It was a grey, windy morning, with a strong breeze building
from the north-west. A good thing we crossed the lagoon yesterday. We decided it
would be best to get away before the morning bridge lift, preferring to travel
alone, not in a big convoy.
A few hardy fishermen were out on the canal banks, and we
met a one or two boats coming the other way.
On an otherwise quite monotonous passage, the swing footbridge
at Le Maguelonne is always fun to watch. The bridge is hinged at the north-shore end, and swings in and out on floats with a normal boat engine and propeller.
The operator saw us coming and there was no delay.
At Palavas we turned north onto the river Lez – new territory.
At first it was lined with the usual abandoned, semi-abandoned and sunken boats,
but soon it turned rural and was rather pleasant. There was one, remotely
controlled lock to negotiate.
Then we turned into the magnificent Port Ariane (at 35 euro
a night it ought to be magnificent!). It is a major development with
apartments, restaurants, shops and offices all around, and good solid moorings
in the middle. One hire boat company has its base here.
Lattes is as far as you can navigate up the Lez. It is a
modern town a few kilometres south of Montpellier itself, with a good regular tramway
link, which we duly sampled.
Our first stop in Montpellier was the Tour de la Babote, originally part of the city's 14th century fortifications It was subsequently used as an astronomical observatory in the 18th century, and later on as a telegraph tower.
Our first stop in Montpellier was the Tour de la Babote, originally part of the city's 14th century fortifications It was subsequently used as an astronomical observatory in the 18th century, and later on as a telegraph tower.
We then embarked on a pretty intensive walking tour, starting at
the church of St. Roch.
The narrow, winding streets of the older part of the city
were quite charming.
At the top of the hill we caught our breath and admired the local Arc de Triomphe, built in the 17th century to honour Louis XIV.
The Palais de Justice is a neoclassical 19th
century addition. I think we recognize the style.
Finally we reached the 14th century Cathedral,
with its unusual twin-pillared portico. However, unfortunately it was closed for
building work and we couldn’t explore inside. Quite a disappointment.
As was a similar closure of the adjacent School of Medicine.
Montpellier has one of the oldest universities in the world, and the School of
Medicine is reckoned to be one of the oldest operating medical schools in the
western world.
Our conclusion, then, is that Montpellier has been well
worth the detour, and we are glad we were not deterred by negative, Trip Advisor-type comments. Tomorrow it looks like we'll be going back to Aigues Mortes, where
we'll try to arrange more Camargue exploration.
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