Gym's Ramblings: Fall 2023 - A Euro Roadtriip

Place de La Comedie

September 23-27, 2023

Montpellier is a young city in terms of the average age of its population and also in its length of time as a important urban centre in France. The fact that it contains no less than 6 different universities keeps the population young and since it only began to be mentioned in the historical records in 985 AD, it does not have ancient roots.

Once it was established, Montpellier quickly became an important centre of higher learning and today the streets are filled with bicycles, skateboards and e-scooters as the youthful inhabitants move from cafe to classroom and apartments in the dense medieval part of the old city to the numerous watering holes that line the cobweb of narrow streets there. Those students help to keep L'Ecusson a thriving city centre and a safe part of town for tourists to visit. Much of L'Ecusson is pedestrian-only, so Gym and his dear companion got a few steps in exploring that part of town.

What if you wanted to live in a newer building? Then you live in the Antigone Nieghbourhood, right next to L'Ecusson. This area was developed in the later half of the 20th Century by a very forward-thinking mayor, Georges Freche. It was he who initiated the re-birth of a large area between the river Lez and eastern outskirts of L'Ecusson. One of the most enjoyable walks that Gym and Mrs. Gym took was from Place de l'Europe on the edge of the river, through the centre of the Antigone. You walk down a pedestrian-only thoroughfare, past the neo-classical buildings that are perfectly balanced on either side of boulevards, plazas, parks and fountains that lead you to the Polygon Mall, a large indoor mall with numerous shops and eateries. You then make your way through the mall and end up exiting into L'Ecusson with Place de le Comedie on your left and Esplanade Charles de Gaulle on your right.

Many other more modern buildings were built along the Lez and across the river in the residential areas to the east. One such building is L’hotel de Ville right next to the Marriott and further north on the river pathway, "the Whiite Tree" is a very stunning condo that might look out of place anywhere but in Montpellier.

After spending three nights in France, Gym would chauffeur his lovely companion back to Barcelona and turn that very comfortable Volvo back in to the nice people at National. After dumping that nice "ride", they stayed one more night in Spain, on the beach west of the Barcelona airport,. They then flew back to Heathrow and connected on to Calgary. Another successful road trip was in the books.