Montpellier, France 2 May 2013

lovely architecture

lots of wonderful wrought iron on the buildings

trompe d'oeil paintings on some of the buildings, all of this is fake, people included!

another trompe d'oeil with fake reflection of the church

a medieval church

same church from the other side

lots of fun streets and stores

cute shop where I found some fun sandels

very pretty stone buildings

there were fun cafes everywhere

they have a triumphal arch

curved buildings are a favorite of mine

lots of people were out in the numerous cafes

very pretty streets

inside cathedral of saint pierre, dates back to 1536

St Peter

cathedral stained glass

side of cathedral of saint pierre

very different type of cathedral facade

walking away from the cathedral

courtyard of restaurant where we had lunch 

place de la comedie, main square

opera house from late 1800's in the place de la comedie

Montpellier is the capital of Languedoc- Roussillon region. we had a few hours to explore and eat lunch before getting our train to marseille for the plane to Rome. It is a fun city, not too large, great buildings, fun stores, streets, and cafes. Hopefully we will have the change to return and explore more of the city.

Languedoc, France May Day

market day in Clermont- L'herault. a great plate of sausages and potatoes

local asperge

Really lovely fortified  church of St. Paul in clermont-l'herault, located next to market

May Day calls for lilies of the valley, those and tulips are my favorites. Was very pretty to see it everywhere and  it was being sold in bunches as well as just one or two sprigs.

Inside of church. fun to see gothic all the time instead of Baroque.

so elegant, the ceilings and windows

the rose window

On to the Lac du Salagou. lovely red clay hills, green expanses of lawn and lots of wildflowers and water

a quick stop on the way to the lake at the wonderful square in Salasc

Map of lake and surrounding areas. One never runs out of places to go.

Rain had stopped, sun was out with some great fluffy clouds and a bit windy. Good day for our May Day picnic at the lake.

The abandoned town  on the shores of the lake. When the lake was made  the town was left as a ruin.

There is one inhabitant, the mayor who lives here. 

our picnic, doesn't look gourmet but it was

The well fed and lazy boys

hard not to keep photographing

patches and patches of irises

Our evening white wine was Arrogant Frog at the Cote Mas winery. It was delicious.

inside of cote mas winery restaurant

I ordered a wonderful healthy salad

some kind of soup

Seared tuna

loved the thyme sprig with its flower

 May Day was the day to visit the lake with our picnic from what we purchased at the morning market. We explored the area and then drove on to visit the lovely town of Pezenas. Dinner was lots of fun at a local winery "cote mas" which produces many, many kinds of wine. They have recently opened a restaurant on their premises with a Japanese, French trained, chef. Dinner was wonderful. They serve only their own wines and have a great policy of  marking up all wines by only 5 Euro. A glass of wine was 2 euro. Was a wonderful dinner and evening after another very busy day.

broom in bloom at the lake

hiking at the lake

Pezenas medieval room

very elegant

same medieval building

pezenas has great stores. fun ceramic store selling a lot of tagine dishes

Pezenas was filled with lovely scenes

pezenas street scene

great winding staircase

stone store front for a fun cookie store