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All posts for the month July, 2014

This festive Montpellier square was the scene of a great dinner last night

This festive Montpellier square was the scene of a great dinner last night

We spent a pleasant afternoon in the Jardin des Plantes

We spent a pleasant afternoon in the Jardin des Plantes

Whenever possible we like to break long journeys into smaller pieces. Rather than spending eight hours on a train we prefer to stop in the middle. Two four hour journeys aren’t nearly so bad, especially if you get to discover a new place in between. Since we had a couple days to spare between our stay in Cannes and our visit with my brother John and his family in Barcelona, we decided to make a stop smack in the middle. And that brings us to Montpellier, the vibrant capital of the French region of Languedoc-Roussillon.

These things looked an awful lot like blueberries but maybe not quite

These things looked an awful lot like blueberries but maybe not quite

Montpellier feels like a young town, with lively streets and bustling squares full of bars and restaurants. It’s been a college town since the founding of the University of Montpellier in 1160 — one of the oldest universities in the world. It is also reported to be the fastest growing city in France over the past quarter century.

It’s been a nice place to hang out for a brief couple of days while we got a few practical things done — shopping for toiletries, getting Jim a haircut, and doing a bit of travel research. We also visited a nice botanical garden, the Jardin des Plantes, and enjoyed a couple great meals in those lively Montpellier squares.

But this morning we are more excited than usual to board our next train. Because this time we are headed to one of our favorite places on earth — Barcelona!

This kitty was waiting for me right at the entrance to the Jardin des Plants

This kitty was waiting for me right at the entrance to the Jardin des Plants

This kitty was looming just behind Jim at lunch in another great square.

This kitty was looming just behind Jim at lunch in another great square.

Jim inspects some nice purple flowers at the Jardin

Jim inspects some nice purple flowers at the Jardin

A decommissioned church rise up into a moody sky

A decommissioned church rise up into a moody sky

Clear skies, blue water, and lots and lots of people on the beach. This was our view from lunch one day.

Clear skies, blue water, and lots and lots of people on the beach. This was our view from lunch one day.

We’ve just wrapped up five days in Cannes, mostly on the beach. There’s not a lot to talk about when much of the day is spent sitting on a chair on the beach. Sun, reading, cooling off in the water … that’s about it.

It’s worth noting, though, that Cannes is a strange place. It’s the only place I can think of where you honestly see Rolls Royces being driven around, along with a lot of other terribly expensive cars. Yachts, lots of yachts. You see – in fact, we sat right behind one – apparently very rich old ladies on the beach wearing much, much less than you wish they were, with their aides sitting in a chair immediately next to them. The aide’s job is to continually adjust the umbrella so that the sun is hitting just where she wants it but not in her eyes. And readjust the towel she’s lying on if it gets a little bunched up. And move the beach chair – with the old lady still lying in it – as the sun moves throughout the day. You can spend a fortune renting chairs and umbrellas on the beach and can easily spend $200 for lunch. But you can also stumble onto – as we did – small local restaurants that serve fantastic food at very reasonable prices. A strange mix of very rich and beautiful with very reasonable and normal.

You might guess that the film industry is big here. This cool mural was our view at another lunch stop.

You might guess that the film industry is big here. This cool mural was our view at another lunch stop.

This Nicoise Salad was from our very, very favorite restaurant in Cannes. We had lunch there twice and were heartbroken when we went on our last day and it was closed on Sunday. Just a block off the beach it's obviously a family run place. Unpretentious as could be, they spoke very little English and had the best steak tartare I've ever eaten. I'd go back to Cannes just for that.

This Nicoise Salad was from our very, very favorite restaurant in Cannes. We had lunch there twice and were heartbroken when we went on our last day and it was closed on Sunday. Just a block off the beach it’s obviously a family run place. Unpretentious as could be, they spoke very little English and had the best steak tartare I’ve ever eaten. I’d go back to Cannes just for that.

Erica and her flute (along with the soon-to-be bride) in an 11th or 12th century church in Mons

Erica and her flute (along with the soon-to-be bride) in an 11th or 12th century church in Mons

There were a couple interesting side trips. Our first full day there we drove up into Mons, a tiny hilltop town in the foothills of the Alps, where my former assistant in the VAN office was playing in a pre-wedding concert. Erica is the niece of an old college friend of Mark’s (which is how we met her), who was also there along with his partner and mother. The concert was great, the town was beautiful, and it was great fun to have dinner afterwards with the whole family.

