Au Revoir Nîmes, Bonjour Montpellier

We finished packing and went out to another one of Patrice’s recommendations for breakfast, a cafe called “Farmers”, only a five minute walk from the apartment. The place had a lovely feel, great staff, delicious food and a great selection of music (Teskey Brothers playing when we sat down). We had freshly squeezed juice, Açai bowls and coffee, and it was excellent.

We returned to the apartment, finalised the packing and then had a farewell visit from our charming host Patrice. He was eager to hear about what we had got up to and what we thought of Nîmes. We were able to thank him for his restaurant recommendations - we went to four of his suggestions and enjoyed each one. As we were leaving, Patrice offered to show us his apartment, one floor below. If it is possible, I was blown away by his personal collection, so many wonderful pieces; he is truly an art lover.

We finally bid Patrice farewell and headed for Nîmes Central train station to catch our train to Montpellier. It was a 35 minute ride and we were in Montpellier before we knew it. Our apartment wasn’t accessible until 4pm, so we stayed at the station, had lunch and tried to catch up on some admin.

We left the station about 3.15 pm to slowly make our way to our apartment. The first thing that struck us was the wonderfully colourful trams. They were designed by Christian Lacroix and they make our Melbourne trams look dreary by comparison.

We are definitely staying in the hip and happening part of town, and our apartment, which is on the ground floor, has been thoughtfully designed and renovated. Our suburb of Saint Roch appears to be full of young people and tourists. There are many interesting shops, restaurants and bars in the area.Read more