July in Montpellier is hot. Ridiculously hot. Melt your face off hot. We knew it was going to be hot in the summer when we moved here, and yet all the mental preparation and prehydration in the world couldn’t help us escape the fact that it was just consistently, unrelentingly hot.
Despite the heat, it was a good month and a great start to summer. We managed to get some travel in to Arles and Aigues Mortes, and also spent more than our fair share of time on managing French admin requirements – something that always demands attention when you live in a country that loves red tape as much as this one does.
Montpellier
This would be our seventh month in Montpellier, and our first July. Having spent most of June in Paris, it felt good to be back home. Montpellier is a city that shines in the summer – heaps of tourists, plenty of events going on around the city, and a general joie de vivre that makes one think, “huh, not a bad place to be at all.”
One event that we just came across while walking through the city was Swinging Montpellier, a festival name that – without context – could mean a few different things. We saw a group of swing dancers twirling amongst the trees and all was clear to us. Events like this happen all the time in Montpellier and it’s a big part of why we like the city so much.
We enjoyed watching the other dancers but didn’t jump in there as my dancing shoes have been retired (those records remain sealed, but let’s just say it’s probably best for me not to be seen dancing in public).
Another Montpellier event we enjoyed in July was an exhibition at the Pavillon Populaire for iconic fashion photographer Peter Lindbergh.
July in Montpellier is a perfect time for places like museums and art exhibitions due to the indoor air conditioning and lack of oppressive killer sunbeams. Lindbergh is known for shooting with supermodels Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell, Tatjana Patitz, Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington, and others including movie star Milla Jovovich.
As lovers of photography, we enjoyed the exhibition and look forward to more – Montpellier offers photography exhibitions at Pavillon Populaire all year long.
July included Bastille Day (here they actually just call it “Le Quatorze Juillet” or “La Fête Nationale”). We took in the festivities by checking out the symphony performing in front of the Hôtel de Ville de Montpellier, followed by an impressive fireworks display in Port Marianne. An enjoyable time had by all. We noticed people were quite happy to celebrate but there was less flag waving and face painting than we would have seen on Canada Day or the 4th of July in the U.S. – in our first year here our French hosts have seemed like wonderful, fun people but a bit more reserved than we are in North America when it comes to this kind of thing.
Accomplishments
July saw a huge win on the administrative front – I received my Carte Vitale! This also meant I could sign up properly on the ameli.fr website and was officially accepted in into the French healthcare system. For Canadians this would be like receiving your OHIP card if you are from Ontario (or the equivelent health card if you are from a different province). Angela’s was still to come at this point, but it was a win, one we were happy to have.
I also applied for my French driver’s licence. The red tape associated with swapping a Canadian licence for a French one is five steps past insane, but it’s necessary, and at this point we’re experts at insane. When submiited I was well aware it would take months to come through, so we’ll see. Angela had to deal with a few administrative snags in relation to her licence, so she’s behind a bit in terms of timing.
Travel
In July we stuck close to Montpellier, but did manage to take two short trips. The first was a day trip to a place we had planned to visit since moving here, Aigues-Mortes. Aigues-Mortes is a city with a long and interesting history, founded in 102 BC by Roman general Gaius Marius. The old city centre is surrounded by medieval walls, and it’s cobblestone streets and local artisans provide all the old school charm you look for in an ancient French town.
Aigues-Mortes is an easy trip from Montpellier. We took a bus from Place de France staright to Aigues-Mortes. It took about an hour, zipping along the coast, through La Grande Motte and Grau du Roi. The cost was €1 in a comfortable air conditioned coach, so not a bad deal at all.
We enjoyed wandering through the narrow streets, checking out the shops and looking out at the salt marshes that lay just outside the city. The salt we use in our shakers back home in Montpellier comes from Aigues-Mortes, produced by a company called La Baleine. You can find this salt all over France, but in Aigues-Mortes you can see it being made and the hills of salt are big enough to climb and walk on.
We ate gelato, walked a heap, and just enjoyed taking it all in. For a day trip from Montpellier, it’s hard to beat either for ease or cost – it’s free to wander, and even if you want to climb the ramparts (which we didn’t have time for), it costs €8 for adults. Here are a few more scenes from the city…
It’s a fun day trip, one that I am sure we will enjoy again in the future.
Another spot we managed to get away to was Arles, a city that was on our radar because we’re big Van Gogh fans, and Van Gogh painted Starry Night Over the Rhone while he was living there. We had also heard about Arles as a fun little city to visit with or without the Van Gogh lore, so we were game to get our Arles on.
We took a train from Montpellier’s Saint-Roch station straight to Arles. The duration was about an hour and a half on a packed old train with no assigned seating. In France you’ll find a wide variety of trains and train riding experiences – the local TER trains with no assigned seats are far and away the worst. Always packed and consistently late – these trains haven’t exactly endeared themselves to us. The high speed TGV trains and OUI trains are much better, so we always try to book those when possible, but to get to Arles we had to take the TER. That’s okay, though. Despite standing for more than half the ride and putting up with a local music enthusiast who enjoyed entertaining our car with French rap described by a nearby British couple as “abhorrent”, we got there unscathed and ready to fill our boots with all the charm Arles was willing and able to throw at us.
Charm it did. Arles is a stunning little community with heaps going for it – quaint shops, cobblestone streets, and cosy little restaurants abound.
A Roman collisseum, a bustling market on the weekend, and iconic views over the Rhone add to the plethora of reasons to visit.
We will share a full in-depth post on Arles soon, so we won’t hit you with all the details here, but we had an incredible weekend in a fantastic city and can’t wait to return.
Overall, July was a good month. We were continuing to find our stride in Montpellier, and we enjoyed exploring Aigues-Mortes and Arles in our quest to see as much of Southern France as we can while living here. As month seven rolled into month eight, we were still thrilled with our choice to relocate to a country full of friendly people, great food, and gorgeous places to explore.