C'est si bon!

Rome, Tuesday 12th July 2011

Montpellier was truly delightful. It's a very old city with a myriad of streets - narrow, cobbled and paved, straight and crooked, meandering up hill and down. Grand open spaces add a different perspective of scale. And eateries abound, whether lining the sides of a major 'place' or plaza, or cheekily crowding the passageway of a narrow street/lane. The whole gives the effect of a most charming and thoroughly relaxing atmosphere.

And I most certainly did relax. During my stay, of course, I met members of my French friend's family. I also made some new friends of my own. My accommodation was at the home of a family friend. It comprised a small studio in the lady's most elegant apartment. Our early interaction revealed that her English was no better than my French. This did not auger well. She apologetically explained that this was not good especially as she was a translator, but her languages were French and German, but not English. Whereupon I exclaimed, "So, wir wollen Deutsch sprechen!" And so we did. With varying proficiencies in German, we seemed to communicate.

With the marriage celebration to prepare for, I tried not to impose upon the young couple. This gave me some pockets of time to explore on my own and enjoy the sights, tastes and smells of this delightful place.

But one great day out occurred mid week when the bride's father took us for the day. We drove along the coast enjoying morning coffee at the delghtful village of Marseillan, partaking of a magnificent seafood lunch at Bouzigues, and finishing at Sete where we were fortunate to see the sport of Les Joutes in action. This is similar to the medieval activity of jousting but with the riders mounted on boats not horses. Naturally the loser ends up 'in the drink'. It was certainly something different, and lots of fun.

Another different experience followed a chance encounter at a cafe where, amazingly, I met a young, recently qualified lady doctor from Kuwait, who had trained in France and was working in Montpellier. We enjoyed a fascinating morning together sharing aspects of our very different lives, lifestyles, and beliefs. I marvel at how God connects people.

And so to the marriage celebration, a time to share with family and friends the joy of the union that was made in Sydney in January. The venue was a beautiful country garden setting at the foot of the mountains roughly 40 km out of Montpellier. The family is truly amazing -  large and related and cross-related in so many different ways. One could very easily get confused - it's best not to try to work out relationships but simply know that they are all "family". This was one of the rare occasions when they all get together, and it was wonderful. As we shared, I boldly addressed them in French (carefully pre-written, of course). It was only when I'd finished that I realised how brazen I had been to dare to do so. But I got some highly congratulatory comments, which I certainly appreciated. It also opened the way for several interesting conversations.

It was a most delightful day spent with positively charming people - a fitting end to a thoroughly-enjoyed stay in the south of France. The party looked set to continue well into the night. I said my farewells and accepted the gracious gift of one of the friends who drove me back to Montpellier for the night coach drive to Florence and thence by train to Rome.