checkout some cool cities all over again. This time as a solo traveler. Who knows, may be this part of Europe could end up becoming my “retirement move” city.
I flew into Montpellier and decided to stay here for 4 days. I didn’t plan for the remaining 6 days because I had no clue which city to explore. This was all so last minute from the flights to finding an Airbnb apartment. I flew EasyJet because the tickets were cheaper, even after paying for an additional luggage. When I got to the airport, I was told that I could only take one carry-on or pay €60. I had two pieces (a backpack and a carryon luggage) and had to consolidate all into one. I just wore my one big chunky sweater over another which kinda helped me move all my stuff into just one bag. After that all went smoothly and we took off for Montpellier. Until I had a gut feeling that during the luggage reorganizing I might have left the key to the luggage lock on the table.
When we landed, I looked for the keys everywhere but couldn’t find it. I decided to just stay calm and figure things out when I get to my Airbnb flat.
I took the shuttle from the airport to Place De L’Europe. Transferred to TAM (tram) 1 to Gare-Roch central station. I was supposed to take the bus 11 to my flat but the transit app didn’t give me the right location to locate the bus stop. I met a kind stranger who told me that since it’s a holiday, the bus is not reliable and I should just take tram 3 to Gambetta and walk from there to my destination.
Finally, I arrived at my apartment for the next 4 days. My host was a nice guy who had moved here from London but the problem was that the place was not clean at all. The apartment was very spacious except the cleanliness part. What annoyed me the most is that when I booked on Airbnb, it didn’t show me any negative reviews. When I went back into the Airbnb app, I saw that others had complained as well that the apartment was messy. The location and the price was great so I decided to just clean the place myself and enjoy my time here rather than complain and waste my time. I wonder, Is Airbnb doing illegal activity by hiding negative reviews??
The weather was perfect to put on my shorts but my summer clothes were in the bags and I couldn’t find the key to open the lock. I tried to find a locksmith but all of them were closed. I even tried the paper clip method to open the lock after watching a YouTube video but was not successful. Darn, there goes my chance of becoming a professional lock hacker. I went old school, found a sharp knife in the kitchen and decided to just cut the lock. After 90 minutes of hard work 😓, finally the lock broke. Voila!
Now, I was excited to freshen up and head out to enjoy Montpellier. After walking through narrow streets, I ended up at “Promenade of Peyrou.” What a beautiful square that has stunning views of the city! Statue of Louis XIV is in the center of the square and lined with rows of trees on both side of the square. The remains of the Roman aqueducts are at the other end of the square. I decided to come back next day early morning when there were no tourists.
As I left the Peyrou, I was greeted by the majestic, “Arc de Triomphe.” Designed by François Dorbay after the model of the Porte Saint-Denis in Paris and the construction was completed in 1693. Later panels and reliefs were added in 1715 to glorify King Louis XIV. Walking through the Arc led me to the shopping district with Hugo Boss on one side and a local boutique on the other side. Narrow streets intersected through the Main Street, I decided to take one of the narrow streets which opened up into a small square with restaurants and cafe which had terraces (outdoor seating). It was 3pm and I was super hungry but the cafes were only serving drinks. I found a Korean restaurant because international cuisine are usually open all day long whether it’s a holiday or not, just like a Starbucks. The pebble stone decked narrow streets reminded me of Old town in Dubrovnik, Croatia.
What I liked about Montpellier along with its French architecture and lifestyle, is the youthful energy of this town. I was curious, so I researched and found out that 43% of the population are under 30 years old and less than 25% were brought up here, so it makes sense that they come here to study or to pursue careers in pharmaceuticals, law, medical research and agronomy. To underline this fact, in just 30 years Montpellier has risen up the ranks from 25th to 8th among France’s largest cities, welcoming 1,000 new inhabitants every month. Shopping and late night partying is what keeps this city very lively all day and night.
I noticed a lot of immigrants from Arabic and African countries, just like Paris. The locals are not happy about this situation on a lot of front because the French way of life is at risk as the country is slowly being taken over by the conservative Islam followers. Also, the government provides the immigrants and refugees, free housing and monthly allowance. The hardworking locals feel that there has to be some check and balance because they are working to make ends meet whereas others are given free handout. Drugs is another huge problem here. I was approached couple of times by young Arab and African teens selling drugs.
Back to the positive side, it was cool to walk for hours all over Montpellier without any plan or a map. I stumbled upon a cute creperie and decided to come back here for dinner if I could find my way back to that location. We shall see. I love checking the price of properties wherever I go. For €150K I could get a 1-BR apartment here, not a bad investment opportunity since it’s so easy to rent it out to students and the property values might just go up, as the city is focusing on growing it’s tech and startup scene, which is in a very infant stage. In the long run, not sure how the political environment will be in France.
It was around 8pm and I wanted to have a dessert crepe for dinner. After walking through various streets, I finally made it back to Bourbon Creperie, and here I met Tiffany, who lives above the restaurant and helps them after her regular job. I was so happy that she spoke English since the waiter didn’t and helped me get a table and place the order. We chatted for hours. She told me about places I should visit and to download the BlaBlaCar app so I could travel cheaply throughout Provence by sharing long distance rides, like car-pooling. We exchanged our WhatsApp info and planned to meet the next day for drinks and tapas.
It was midnight and I was super exhausted since I had woken up at 5:30am for my early morning flight from Berlin. I headed back to my apartment without getting lost and fell asleep immediately.