(Note: Mark & I remain traumatized by cars. We had to rent a car to get to Mons and that whole process of driving out of the city, up into the hills, back down and into the city, getting gas, returning the car … traumatic. We’ve been carless since 2008 and our freakish terror of cars is just getting worse.)

Mark's old college friend David, Mark, David's partner Mike, and David's mother Florence. At 87, Florence was remarkably active and fun, a delight to spend time with.

Mark’s old college friend David, Mark, David’s partner Mike, and David’s mother Florence. At 87, Florence was remarkably active and fun, a delight to spend time with.

And then two days later, while Erica was at the wedding, Mark & I took a train up to Nice to have dinner with David, Mike, and Florence. Again great fun to see old friends and spend an evening in a pretty cool city.

A playground fountain in Nice. When we were here two years ago this was all under construction but now it's a pretty fun place.

A playground fountain in Nice. When we were here two years ago this was all under construction but now it’s a pretty fun place.

The same fountain area a little later in the evening

The same fountain area a little later in the evening

So that’s it. Beach, sun, some old friends, and a fun concert. Now it’s off to Montpellier for two days, just to break up the trip to Barcelona where we’re going to spend a week with Mark’s brother and his family.

What blog post would be complete without a picture of Mark & a cat? This very BooBoo-esque cat was sitting in that chair when we went to dinner in Mons and was perfectly comfortable letting Mark pick him up and resettle in his lap. You have to love France and it's approach to cats and dogs in restaurants.

What blog post would be complete without a picture of Mark & a cat? This very BooBoo-esque cat was sitting in that chair when we went to dinner in Mons and was perfectly comfortable letting Mark pick him up and resettle in his lap. You have to love France and its approach to cats and dogs in restaurants.

And while we're on the subject of cats ... Sylvester & Tweetybird rest at the entrance to our favorite lunch restaurant in Cannes. Mark likes pretty much all cats, even plastic ones.

And while we’re on the subject of cats … Sylvester & Tweetybird rest at the entrance to our favorite lunch restaurant in Cannes. Mark likes pretty much all cats, even plastic ones.

Finally, Boston Bear has been complaining that he's not getting enough photo space in our blog, so here he is resting after a big night out in Cannes

Finally, Boston Bear has been complaining that he’s not getting enough photo space in our blog, so here he is resting after a big night out in Cannes

A little rain doesn't stop the true sailors on Lake Zürich

A little rain doesn’t stop the true sailors on Lake Zürich

We closed out our brief Swiss holiday – sort of a vacation from all that Mediterranean warmth and sunshine – with two days in Zürich. That’s not nearly enough time to experience this vital, vibrant city, but we were meeting friends in Provence so that’s all the time we had. And what little time we had there was pretty cold and wet. Not that we’re complaining; we’ve had very little use for our umbrellas in the 14-plus months we’ve been traveling so we were way overdue for some rain.

One of the advantages of a rainy day is that we’re more likely to go into a museum, so we headed off to Zürich’s Kunsthaus (where I walked around in wet shoes and socks…) to see the permanent collection ranging from the Middle Ages to contemporary art. It was a great experience, with all sorts of “bold name” artists, from Van Gogh & Picasso to Manet & Warhol. Apparently it has one of the (or perhaps the) largest collection of Edvard Munch in the world, due to his friendship with a director of the museum. We spent some three hours there and, but for tired (wet) feet and the need for lunch, could have spent several more hours.

Warhol in the Kunsthaus

Warhol in the Kunsthaus

Otherwise it was good food, a great bar with perfect Perfect Manhattans, and continued shock at the prices of everything. We’ve moved on to Cannes now, so we’ll write about that soon.

Mark beside Lake Zürich when it wasn't raining

Mark beside Lake Zürich when it wasn’t raining

This was lunch in the old town. The amazing thing was that the fish was supposed to come with a potato-carrot puree, but to avoid the starch I asked for vegetables instead. Usually you get something that's OK in place of their standard, but these were some of the best vegetables I've had in months. Not a bad substitute at all...

This was lunch in the old town. The amazing thing was that the fish was supposed to come with a potato-carrot puree, but to avoid the starch I asked for vegetables instead. Usually you get something that’s OK in place of their standard, but these were some of the best vegetables I’ve had in months. Not a bad substitute at all…

The bike of my dreams!

The bike of my dreams!

Gray Zurich, with Europe's largest clock face in view

Gray Zurich, with Europe’s largest clock face in view