FRANCE:PARIS DOESN'T have le seulFrench right to call itself the City of Light. Not really. Montpellier, a mellow-gold city of sandstone buildings in the deep south, can give the French capital a light-filled run for its money any day.
The capital of Languedoc-Roussillon, Montpellier is also younger than Paris, younger even than most of its southern neighbours. It’s a medieval city, about the same age as Dublin but smaller; a frisky youngster compared to the Roman pedigrees of the Languedoc likes of Narbonne, Uzès, Pézenas, Nîmes and Béziers.
Bounded by mountains, vineyards and the Mediterranean, Montpellier has a laid-back confidence, lack of pretension, great terrace cafes, music, theatres and galleries, superb wine, a good-natured historic centre and more creativity going on in the shade of its plane trees and labyrinthine old streets than you’d find in a month of Sundays walking another city. To enjoy Montpellier, all you have to do is stroll and stop, sip, stare, sip again, stroll again. Rarely have history and design combined to make a more perfect place to take your time.
Montpellier began life as a 10th-century market town on a hill. Surrounded by wild oaks and with a river to the sea, it was owned by the Guillem family, by all accounts a bright and lively lot interested in the arts, commerce, education and a good time – traits that distinguish the city still. Once it got into its stride, Montpellier grew quickly, setting up its famous medical school in 1220. A medical student first sang the French anthem, La Marseillaise, in Montpellier in 1789.
The travails and turmoil of popes, wars, greed and rampaging took their toll. Almost completely rebuilt in the 17th century, Montpellier in the 18th century was a city of splendid mansions made wealthy by the production of wine, brandy and cotton. But the cut and ugly thrust of the first half of the 20th century did for it; from the wine agitations of 1907 to extensive losses and destruction during the world wars, and by 1948 the city’s imminent death was the subject of much debate.
Montpellier was having none of it. By 1965, after French Algerians resettled there following Algeria’s independence from France, the population had grown by 35 per cent and for 25 years now, mainly due to industrial growth, specialised schools and burgeoning student numbers, it has been the fastest growing city in France. Students make up a quarter of the population and, renowned for its ecological savvy, the historic centre is pedestrianised and public transport system a joy to use.
If it is romance you’re after then the city’s location, sandwiched between the Mediterranean, River Rhone and the Pyrenees on the road leading from Italy to Spain, is enough to get the heart up and going. It’s child friendly too, with playgrounds scattered across town and a terrific zoo. If clubbing the night away is your thing, Montpellier’s got nightlife too.
But walking is what Montpellier is really about, keeping an eye open for witty, revealing trompe l’oeil covering entire walls as you go. From the tangled network of medieval streets and alleyways you’ll drift seamlessly into streets and boulevards lined with courtyards and private mansions built between the 17th and 19th centuries. It’s a good idea, in the beginning anyway, to take your bearings from the Place de la Comedie (1775), Montpellier’s oval-shaped, relatively bustling heart, which claims (safely, I’d have thought) to be one of the largest pedestrianised areas in Europe.
Surrounded by balustraded buildings, its carelessly elegant Les Trois Graces statue and fountain is something of a Montpellier symbol. The 19thcentury Comedie opera house (temporarily closed for renovation) is at one end, the friendly and obliging Office de Tourisme at the other. While a great place to people-watch, I wouldn’t advise lashing out on anything more than a glass of wine or cup of coffee while you gawp on La Comedie. Service is businesslike, food no more than passable. There’s a McDonalds and a Quick; discreet, but there.
It’s a good idea to take one or more of the city tours offered by the tourist office. On foot, they last about two hours, cost €7, are hosted by informed, enthusiastic guides and get you inside mansions and historic hot spots whose portals you’d never otherwise darken. I went on three (one too many!) and was particularly fascinated when allowed intimately close to the clear, deep waters of the Mikve, a 13th-century ritual Jewish bath.
