Cathedral of Maguelone

Our day trip yesterday was to the city of Maguelone, which sits on a peninsula about 25 minutes outside of Montpellier. It was the perfect day for it – really sunny, not too windy, and in the high 50s.

Our first stop was at the cathedral, which I heard was the biggest cathedral outside of Rome when it was originally built. It is a really picturesque cathedral, sitting on this ancient volcanic islet, surrounded by trees and all sorts of vegetation.

This is what I found about the cathedral online:

From the 6th to the 16th centuries, it was the bishop's seat. In the 11th century, Bishop Arnaud had the shrine rebuilt and constructed a bridge that linked Maguelone to Villeneuve. Roman Popes often visited the cathedral, until 1536, when the bishop's seat was transferred to Montpellier.

And here are some pictures I took yeserday:

a smaller structure near the cathedral

the altar

view from above

archeological site outside

Right outside of the cathedral is a fenced in are with a lot of peacocks. That might have been the most exciting part of the day aside from seeing the Mediterranean for the first time. They were so gorgeous.

After the cathedral and peacocks, we went to walk on the beach for a while, which was really enjoyable. It was pretty busy for February, but I think everybody wanted to come out on the first warm Sunday in a while. It was nice to just walk along, pick up some shells, and then sit back for a while and enjoy the sun. I will DEFINITELY be going back when it’s bathing suit weather… and probably before that too!

Mme Cesari’s car

the Mediterranean

view of the cathedral from the beach

Well, I’ve got a lot of homework to do today before my week starts on Tuesday. Stay tuned!

Saturday in Montpellier

I’m about to head out for a car field trip with Mme Cesari and two other students who rent from her, but I thought I’d post some pictures and video that I took yesterday first! I spent most of yesterday walking around Montpellier, running a few errands and enjoying the sun.

Here’s a video from the main square in Montpellier yesterday morning:

Also, I discovered yesterday when I came down out of the apartment that not only does Domino's exist and make deliveries in France – they do it on mopeds!

 

After wandering around for a while and doing a little shopping, I went to the Musée Fabre, which is a really nice, newly renovated art museum in Montpellier. I was going to check it out for a paper that I’m writing about modernity in Montpellier, and I only had the time to check out the building for the renovations and the Pierre Soulages exhibit, but I definitely plan on going back when I have more time!

I also found out that yesterday was the opening of a museum of interior design that the Musée Fabre built in an old hotel, so I’m really looking forward to checking that out.

I saw this sweet moped outside of the museum…

Well, we’re about to head off on our day trip. I’ll be posting pictures soon!

Sunday Afternoon in Montpellier

As most of you probably already know, almost everything closes down in Europe on Sundays. The only things open here in Montpellier are cafes and some restaurants, so Sunday is a good day to relax, walk around, and get stuff done at home.

I spent a while this afternoon at a cafe not far from the apartment where I live…

Roman Amphitheatre in Nîmes

On Saturday a few of us went to Nîmes, which is about half an hour from Montpellier by train. It was a pretty chilly and windy day, but it was at least sunny enough to enjoy exploring the city for a while! Nîmes was a pretty prominent city during the reign of Caesar Augustus and has a lot of Gallo-Roman relics because of that. Below are some pictures of the Roman amphitheatre that used to be used for events like gladiator battles, but now hosts events like bull fighting.

 

Montpellier at Night

 

 

 

Verlan (L’envers)

I learned about something  really cool today (or at least, I thought it was!)… a version of French slang that involves switching syllables around in words. It’s called Verlan, which is the Verlan word for the French word l’enverse, meaning “the inverse.”

This is what about.com says:

Verlan is a form of French slang that consists of playing around with syllables, kind of along the same lines as pig Latin. Unlike pig Latin, however, verlan is actively spoken in France - many verlan words have become so commonplace that they are used in everyday French.

