Tuesday 23 July 2013

Montpelier (Monday 22nd July 2013)

We had heard that Montpelier, a couple of hours to the north, was worth the trip so off we went this morning. I made it about halfway before a strong need for a 15 minute powernap hit me. I pulled into the next service station and we all nodded off, for about an hour I reckon. Refreshed, we hot the Piage (toll-road) and before long found ourselves on the outskirts of town.

Montpelier has a population of about 300,000 people. The historic section is the heart of what is considered a university town, but the university is not in the centre of town. Like all French towns, an abundance of narrow lanes is the order of the day. The Place de la Comedie is the exception. It is a large and wide expanse of openness with the Montpelier Opera being the feature building. The city is well served by trams which trundle through the Place and out to the “suburbs”

We wandered the streets looking for a shop in which to buy Emily's new shorts. Without any hint of possible success in the first couple of stores eagle-eye Dad spied a Billabong store across the street. In we went and before too long the quest was ended. Hooray! It's somewhat humorous to think we traveled half-way around the world to buy something in a Billabong store.





The day was very hot so we walked down to the River Lez in the hope of catching a cool breeze but no go. On the way down we enjoyed watching the kids playing in the fountain, one of those that spurt up from the ground. We had a quick lunch at about 3:30pm and headed for home.GPS-girl gave me trouble again. Part of her route was blocked due to road works, so I drove straight on, my only option. She quickly summed up the situation and worked out a new route which took me straight back to the roadworks!! So I ignored her instructions for the next few kms to force her to find a completely different route. Eventually, after an hour, we made it back to the piage and back to Talairan. We found Peter at the bar so we had a cold one or two and then shouted him tea for all his help, guidance, accommodation and meals over the last 10 days.

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