There are squares everywhere in Montpellier, all filled with terraced cafes. The Esplanade Charles de Gaulle is without doubt the most relaxing place to wind down of an evening, especially if you’ve got children. Off the Place de la Comedie, its terrace cafes are leafily shaded. It has a park, a pond and a fountain, a playground for children, artisans in booths selling everything from earrings to children’s handmade clothes, music in the air and an unfailingly gentle buzz. As night falls there’s live music from a variety of bands, in the summertime anyway, and all of human life, healthily interspersed with the canine variety, to watch as it passes by.
A visit to the cool, beautifully designed and richly stocked interiors of the Musée Fabre, off the esplanade about half-way down, is more than worth your while. The 1,000-plus paintings on show (not counting temporary exhibitions) range from Renaissance to contemporary and include all manner of Flemish, Italian, Spanish and French masters. The next-door Hotel Cabrieres, owned by the museum, has gilded, sumptuously ornate 18th- and 19th-century rooms and is more palace than town mansion/museum.
Montpellier’s second opera house, the Opera Berlioz (with an exciting programme between now and January) is a short trot away, part of the very modern Le Corum convention centre and exhibition hall designed by Claude Vasconi.
The mood around the upper part of rue de la Loge and rue Foch, where there are designer shops such as Zapa ( which designs in-house) Façonnable, Agnes B and Hugo Boss as well as traffic, is quite different. Place Jean-Jaures is a throbbing cafe and student-packed space with the historic covered markets of the Halles Castellane along one side. You could spend an entire day in this market and still only begin to understand local wines, cheeses, olive oils and herbs.
While in the area go along rue Foch to Montpellier’s lookalike Arc de Triomphe, even if it’s only to climb to the top for the best views of Montpellier, from mountains to sea and everything in between.
For some serious peace and quiet visit the 14th-century ochre-coloured, southern Gothic-style Cathedrale de Saint Pierre, afterwards retiring to the nearby Jardin des Plantes. The oldest botanical gardens in France, it was set up to study medicinal plants. Close to the Faculty of Medicine, it has a 14th-century tree of Judaea and a grove of Narcissa where Paul Valéry, André Gide and others used to hang out.
The mood in the Antigone, Montpellier’s remarkable and very modern quarter built on lands acquired from the French army, is something else altogether. All sweeping esplanades and vast-scale buildings the colour of pale sand, it’s a place about which opinions are divided. Situated between the old centre and the River Lez it is mixed commercial and residential and designed by Catalan architect Ricardo Bofill. I liked it.
Montpellier's not perfect but it has a great deal going for it. It's not particularly cheap – coffee and a croissant costs €5, everyday shampoos average €6 and shoes are expensive – though this is probably relative to how much prices have dropped in Dublin. Smoking is forbidden indoors but everyone's at it, surreptitiously and otherwise, though never in cafes or restaurants. People complain about the ongoing work on a tramline but, coming from Dublin, I didn't really notice. What I did notice was how at home I felt, how encouraging people were about my cúpla focal French and how loquacious they became about rugby and/or the economy once they discovered I was Irish. C'est la vie,these days anyway.
Montpellier: Where to ...
Stay
Value: Hôtel Colisée-Verdun, 33 rue de Verdun, hotelcolisee.com. Friendly, modest and modestly priced, two-star hotel only 200 yards from Place de la Comedie and a short walk from train and bus stations. Fans but no A/C, free Wi-Fi in rooms and a generous, albeit continental, breakfast included in price. In a lively night-time part of town so not ideal for children. No single supplement penalising for lone travellers either! Doubles from €56 a night.
Mid-market:Hôtel du Parc, 8 rue Achille Bégé, hotelduparc-montpellier.com. Reasonably priced, restored 18th-century house on the edge of the old town, close to botanic gardens and cathedral and easy to get to if you arrive by car. The former home of the Count Vivien de Chatelard, it has friendly staff, air-conditioned en suite rooms, free Wi-Fi and parking. Breakfast is extra but copious. Double rooms cost €80-€95 a night.
