"At least there is still hope!" Greyrocks heads for the border of civilised Europe!

Younger, fitter folk would drive from Montpellier to London with just one overnight stop, but one of many benefits of "la retraite" is that we don't have to! So three stops had been meticulously planned, routes computed and overnight bags packed. The only issue would be how far north we could get before Bob would have to replace shorts with jeans:- it was "cold" as we set off! It was also a Sunday:- this is good news with the ban on HGVs on French roads, but not too good if it is the day before the schools re-open after the Spring break in some zone, and this was! Paris is in Zone C and we would be Paris-bound  for two days. Also we would be Belgium-bound everyday and those cars with red rear plates"go like the clappers" up the autoroute! But they all still take a long lunch - so those are the hours for proceeding sedately northwards! We ere listening out on 107.7 FM for news of how the traverse of Lyon would be. We have encountered this before, and thought it inevitable with detours counter-productive. However, as the reported length of bouchon at the dreaded Fourvière tunnel grew and grew the nice man suggested (in French, of course) that if all you wanted to do was get from South to North the A46 was a good alternative.  

As we had only to reach Villefranche sur Saone, we took the advice and it saved a huge amount of time for about 10 extra miles, so that we arrived at the Campanile as the stragglers from Sunday lunch were leaving! As the toll is paid beyond the re-joining of the A6 we think it is no more expensive on that front and is recommended by Greyrocks! As is the network of Campanile hotels. With advancing age we have upgraded to them from their sister chain Premiere Classe for a list of reasons, and they are now the default when planning overnights on a route:- consistent, easy to locate and a bit boring!  Next day we drove, with only a few navigational glitches to outside Troyes, and as we wrestled with the last few kilometres we realised we had done it before - but to stay in the Premiere Classe on the same site! (Today's research reveals it was in 2010)
Then it was to Calais - and it was still shorts weather! We were motoring along confidently when we realised that the UK's hostile environment  at home and attack on stowaways - including the destruction of "The Jungle"  on the outskirts of the city - had changed access to the port and our map for the Campanile was out-of-date. So more fun and games, and excess miles, but a good trip around Carrefour for last-minute supplies, a last supper (same menu as previous two!) and we girded the loins for pre-Brexit Britain.

Arriving early at the port we were put on the next boat and it was pretty empty. We bought coffee at the bar and said how restful it was with no school parties. The barman said we had got it wrong - they had been warned of 1500 kids about to board! And they did! "Zoot, alors!" It was good to disembark at Dover - but for the wrong reason!

"And then there were two!" Greek Easter, May Day and more in Montpellier

There followed a run of cold and wet weather. so thoughts turned to cinema, local eating and TVMucho! We were still pursuing good music gigs, and we re-visited places visited during the family long weekend, but not much cycling and a lot of use of trams! In the old city we went out to find some "free art" and were m the point of giving up (venues closed or charging!) when we came across a small gallery with sumptuous paintings of beach scenes.  We spent a long time wondering where thus place was - but it seems the answer is his imagination! Delightful!

On the gastronomic front we had a trip to Palavas for a seafood lunch, ate at favorites like Hippopotamus, Brasserie Laissac, and local spot Patacrepe, but we also found a new local spot only open for lunch, and therefore useful on bad weather day: Chez Jules, where we had two excellent and great value meals. On the second occasion we were quite late, and considered ourselves lucky to have beaten the deadline when a party of nineteen appeared, consisting largely of teenagers, but also a few "minders". They turned out to be a team (we deduced via Monsieur Google to be from La Rochelle) competing in the televised youth national finals of  "Battle of The Year". After the girls had picked at  - and the boys had gobbled  - their lunch they went outside and we were treated to a demonstration of some fine street dancing!

With Easter over it was time for the first of the French May Bank Holidays:- on May 1st!! This is the most "closed" days of the year - there will be no public transport and no shops open - not even the bakers! Traditionally there are also lily-of-the-valley sellers, and workers' demonstrations.  This year the latter would be complicated by the Gilets Jaunes and Climate Change protesters! Ruth was suffering with a thick cold so Bob cycled into the city centre and watched what was going on. He said it was peaceful enough, but Greyrocks fails to understand what the populist GJ movement is about!

All our Saturdays in France have been touched by their actions, with "the kids" having stumbled on police water canons in preparation! On our final Saturday we set off - with dismal weather projections - to join Mama Stock in a park a little to the north of the city, but theoretically straightforward to reach by tram and a short walk, but we discovered the hard way that the trams were severely disrupted with re-routing to avoid the city centre. We ended up walking along tramlines and getting on anything that came along in hope! We made it to the site to find queues for everything - and then it rained to add to the cold wind! We had seen some interesting artwork and acrobatics, but didn't stay for the music, or return the next day!

