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| Blue trams with the swallow design! |
Life is often a surprising journey where changes are unexpected and plans easily become lifeless paper diagrams, but yet the countless situations and people you encounter in a pre-destined chance definitely feels true.....no matter how long they choose to dwell or how little space they choose to occupy in your capsule of life. Perhaps this is why
'Eat, Pray, Love' by Elizabeth Gilbert resonates with us, soothed our aching souls and inspired us to begin our own adventure of discovery. As with nothing more than a bit of hope in our hearts and promises to ourselves that we shall be brave in embracing whatever comes our way.......we were literally unprepared without a map of the city, no knowledge of how to ask for help in French, and no ideas of what to visit or try.......Judita and I ventured off to Montpellier to begin the first 'Eat' part of our new journey in life! And what a marvelous time we did have eating our way from London to Montepllier!
We were very lucky as we had a lovely friend and fellow blogger Olivia from
Big Mama Introspection to take care of us! Olivia was a wonderful hostess and took us to a little village outside of Montpellier by the mediteranean sea called Sete for a fresh seafood dinner......avocado, crab, fish and white wine.....which was utterly yummy of course! The good food and wine continued to tempt us as roamed through the streets of Montpellier......from the sharp crackle of crisp baguettes, the fragrant calling of fresh daily croissants, the sweet macaroons beaming colours of the rainbow, the tangy ratatouille that danced in the back of our throats and the pink Rose that soothed our anxious palates.......need I explain why it was the 'Eat' journey?
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| Our lovely hostess Olivia from Big Mama Introspection! |
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| 'Cheers girls!' ~ having some silky smooth white wine at Le Bistrot du Port in Sete (near Montpellier). |
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| The beautiful fresh oysters....that I did not try....just in case I discover a new allergy..... |
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| To walk hand in hand as time goes by........Montpellier. |
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| Christmas is in the air.........lights in Montpellier. |
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| The centre of Montpellier....near Palace de la Comedie. |
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| Barclays and McDonalds in a beautiful building together! |
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| Carousel near the tram station and Christmas market.... |
In the centre of Montpellier we saw images that resembled most of the developed world......as even the tall dominant buildings and shiny shops could not hide those who were homeless on the street, those who walked the streets in high heels inviting customers to stop at night, those who offered shoe shining or a massage for coins and the children who roamed begging for money in broad daylight when they should have been at school. What did surprise me was the aggression and intimidating manner these children, who must have been between 9 to 11 years old, used to try to get money from us. As we were buying our tram tickets at a machine, two young boys came very close on either side of us to ask for money and they started pressing buttons on the machine. When we refused to give them money and walked across the street to a different machine to buy our tickets, they followed us across the street and repeated the action. We bought our tickets as they continued to pursue us for money and when we refused again, the child suddenly grabbed Judita by the arm to prevent her from leaving! In shock I shouted 'No', pushed the child's hand away and moved quickly to board a tram. They were only children but yet they made us feel unsafe and unsettled. The war may not be physically in the West and the economic downturn may be temporarily decorated with the Christmas sales on beautifully lit shopping streets, but the aftermath working in our daily lives is a reality.
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| Oui....bon bons! |
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| Judita with a happy smile! |
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| Our pajamas party! |
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| I liked the poster so much I wanted a photo with it! |
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| Sweet necklaces! |
Our 'Eat' journey was mostly sweet with all the delicious food and lovely company from Olivia, except from a little minor interruption, which did not dampen our enthusiasm for possible part 2 or 3 in the future....should we need a pray journey or should love decide to knock on our lives and invite us through a new door! I also discovered I was able to order food and ask for directions in my basic French....which is quite grammatically incorrect if you were to ask my French teacher.....but it did brighten up my day when I realised my beginners French course did not go to waste. Who is to say what will happen next, or where we will be this time next year?
Until the next time,
May xx
PS: Thank you Olivia and I hope to see you in Sete next time!
*You can find Olivia's blog The Big Mama Introspection here:
http://thebigmamaintrospection.blogspot.com/
