Kyriad Montpellier Centre Antigone

Montpellier is a city that...

by grannysmith

Montpellier is a city that combines the old and the new gracefully.
Full of universities and students and close to the beach, it is also home to the oldest remaining botanical garden and the first medicine school (Montpellier was built in the 13th century).

The old city centre -L'Ecusson- is exclusively pedestrian and the new city centre is attached to it with its modern interpretation of ancient greek architecture. The effect can be unsettling but when you get used to it you can only love it! My first year in Montpellier, I arrived for the school year in september.
This was the beginnig of autumn which was already pretty cold for me. Trees without leaves lining the streets made me feel that everything was dying.

I was very homesick and fortunately, I was part of an association of tahitian students or I might have made use of my open ticket earlier than planned...

Christmas was the worst and I remember staying home for fear that I would miss my family's calls.

At least the holidays meant I didn't have to go out in that horrible cold! Plus the association was planning a big new year's eve party with ersatz tahitian food and real tahitian music so there were things to look forward to.

On the 31st, I was cutting out stars and moons as this was a costume party when my phone started ringing off the hook. It was snowing and had I seen it?!
Actually I hadn't as I was so busy, but that was the end of scissors and cardboard.

My friend and I went outside to play in the snow and I made a big ball which I kept in my freezer.

Our other tahitian friends were apparently trying to bodyboard down 0,1° slopes!
I had only seen snow once or twice before in NZ and never falling from the sky so I was very wide eyed!

That night, the streets were white and glowing yellow and blue under the lights, the sky was blacker than usual and a hush seemed to have descended onto the whole town except for occasional laughs and screams.

The party was great and I kept that ball of snow in my freezer for the whole year (which enabled me to buy healthier food as I didn't have much space left!) as I reminder of the night that I fell in love with my new home, however temporary.

Sete

by barryg23

The town of Sete, near Montpellier, is well worth a visit. We spent most of an afternoon here wandering round and getting lost looking for the beach. The beach was about 10-15 minutes walk outside the town and by the time we got back we were too tired to do any more exploring in Sete. It's a nice, quiet town and didn't have too many tourists.

Place de L'Europe

by salinhopt

This square is one of the most beautifull modern places in Montpellier. Next to a riverside and with wonderfull outdoor cafes, you'll have the chance to enjoy the climate and the fantastic scenary. Enjoy!

Montpellier - The Sun, the beach and the students

by Bob_Shan

"La Comedie"

"La place de Comedie" (The square of Comedie) is the commercial center of Montpellier.
Sitting at the coast of Mediterian sea, Montpellier has more than 300 sunny days in a year. There are many schools here, a lot of them are language schools. Schools together with the wonderful climates, Montpellier receives a large number of students from all over the world every year.

"Arc of Triumph"

"University of Medical"

This is probably the earliest medical / surgery university in the world.
Originally considered a betray to the God, surgery was prohibitated in early stage and this university was not allowed to provide medical services to the public in the very begining. But when time passed by, people realized that surgery does save life.

Saint - Guilhem - le - desert

by Bob_Shan

"Office of Tourism"

The office of Tourism, which was the first church in Saint Guilhem, was used as headquartes of "Free France" during WWII.

BTW, this village was found in 804.Till this year, the history of St. Guilhem is as long as 1200 years!

"Le Pont de Diable"

The bridge was built with great difficulties, and people even though the bridge was built by devil (in French: diable). So people call this bridge " Le Pont de Diable"