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You guys could have chosen to live anywhere in France - why Montpellier?
Montpellier was a great fit for so many reasons. When we looked at France it came down to two possibilites – either Paris or somewhere in the south. Paris is a city we both love, and we could happily live there, but it’s insanely expensive and the weather leaves a lot to be desired. It’s also difficult to find good housing there, and sifting through the bad landlords from the good ones can be a notoriously tough task.
That left the south. If we couldn’t live in Paris, we wanted to live somewhere with mild winters and a good quality of life. We looked at the areas around Nice, the Cote d’Azur, Provence, and through the southwest in areas like Montpellier, Narbonne, and Toulouse. Ultimately Montpellier stepped up as having the perfect mix of good weather, close to the Mediterranean, good size city with all of the amenities, a really good rail link to Paris, Barcelona, and the rest of France, and it’s surprisingly affordable. We’ve been here for just over a month now and LOVE it!
What are your favourite French foods?
This is a tough one! We’ll give you five for each of us:
Angela:
1/ Pain au chocolat – delicious!
2/ Baguette – simple, straightforward and oh, so good!
3/ Roasted chicken – they have these roasted chicken stalls at our local market and the chicken is amazing!
4/ Rhubarb yogurt – such a unique flavour, and the French really know how to do yogurt well.
5/ Fruit tart / pastries – what’s not to like?
Paul:
1/ Cheese – the comté is definitely my go-to. The options and quality here are insane! All dairy products here are pretty incredible, with honourable mention going to the butter and yogurt.
2/ Chocolate eclair – here in France the eclairs are so good – they fill them with an incredible, rich chocolate and the pastry is flaky and delicious. Too good.
3/ Burgers – yep, I said I came to France for the burgers! It’s not uncommon here for burgers to be served on freshly baked buns with excellent beef, great local cheeses, local produce for garnishes, and home cut fries. The burger has certainly been elevated here.
4/ Raclette – it’s like a fondue, where you build your own little meals. You put a raclette grill in the middle of the table and each person has individual portions of cheese, meats, vegetables, etc. Whenever one has the urge, they put a few items on the grill, let them cook, and then they eat the portion when hot. It can take hours, enough time to talk, drink, and argue over what tastes best as it comes off the grill.
5/ Jambon beurre / jambon gruyere – ham sandwich. One of France’s most popular go-to’s, these sandwiches are available all over France at lunch time. Great, fresh bread, tasty butter, and good ham always hits the spot. I also dig the jambon cru / jambon sec (dry cured hams).
Where do you plan to explore in your first year?
Our list is long! If all goes well in year one we’re hoping to get to Paris a few times, Carcassonne, Narbonne, Toulouse, Marseille, Barcelona, Nice, Arles, Sete, Bordeaux, and a few other areas throughout the south. Portugal is also on our radar for this July. We’d also love to see Annecy, Geneva, Lyon, Strasbourg, and heaps of other spots, but we only have so much time and so much $$!
What has been your biggest challenge living in France?
We’ve only been here a short time, but we’ve definitely started to find our rhythm. That doesn’t mean there haven’t been challenges along the way. Here are two from each of us:
Angela:
1/ Administration and paperwork. France is well known for its love of paperwork, and we’ve definitely had to submit our fair share to get things rolling here. It’s been fine, but it’s work and requires both patience and attention to detail.
2/ Missing friends and family. France is amazing, but it’s a long way from all of our friends and family, which can be tough sometimes.
Paul:
1/ Speaking French! I have okay comprehension and a reasonably good vocabulary, but I’m not as comfortable as I would like to be speaking in French. Sometimes when I think I’m doing well someone will hit me with a flurry of comments or questions and I just kind of freeze! I’ll be happy when I improve to the point where I feel like I’m more in the flow. I have a lot of work to do but I’m looking forward to it.
2/ Missing friends, family, and social groups. It’s impossible to replace the social life you’ve built back home, but there are always new groups, new people, and new opportunities to find in a new place. I miss my family, friends, and my karate dojo, but Zoom has allowed me to keep in touch with people and keep training, so I am very grateful for that.
What camera gear do you use?
We are big on Canon gear, so we have Canon 70D and 80D DSLRs and a wide range of lenses. These are great cameras for travel, incredibly versatile without being ridiculously expensive. They’re amazing in low light, great for video, and just as good shooting landscapes and portraits as they are shooting live concerts and sports.