To "verlan" a word, simply separate it into syllables, reverse them, and put the word back together. In order to maintain the correct pronunciation, the verlaned word often undergoes some spelling adjustments. Unnecessary letters are dropped, while other letters are added to make pronunciation logical. There are no real rules for this; it's just something to be aware of. Note that not every word can or should be verlaned; verlan is used essentially to emphasize or hide the meaning of the main word(s) in a sentence.

Verlan is apparently most often used by immigrant groups or other groups not in the main center of society.

A couple words in Verlan…

• meuf – from the French word femme, meaning woman
• féca – from the word café

From the University

Good morning from Montpellier!

I’m just killing a little time before my class starts in a while, so I thought I’d post about my experience in my first class at at French university. It was interesting, to say the least! And actually pretty enjoyable.

The class is called “Géographie de la France” and takes places in “Préfa. 3.3.” Préfa is an abbreviation for préfabriqué… so essentially, the class is in a really nice trailer. If I haven’t already conveyed this, the campus of the university is NOT anything to look at. It makes me appreciate our beautiful quad even more!

So anyway, I arrived and entered préfa 3.3 just a few minutes early, but was one of the first 7 or 8 people in the class. I sat down in the third row from the front, but the teacher – a small guy wearing a thick and tiny black turtleneck sweater with a bushy head of shockingly white hair – asked me to sit in the very front row. He looked at me and said (in French) something like, “BE CORAGEOUS! SET AN EXAMPLE!” Then, as lots  other people filed into the class in a big rush, he directed them to all sit near me and enjoy my charm. Haha.

Carol was telling us that French students usually have no regard for a lecturing professor, which would explain why this professor, Jean-Paul Bord, spent a good 15 minutes asking people not to talk during the lecture or answer their cell phones.

Just as class was well underway, another professor burst into préfa 3.3 and exclaimed that he had that classroom reserved every Wednesday morning. Thus followed a long discussion about classes, their departments, and scheduling. Eventually, with 40 students already in their seats and listening intently, our professor won and the other man left.

The rest of class continued without incident. The subject matter is slightly easy to tune out on… but will be worth learning. He is starting the semester with lectures about the region where Montpellier is, Languedoc-Roussillon.

After class ended a half hour later than was listed on the timetables, I went to lunch with some of the other UNC students. The cafeteria was PACKED but we managed to cram into a small table.

I have “Culture des pays Germanophones” this afternoon, so we’ll see how that goes… in the meantime, I’m going to go grab a coffee!

Miscellaneous Pictures

Here are just a few pictures I collected when wandering around, getting to know Montpellier.

 

  Eglise St. Roch

First day of class

Bonjour!

I'm at the university now... waiting for a class to start.

I just had a pretty sweet lunch for 2,80 euro! With your student ID in the student cafeterias, you pick an entree, main plate, and a dessert for 2,80. So I got like a corn/veggie salad, baked fish with carrots and potatoes, and a little cup of caramel flan. Score!

I also went by the bank and got a bunch of stuff straight. : )

However... classes are not turning out as well as lunch. I'm in the right classroom at the right time but no one is here... I'm about to go look around and see what the deal is. SO FRUSTRATING! The French have been around sooooo long and it's like they're still operating on a university system from the 1800s. Oh well. I guess that's part of the cultural experience!

On the bright side, it's nice and sunny today! : )

  the tram I take from the Place de la Comédie to the University

sidewalk on the way to the university

entrance to the university… notice the “a” falling down, which is a discrete hint at the charming way French universities operate

“Le Resto U” – the campus restaurant

 

...okay, I figured out what the deal was with the class. There's a tinnny red note posted that says it doesn't start until February 8. So, I have two weeks before it starts!

Now I'm at the French language school in the center of Montpellier where we have three of our classes, waiting for our Oral Expression class to start at 2:15.

We were just discussing a possible excursion to the beach this weekend... so keep your fingers crossed that it says sunny until the weekend so I can finally stick my toes in the Mediterranean!