As already in mentioned in Dan’s previous blog post, we found ourselves in Montpellier by accident since this was as close to Avignon we could book from Barcelona.
We had a short stint here and enjoyed this small city more than expected. Our hotel was only a 3 minute walk from the train station and 5 minutes from all the action in a major area, La Place de la Comédie.
One thing that Dan wanted to mention was that he figured out the reason why they call it french fries. That’s because the french seem to serve fries with EVERY meal. You want eggs for breakfast, it comes with a pile of fries. Salad for lunch? How about some fries? … Steak for dinner? Here’s fries.
Now, while we’ve been having a steady diet of carbs and oil, we’ve enjoyed the main dishes where the meats are served up in the most delicious sauces that are surely full of butter, cream and a whole bunch of wonderful things. Our first night here, we went to L’Entrecôte and the ordering was pretty simple – they only make one dish – steak with their own special ‘famous’ house sauce.
It must be a lucrative dish, because the place is always packed and they have five other locations throughout France. We also managed to take a break from the butter and had a sushi lunch at the Sushi Shop, which has been the best sushi we’ve had on this trip. The food is artistically presented and the menu looks like something in a fashion magazine. I dare you to take a look at the website – the rolls all look delicious!
Now, contrary to popular belief, we didn’t spend our entire time eating. We managed to sneak a few hours here and there to do some sightseeing and to stroll through the tight alleys and streets of the old city. They have their own Arc de Triomphe, just like in Paris and Barcelona, so we took a shot of that.
They had a cool cathedral which could have been mistaken for a castle, and in fact we did for a while there. We took a few shots of that too…
They had some neat little hidden gems, and guess what? We took a few of them as well. Dan also gave into my shopping needs and while I didn’t actually purchase anything, I curbed the craving through window shopping.
So, while we didn’t initially intend to visit Montpellier, it has been a pretty nice detour. We managed to rest for a couple of days, get some much needed laundry done, eat some french cuisine and stroll around the town. Onwards to our next destination, Avignon.
Sometimes, it’s the place that you haven’t planned for gives you the most surprise because your expectations aren’t hyped up…
I took a look at that sushi menu….. i wonder if they deliver?!
Looks like a nice town.. Have you noticed if the bottled carbonated water is really popular there? If I hear the name “Montpellier” I think of the drink.
They do!!! They have slick little scooters zipping around…though Vancouver may be just barely out of their delivery range :). Carbonated water seems to be fairly common everywhere in France, not just Montpellier. On a different, but similar vein, we started taking to the apertifs before dinner – we noticed people did that alot.