Salon-de-Provence & Montpellier

Over the weekend of June 29 - July 1, I paid a visit to Sandrine and Michael in Pelissanne, France, just outside Salon-de-Provence. It was so awesome to see these guys, who were of course the ones responsible for me winding up in Montpellier in the first place! (I'm not sure whether I mentioned this on the blog or not, but back in February in Pipa, Brazil, on the same day I found I had been accepted to HEC, I asked Sandrine and Michael where they thought I should spend the summer in France to take language courses, get acclimated, etc., and they recommended Montpellier. So even though I had never visited before, I took their advice and here I am! (And quite glad about it to boot!))


Sandrine and Michael in Salon. In addition to putting me up for the weekend in their home, cooking for me and generally being totally awesome people, Sandrine and Michael also took me into Salon-de-Provence on Saturday for the "Reconstitution Historique" festival, during which the whole town embraces its medieval roots.


The Reconstitution Historique had all sorts of exciting things on offer, including:


...big, scary bulls running loose in the streets (well, more ambling than running, but those horns are scary, no?), and...

...traditional medieval music complete with lutes and bagpipes and tights, oh my! ...and...

...silversmiths working in the traditional method (kinda makes you wonder what this guy is up to when there's no "Reconstitution Historique" going on, you know?) ... and...

...goose charmers... (see video below) ...

Have you ever seen such well-behaved geese?

We dined al fresco at twilight, and then strolled around a bit more...


...enjoying the acrobatics and saffron drapery.

Michael unleashing his inner paladin.

After having a fabulous time catching up with Sandrine and Michael, it was back to Montpellier for my final 3 weeks. Here are some snapshots of the city

St. Pierre's Cathedral

St. Anne's Church

Part of the monastery at Maguelone, about 15km south of Montpellier, right by the beach. This was part of a 6-hour bike ride I took all around the seaside nearby. Good stuff. :-)

Sunset over the Arc de Triomphe in Montpellier.

Inside of PopArt (again) -- one of my favorite haunts for daytime people-watching and web-surfing, and nighttime high jinks.

Laurent and me

Me and Nico

On Bastille Day, Denis and I took a trip to Sete.

Denis and me in Sete, with the Mediterranean behind us.

As night fell, we found the perfect sidewalk cafe for watching the fireworks:

Bastille Day fireworks in Sete, France.

But sadly, it seems that all good things must come to an end, and so it is with my sojourn in Montpellier. Next up, Miguel arrives and we tackle Provence!