Upmarket:Le Guilhem, 18 rue Jean Jacques Rousseau, leguilhem.com. Another restored house, this one built in the 16th-century, with a large breakfast terrace overlooking the neighbouring Jardin des Plantes and Cathedrale Saint-Pierre. Really a rather posh BB, it has 35 faithfully restored rooms with bathrooms. A good breakfast is included in room price and there is free Wi-Fi. Quiet and close to tram stop. Double rooms cost €115-€190 a night.
Eat
There are any number of reasonably priced restaurants, most operating a walk-in service. Lunch is generally between noon and 3pm, dinner from 7pm onwards and expect decent platters with baguette, olive tapenade, sun-dried aubergines, pâtés, charcuterie and goats cheese to be the norm in most – with good local wine, naturally. Given Montpellier’s proximity to the coast, fish is invariably good. Also, I had some of the best sorbets ever in Montpelier.
Value: La Tomate, 6 rue Four des Flammes, la-tomate.fr. Small, friendly and very good traditional (down to gingham tablecloths!) restaurant. I used it three times. A glass of decent wine cost €1.60 and the midday meal, with a choice of charcuteries or soup to start, cassoulet, Lotte (delicious, always) and rognons de porc for the main course and range of desserts cost €12.90. Always busy and always friendly, La Tomate has a good, carefully chosen list of mainly Languedoc wines.
Mid-market:Le Prince de Minorque, 1 rue des Tessiers. Went back a second time to this cheerful, even giddy, St-Roch area streetside terrace. Servings of good, Mediterranean-style food are large and well cooked. Midday menus start at €6.90, evening menus from €17.80 to €27.80 for three courses. Great frites maison with fish, ditto a crème brûlée and the rock/ blues/soul music a suitable background to the lively exchanges and small dramas going on all around.
Upmarket:Le Jardin des Sens, 11 Ave Saint-Lazare, jardindessens.com. Two Michelin stars and the place if you want to go for broke and a gastronomic blow-out. Twin brothers and chefs Jacques and Laurent Pourcel oversee a 25-strong kitchen staff, cuisine is creative and celebrated, meal prices start at €45 and go up to €175 – and the rest! The Sens de Decouverts menu has 10 courses, none of them small. A €45 lunch menu includes several amuse bouches, foie gras starters, a lamb main course, choice of dessert and glass of wine. Can be busy and noisy but the food never disappoints.
Shop spot
Shop along rue de la Loge and Grand rue Jean Moulin for the high street experience, rue Foch for designer gear. For a mall go to le Triangle. Wander rues Argenterie, Ancien-Courrier and La Friperie for boutiques and art. Everyday markets in Place de la Comedie and the Esplanade and a Sunday flea market in Espace Mosson.
Out and about
A bus or train from the centrally located stations will have you at the coast in minutes. Try Maguelone or La Grande-Motte for a beach, Sète and Mèze for the colour of small fishing towns. Places such as Narbonne, Béziers and Arles are less than a couple of hours by train and worth a day trip.
For a day in vineyards and small mountain villages contact Bertrand Bosc (0033-650-481023) who will collect you in Montpellier and take you to meet winemakers, sample wines, walk the vineyards and lunch in a village restaurant. For more information, see instant-terroir.com
Office de Tourisme de Montpellier, Place de la Comedie. ot-montpellier.fr
Go there
Aer Lingus flies twice a week to Marseilles from where a train will get you to Montpellier in 90-100 minutes.
Getting to the rugby match
JOE Walsh Tours (JWT) is organising a number of trips to the Heineken Cup Montpellier Hérault versus Leinster rugby match on November 12th, staying at the three-star Mercure hotel for one night from €444 per person sharing or the four-star Pullman hotel from €474 per person sharing. Flights and transfer are included. For bookings see joewalshtours.ie/leinster