Day #1: Montpellier - Avignon - Nimes

Hi all...Got back from my summer holidays in the French and Italian Riviera areas with Dion, Amy and WanLi. Now I have loads to BLOG about. So, do stay tuned, as it takes some time to blog the entire trip and uploading so many nice pictures. On Day 1, it was an early morning flight to Montpellier on Saturday morning @ 610am flight. As usual, left Cork on Friday evening to London. Flight got delayed for an hour and I was quite annoyed. It is always times when I need to be punctual, Ryanair will be delayed. So I ended up arriving London central about 1100pm. Met MayTiem for supper at HK Diner for a bowl of noodles, couldn’t really eat much as it was late. We parted after that. She went home to pack as she is going to Brussel for the weekend. This time it is bank holiday on Monday in England. I went to Dion & Amy’s place, reached about 1am, good thing they waited and didn’t lock their door on me…Hehe!!!! It was bus no.94. Long Wait!!! Chat a bit with everyone and then tried to get some sleep. Somehow couldn’t sleep much, lucky I had a nap on the plane from Cork. Dozed a bit until 300am. The cab arrived at 315am to pick us up for Gatwick airport, went around the corner to pick up WanLi.

Everyone was very quiet in the cab, trying to catch a little more sleep as it was 40mins drive to the airport. The airport was very busy and I couldn’t believe it…at this time of the hour???? Guess it’s the cheap flights and rates. The Check-in Qs were long, the Scanning Qs were long and slow. After the bomb plot scare, the airport security has tighten. No liquid allowed. Took us nearly an hour to line up, get scanned and finally boarded the plane. Good thing the flight is on schedule. Everyone slept right away on the plane; in fact most people were sleeping on the plane. It was very quiet until breakfast is served. My first time taking British Airways and I didn’t expect them to serve a meal for a 2hrs flight. It’s uncommon in Europe, guess must be national carriers but AerLingus don’t do that….Hmmm???? It was English breakfast of course, rashers, sausages and potatoes, bread, OJ and coffee...Not bad!!! Reached Montpellier airport at 810am. Picked up car rental and left for Montpellier city about 10am.

* ...Spot our Flight... * * ...All aboard... *

* ...Reached Montpellier Airport...Rise & Shine... *

* ...Head to Europcar to Pickup our Sports Car... *

* ...Ready To Go... *

* ...Our Sports Car...4D Guys... *

* ... TaTa Montpellier Aeroport...Bye!!!... *

In Montpellier city, walk around Place de la Comedie area, a large boulevard with carousel. Had some ice-creams and then took the Choo-Choo train guided tour around Montpellier city, which was really a good choice to see the city in 30mins. Montpellier is very neat with large boulevards, great architecture, narrow alleys and mostly pedestrianised. I guess there is a lot of history around this city. The problem was the StOOpiD guided tour was in French. Totally Lost in Translation!!! But we were handed out leaflets in English. I didn’t know whether to read the leaflet or sightseeing or take pictures. Don’t they know its difficult to do so many things at the same time??? And the map in the leaflet is Wrong...Sigh!!! After the guided tour, the whole place looks pretty much the same. The buildings and architecture were mostly similar, but I am sure there is a lot more interestinh places to see. The park and its fountain is supposed to be very good too!!!

* ...Place de la Comedie & Carousel... *

* ...The Huge Square of de Comedie (Biggest Pedestrian Square in Europe)... *

* ...The Statue of 3 Graces...Good Shot... *

* ...Nice One... *

* ...Not So Nice One...What are you all Doin... *

* ...Amy & WanLi: Ice Cream on Choo Choo Train... *

* ...The Law Court... *

* ...The Triumphal Arch... *

* ...The Water Tower @Aqueduct Clement... *

* ...Church of Saint Anne... *

* ...Funny Looking Fountain at Saint Anne Church... *

* ...This Looks UnreaL... *

* ...Me, WanLi & Dion on the Choo Choo Train... *

Got back to the car and drove to Nimes. Along the roads, you are sure to see vineyards everywhere, Way too many!!! Found our hotel and check in. It’s a very basic decent hotel. To my surprise, they have pictures of Zidane visiting the hotel. Probably for food only, not the kind of place Zidane would stay at. Freshen up ourselves and head to Avignon for sightseeing. Avignon is one of the more popular cities to visit within the Provence. The city centre is very medieval, housed behind a massive wall and also known for being the Vatican backed in the 14th century. We walked around the city, visited Palais des Papes (Palace of the Popes) from the outside, a fortified palace built for the medieval popes. Walk up to the hill top park Rocher de Doms for more views. Then walked down to Pont St Benezet, a 900m long bridge stretched across the Rhone River and which has something to do with the French nursery rhyme. The Rhone River is one seriously huge river though and very windy too. Originally, the Celts named the area ‘Avenio’ or ‘the town of violent winds’, coming from the Rhone Valley.

* ...Road to Nimes on the Motorway... *

* ...Our Room...Very Basic... Good Enuf... *

* ...Look at this biscuit shop in Avignon...Very Nice!!!... *

* ...Look at those Biscuits... *

* ...Look...A RoW of Softie Machines...and All Diff. Flavours...WoW!!!... *

* ...Welcome to my Shop... *

* ...WanLi @Avignon Theatre House - A Mural of Plants... *

* ...Palace of the Popes... *

* ...A Cathedral Next to It...Way to Rocher de Doms... *

* ...View of Avignon at Rocher de Doms... *

* ...The Girls Taking a Break - Good View... *

* ... The Boyz Taking a Break too... *

* ...A View of Rhone River and the Background... *

* ...Rhone River: Look at the Massive Water Body... *

* ...Pont St Benezet, used to have more arches... *

* ...First Group Photo in Avignon... *

Walked back to pick up the car. Saw a Vietnamese restaurant in the city centre, decided to drop in for a small bowl of noodles. Apparently, Vietnamese food in France (especially Paris) is one of the best in the world. But this one was not very good, but worth a try. Me, WanLi and Amy had a bowl of Pho each while Dion had a rice dish. After that, we drove back to Nimes for sightseeing. Back in the old times, this is where its cotton was used by Levis to produce their jeans; hence the word denim was derived. There are two main things to see in this town, which is the Maison Carree (a Roman temple) and Les Arenes (an amphitheatre). Hmm…I find whichever city that was conquered by the Romans will always have an amphitheatre.

* ...Vietnamese Restaurant... *

* ...Vietnamese Noodle With Wine...Yummy!!!... *

* ...Bamboo Shoot Salad... *

* ...Dion's Dinner... *

* ...Road Back to Nimes - Cool Shot... *

It was pretty late when we reached and everyone was very much drained. So we decided to skip Nimes and have an early night rest. Drop by in Carrefour to buy some food, water and wine for supper snack in the hotel room. Wine is so cheap in France. In future, never drink beer in France, always opt for their wine. I am starting to like French wines now especially white. Finally got to lie down on the bed about 1am. I am surprise we did so much on the first day itself, considering the number of hours we slept. I think average we had 3hours of sleep and I mean me and Dion only. Both the girls were snoring away at the back of the car….Hahaha!!! Sorry not allowed to take pictures of people sleeping!!!! It is believed that pictures of people sleeping are meant for the DEADs only…. Fair Enough!!!

* ...Saw this in Carrefour - Shark Meat & I think thats Dolphin Meat... *