Instead on the Sunday we met in Lattes (Bob bike, Ruth tram) and went for a Moroccan lunch in Port Ariane. Ruth walked back alongside the river and we  met again at Marché du Lez, where this time the jazz band was playing! Another case of "Nice!" In recognition of the occurrence of Greek Orthodox Easter we had both chosen lamb for lunch, and at Le Comptoir where we had been the previous day we had asked the Greek waiter what he would be doing - and he said "working"! As we passed on the day itself we wished him Καλό Πάσχα! [

We had revisited La Gazette on an evening when an Argentinian band was playing. We shared a platter of charcuterie and some wine- a good deal - but the place was so crowded we couldn't hear the music and didn't linger too long!

Of course there were films: this time just two at Utopia. They were "Ray and Liz",  and "Boy Erased": not exactly cheering!

The final days were rather lack-lustre as Ruth nursed her cold, but we began preparations for the October stay!

En famille - Montpellier for Easter

Twenty days and nights in Greyrocks' current favourite city: what's not to like? And for five of them we had the company of offspring and her new spouse!
This blog is riddled with praise for Montpellier, but to record how we spent our time the same themes will recur, and Jack and Chloë have caught the bug, too, to some degree!

We had booked through Airbnb an apartment close to the one in October but with a few more facilities, and it was a great choice. One particular feature was a large balcony with a view over the River Lez. Unfortunately for the first few guest-free days this was not a setting in which to lurk! It was cold, and we needed to raid the trove of warmer clothes that over-winters in the car. Operating the heating (and a collection of other sophisticated devices) was a more pressing need, and our trips out were quite short and functional!

Bring it on!

The weather perked up a bit as Easter approached, and we were off to pick up  Chloë and Jack at Beziers airport. It is a very small airport with three or four flights a day - mostly from UK, so it was no surprise to see GB plates in both the official and sneaky free car parks when we arrived. This brought to mind that we had seen no others since arriving in Barcelona several days ago and on a stretch of autoroute normally hosting a number! Brexit caution we assume! The kids' flight from Bristol  had been "OK, given that it was Ryanair!" so it was good news that we saw on a poster in many toilets round the city. Easyjet will start to fly to Montpellier from Bristol from June! So much better on several fronts! (Note the Brexit reference:- knowing how to organise an exit?!)

The weather was generally good (as it was in UK) and our shared activities went ahead as planned - except for the swimming pool (closed for maintenance) and cinema ("We can do that at home!"). We used the trams extensively to get around and show Jack the sights. We found a free exhibition linking art and cooking, which engaged us for hours, and also went round the Museum of the Resistance and Deportation, which Greyrocks had visited some time ago. It is small and poorly publicised, and we had to visit the office and ask for it to be opened, but informative and disturbing in the current populist zeitgeist. On another day they went alone to the Musée Fabre , declaring it too large for one visit, Bob and Chloë rode to Palavas on a very sunny (but windy) day with Ruth and Jack taking tram and bus to meet them. It was crowded -of course - and we were too late for our favourite seafood bar, but we found a good substitute for a long lunch, and the kids paddled in the sea!

Food was a priority throughout their stay, but we were reduced to creperies on several occasions when other eateries were full for the holiday weekend. One other solution was to cook in the apartment's well-equipped chicken, so we went to one of the markets in the city for quality products with Jonathan Meade's chicken and onions in mind! he is a favourite and we also watched - late night - some of his offerings on french history and culture, but we left insufficient time for cooking this rich concoction and had to continue slow cooking overnight and eat it on Easter Sunday! This was the least clement of the days and after the night before we were up late and lethargic, but we walked to the Marché du Lez , where Chloë spent an age in the brocante and emerged with cat-related items that we have had to transport to their home by car! The jazz session promised did not happen, so we walked back to Port Marianne for the apero and met a Greek waiter - but more of that later!

The cause of the Sunday late start was an evening at Pleine Lune - a must for us if Neil Conti is playing, and he was, and the kids enjoyed the music too! What is more we met some other Brit fans, and only just resisted going on to the band's post-gig party! There is a publication MamaSound with comprehensive gig listings, but it let us down twice with non-events during the family stay - once over jazz (above) and once over another jazz session in a central bar. After that one we took another chance and in doing so found a new favourite for us also! La Gazette near the station is a huge warehouse-style venue with good food, cheapish wine, a very informal style of service and a highly eclectic programme of evening music. We hit upon a taciturn and aged jazz trio - "Nice!"

There was a further request from Chloë: bowling! So on Good Friday we took a riverside stroll to Bowling de Montpellier in the early evening and had two games - both won by Bob, but with Ruth suddenly moving from hilarious disaster to a strike! On departure day we took a picnic lunch to Agde and showed them why we also rate that resort. It rained and was cold, but we managed the lunch al fresco (just!) and returned them to Beziers airport. Greyrocks had declared it a MOTH day following a run of abandoned ones! Not nice!