June 15 – 17

We left Montpellier’s train station, bags in tow, and made our way through a construction zone to the tram station at Opera Comedie, the town’s main square.  Picking up a book of 10 rides for 10-euros ($10.49) we boarded the tram for the ride to Francois’ condo.  Once there, we settled our stuff and had the first of what would be many cold beers during our stay, this one our perennial French favorite, Kronenbourg 1664, one of the many good five percent lagers one finds in Europe and around the world. 

After a suitable amount of time of refreshment and reflection, we set out for Montpellier central and what has become our mandatory first stop each time we are in town, that is the Beehive.  Faithful readers of the blog will recall that this was our home away from home during our three stays in Montpellier in 2017 and so it was fitting that it be our first stop on this trip. 

We started off with a round of beers and some lively conversation with the folks behind the bar and a couple of the regulars, all of whom are familiar with Francois.  Approaching our second round, we moved to one of the booths around the corner from the bar for some food, the Cornish Pasty (beef and carrots with turnips and potatoes) served with fries and a salad for Joanna and fish and chips for me.  We’ve had several meals here and they are always uniformly good and worth the tab.

Returning to the condo led to a late night of catching up, dipping into the cognac supply and perhaps, an Eagles tune or two accompanied by Francois on the guitar.  The next day would be spent quietly at first, starting with the typical breakfast we enjoy while there, fresh baguettes and croissants from Pâtisserie Scholler, the pastry and bakery shop around the corner from the condo, combined with ham, cheese, jam, butter and whatever else we could drag out of the refrigerator. 

Doing laundry was high on the list as well and as Francois doesn’t have a dryer, clothing must be hung to dry.  Fortunately, the insanely warm weather helped us out with this, and our clothes would be ready for packing or wearing the next day.  In the afternoon we took the tram to Montpellier central so that Joanna could get a pedicure while Francois and I would enjoy a happy hour beer at La Babar, a nearby café. 

When Joanna finished, we walked over to the Beehive for our daily beer there, before moving on to what would end up being a couple of hours at La Fabrik, the bar that hosted a live band Karaoke when we were here in 2017.  As with many other bars in Montpellier, they have a very good selection of draft and bottled beers, and we would enjoy a number while there. 

Out plan for dinner was one we also executed in 2017, which was to go next door to Il Pizzaiolo and order pizza, one for Francois and a ham and mushroom one for Joanna and I to split, and when they were ready, staff would bring them to us at the bar.  The food was as good as we remembered and would provide just the right amount of ballast for what would be a long night of drinking. 

Prior to ordering our food, we were approached by a young woman who was conducting a survey about drinking habits and what types of establishments appealed to us the most.  Although she had assured us it wouldn’t take long, as she had just started administering the survey, she had no idea just how time consuming it would be, also exacerbated by her lack of familiarity with it. 

But beer provides a welcome lubricant for survey taking and it was actually kind of fun interacting with her as we worked our way through the lengthy list of questions.  We surmised that La Fabrik is the kind of place that appeals to the knowledgeable beer drinker and the owner, who had commissioned the survey, was trying to ascertain what it might take to appeal to customers who aren’t that interested in high quality craft beer. 

Finished with the survey and draining the last of our beers, we set out through the crowded streets of Montpellier for our final destination for the evening, a return visit to the Titty Twister.  As we had done Karaoke in 2017 at La Fabrik, Francois was determined for us to do it again during this visit and tonight was the night it was held at the Twister. 

When we arrived, it was uncrowded but that would change as the night progressed, eventually filling up with roomful of mostly college age women.  Montpellier is home to no less than six colleges, providing the city with a large number of energetic folks that like to get out and eat, drink, sing, and dance.  And that would be the case that night at the Twister. 

The DJ took requests from a list of available songs and as the night wore on and the well-known pop and rock songs dwindled, the most popular songs became those of French origin and these were sung by the entire crowd at loud volume, creating a perfect Covid breeding ground, one that fortunately our fresh booster shots shielded us from harm. 

Finishing up (I did sing one number, Hold the Line by Toto) late we caught the last tram back to the condo and hit the sack, sleeping in the next morning.  It would be a lazy day as we recovered from our late-night revelry, one that would take us east along the coast of the Mediterranean to the seaside resort of La Grande-Motte. 

We found a parking spot in a crowded lot and made our way to the shoreline, landing at a restaurant with a covered patio overlooking the beach, L’Horizon, where we would grab a table and spend the afternoon.  One thing that most folks know about restaurants and cafes in Europe is that there is no pressure by the establishment to turnover your table.  That is, once you’ve ordered something, you are free to stay there as long as you want. 

Francois and I ordered two different ice cream treats while Joanna opted for a frothy coffee drink and along with a solitary Coke Zero, that would be our sustenance for the three hours or more we loitered at that table, occasionally napping (a carryover from our prior late-night antics), watching those around us and just generally enjoying a mild breeze in the shade on a very warm day. 

Soon enough though we drove back to the condo, got cleaned up and in the early evening made our way to the outskirts of town for dinner at Le Bouzou.  Good friends Jos and his wife Tardis would join us and seated together on the rooftop outdoor patio, we enjoyed each other’s company along with an amazing all you can eat buffet of forty starters and forty fish, meat and vegetarian dishes. 

Among the many dishes offered from Africa, the West Indies and Madagascar were meat and fish in yassa, colombos, massalé, curry, or rougail, and also original dishes such as chicken with vanilla, barracuda with coconut milk, cuttlefish with ginger, blue shark with red curry and giant New Zealand mussels with basil.  

The owner was present and kept a running dialogue going about his origins and what brought him into the business, also helping to deliver our drinks, and concluding the evening by pouring a special concoction of different alcohols that we were supposed to drink in a particular order, but we blew it by consuming the first serving when we should have waited for the last.  But it was a great way to end an evening with these longtime friends. 

And that would end our time in Montpellier with Francois, a short stay compared to visits in past years, but one that would invoke memories for years to come, as so many of these encounters have done over the years of our friendship.  Francois and I are like twin sons of different mothers, both natives of big cities (Paris and Los Angeles), both holding advanced degrees, both having held jobs as directors in our respective fields, both having married and raised families and now, both of us retired.  It has allowed us to see what it might be like for us to reverse our position and live in the others skin, so to speak and that my friends is as close as one can get to living in another world. 

Links

Kronenbourg 1664: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kronenbourg_Brewery

The Beehive: https://www.facebook.com/thebeehivemontpellier?sk=wall&filter=2

Pâtisserie Scholler: https://www.facebook.com/patisserie.scholler/

La Babar: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187153-d21335462-Reviews-Le_Babar-Montpellier_Herault_Occitanie.html

La Fabrik: https://www.facebook.com/lafabrik34/

Il Pizzaiolo: https://www.il-pizzaiolo.fr/

Titty Twister: https://www.facebook.com/TTTMtp/

L’Horizon: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g196605-d17138982-Reviews-L_Horizon-La_Grande_Motte_Herault_Occitanie.html

Le Bouzou: https://restaurantlebouzou.fr/