Montpellier – photogenic city of prophecies, poetry and fun.

Here in my final blog about a splendid week’s holiday in the South of France, I’ll let my camera do the talking but it should be sufficient to tell you that I spent a memorable Monday visiting the beautiful city of Montpellier, a short train journey away from Sète where we’d been staying.

 

So what was all the excitement about, you wonder. Montpellier is the capital city of the Languedoc-Roussillon region of Southern France, it has one of the oldest universities in the world (established 1289), it was the birthplace of the saintly Saint Roch (1295 – 1327), who gave up his wealth to tend victims of the Black Death and ended up catching it but then being cured after his wounds were licked by a friendly dog. Montpellier University was home at various times to the Italian poet Petrarch (1304 – 1374), inventor of the Petrarchan Sonnet, the spooky pseudo-prophet Nostradamus (1503 – 1566) who told us that the end of the world was going to happen some time ago and it didn’t (nice to know that, Nostradamus, old mate), Montpellier University also employed literature’s bawdiest wild man, François Rabelais (1483/94 – 1553) who advised us all to eat, drink and be merry. I think I’m on his side with this one.

 

So, as you can see, we’ve arrived in Montpellier – enjoy yourself wandering around this beautiful and highly entertaining city that still seems to delight in the spirit of Rabelais.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let’s say au revoir to this inspiringly down-to-earth region of France with the voice of the great singer-songwriter, Georges Brassens – just because I can: