After a solid night's sleep, we woke up well-rested on Monday morning and went for a run. We ran towards town, along the aqueduct, and climbed what seemed to be hundreds of steps up to the park that is adjacent to the historic part of town. My legs must have atrophied on the flight or something because those steps were killer. We caught our breath while checking out how anatomically correct the sculpture of Louis XIV's horse was. We ran back to the residences, stopping at the boulangerie for a quick breakfast. We showered, stretched, got dressed, and ate, then we walked to campus in time for Kaitlyn to get to class. I went because I wanted to see the school and all of that, but she was self-conscious about me walking her to class so she made sure we said our goodbyes a good distance away from her classroom.
I was on my own for the next few hours. I didn't have any plans so when Kaitlyn told me that she had some dry cleaning she needed to have picked up, I volunteered, figuring it would be an adventure. It was probably about a 15 minute walk to get to the place in a direction that we haven't walked before. I had nothing but a hand-drawn map on a post-it note and the claim tag. Miraculously I found the dry cleaner with no issues at all. Maybe Louis' horse was looking out for me from Horsey Heaven because we were so impressed by the size of his... hooves. Anyway, the real fun started when I got there. I asked the woman behind the counter if she spoke English. She said no. I handed her the ticket and she brought me the clothes. No big deal until I started playing charades, trying to act out "Did my girlfriend pay for this already?" She looked at me like I had three heads. Thankfully she was honest and pushed my hand away when I tried to hand her money.
The walk back was a little more difficult since I had trouble remembering which road I came from. I knew the general direction but I definitely took the scenic route. I didn't have any plans and I was there to see France so I didn't mind. After dropping off her clothes, I went out to explore the town, camera in hand. With no destination in mind, I was disappointed to find out that the aqueduct ended anticlimactically on one end in an ugly modern water tower in an overgrown park in a boring suburb. I'm sure it was better looking back in the 1700s. At least they kept the other end beautiful! I walked back along the length of the aqueduct, climbed those same stairs that I died on earlier that morning, and continued on to town.
I must have walked miles. I was going up and down streets, looking in stores, admiring buildings, and taking pictures. I couldn't work up the courage to talk to anyone, so I didn't buy anything or order any food. One thing that caught my eye was all of the graffiti. To be fair, I have no idea if there was any more than there is at home. If not, I think it may have just stuck out to me more because it was in such sharp contrast to the historic beauty of the city. I am also not sure if there are armies of graffiti artists wandering the streets at night or if people just don't mind enough to clean it up. I guess that's just the way things go though. Just like the city walls were built by one generation and removed by another, each generation plays a role in shaping the city. We may have to wait to see what impact Kaitlyn and her group have on the city. At the very least, from what I've seen, they've had a positive impact on the revenue for Montpellier's bars and pubs.
I met Kaitlyn back at her room at noon. We decided to walk to her "hippie" grocery store. It was like a mini Whole Foods, with organic food everywhere and all sorts of grains, nuts, and fruits. We picked up some sandwich supplies and went back to her room to spend the rest of her lunch break hanging out and making sandwiches. She had class again in the afternoon, which means some more exploring for me. As if I didn't get enough walking in that morning! I spent the next couple of hours wandering around the city some more. I even got a French girl to smile at me! I'm sure she was laughing at me for something dumb I was doing, but hey, a smile is a smile.
I lost track of time and got back to Kaitlyn's room a little late. I had her key so she had to wait for me. Woops. We hung out for a bit then went back into town (my fourth time today!) for dinner. After some meandering, we came to this small plaza where a couple of restaurants had tables. We picked the French restaurant, naturally. Our waiter didn't speak much English but thankfully he was very patient with us. I kept doing this thing where I'd be looking at him, trying to pick out a familiar word or phrase, and then when he addressed, I'd make an awkward smile and look at Kaitlyn for help. Also, he said the French word for perfect which sounds a hell of a lot like parfait, which I politely declined because I thought he thought I wanted a cup of ice cream and fruit. Not before dinner, anyway! We had a lot of wine, cheese, and bread. I discovered that I actually like goat cheese. I was convinced for the past twenty five years that I hated it, but a switch was flipped for me on this trip because I suddenly loved it. While waiting for what we'd call our entrees in America, we had some real entrees of bread and cheese. Kaitlyn prepared some goat cheese drizzled with honey on bread for me. Sooo good. Our main courses came out and they were pretty delicious too. We were really just loving life. It was great being together, it was great being in France, it was great having such good wine and that food. I know that it may get annoying reading about how much I loved everything, but I don't really think words can truly describe it. It was the best.
At the end of the meal, we walked through the small streets lined with cafes and other people enjoying the night, back to the main streets that would take us home to bed.
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