Beware of church paperazzi
Trip Start
Jan 04, 2005
1
13
35
Trip End
Aug 22, 2005
Montpellier,
France
Sunday, February 13, 2005
Well we arrived here yesterday armed with pages of instructions of things to see and do from Sarah's sister Jessie and friend Roz (thank you!), as well as super helpful hints like "the hostel isn't great, it has co-ed showers with no curtain". Luckily Hotel Nova doesn't believe in forcing you to wear a bathing suit to shower. Anyways....it's been a little rainy here but we've walked around a lot, and had coffee in a couple of the cafes in Place de la Comedie. Easy to see why people would love living here. Also easy to see why I should probably never live here--too much great shopping everywhere you turn!
Speaking of great shopping, Sarah and I devoted a lot of time to such activities when we were in Carcassonne on Friday. Unfortunately we have nothing except maybe a few extra pounds to show for it. Having seen all these billboards for big supermarkets like Geant and Leader Price, we walked right into the tourist office to ask for directions to these "attractions". A half hour walk along the highway later, and great deals like a box of eight mini ice cream bars for 1.50 euro were ours! In between meals we did manage to squeeze in some sightseeing though =) Our hostel was located right in the middle of the medievil city, and not far from the more modern Ville Basse, so we were easily able to explore. The city was cool, and by Day 2 we felt we had a handle on it.
One city we couldn't quite get a handle on was Lourdes. We were there for a couple of days before Carcassonne, and weren't especially sorry to say goodbye. Maybe it was the fact that our hotel had zero heat, or maybe it was because every street was lined with hotels and souvenir stores selling huge jugs to fill with holy water from the grotto.....I guess it just wasn't exactly what we were expecting. However, the grotto and the museum about St. Bernadette's 18 apparitions of the Virgin Mary were both really interesting. And mass on Ash Wednesday is definitely an experience I won't soon forget......especially since there were 2 photographers and one videographer there to capture every moment. When people were going up to get their ashes, one photographer was literally running through the aisles, dodging parishoners, to get the right shot. So look for me on the cover of Catholic Readers Digest.
Tomorrow morning Sarah and I head off on our separate ways. Sarah is heading home for a couple of weeks for her sister's wedding-woo! I'm heading to a farm just outside Nice to work for a little bit. Then we'll meet back up in Nice!
Ok I think I've rambled on enough for one day.
Bye for now!
