Arriving Montpellier

We arrived Saturday June 11, hopped a TGV directly from CDG airport to Montpellier where we were met at the station by our gracious hosts Claude and Anne. They brought us to their beautiful, cool, home to rest a bit before touring the garden, pool and household facilities to be used and maintained. Then over a lovely dinner and wine on the patio we had a charmed evening getting to know one another. Meeting people so enjoyable to know is serendipitous to the delights of home exchanges.

Next morning Paul drove Claude and Anne to the airport, and we now have word they are happily ensconced in our home, ready to go shopping and take advantage of the exchange rate. We gave ourselves a jet-lag day, hanging out by the pool,

buying food, testing our diminished brains trying to recall where we put various essentials.

Monday our plans to arise early and tour Montpellier 8 km south were dashed by our interrupted sleep and late awakening, so around 1:00PM we were in the nifty Mini-Cooper, heading north.

First stop was lunch along the Herault River at Laroque, where amateurs (called Debutants in the brochure) were canoeing down river for our entertainment. A cement ramp where the river descended about 10 feet created a challenge that was resolved in various ways, the best using a fulcrum principle and much forward weight to tip the canoe down the ramp, while others got out and pulled, tried to jump back in, lost paddles and some overturned. I was given a 10% canoe rental discount coupon at the restaurant which I am most eager to use; however Paul seems reluctant - due, I believe, to our ignorance of French and the general case that the canoe lender tells one where to take out the canoe in his native tongue. Thus we are tense the 2nd half of the trip lest we miss the spot and float many km to the Mediterranean. (Based on experience in the Dordogne years back, which turned out fine, but the river moved more slowly.)

Finally we arrived at the Grotte des Demoselles, a beautiful cave discovered in 1778, but populated by bears and others way back. A bear skeleton was dated 15,000 years ago. Beautiful stalagmite and stalactite formations

created huge shapes pointed out by the tour guide such as Cathedral, organ, Royal Cloak, Madonna, witch, Pinocchio, long women's legs and even a phallus. Interesting how man interprets the random acts of nature.

Given so much remaining daylight at 6 PM, we chose a scenic route home,

in search of an ancient, beautiful village dating to 800, St. Guilhem le Desert, but our GPS was picky about the spelling and couldn't find it, (it never asks us, "Did you mean...? as Google does) so we just drove along a beautiful deep gorge on a one lane road for a long time to where we thought it would be, and it wasn't. We finally found the freeway and fast track home just before dark. Paul Googled the village once home and found it was on a faster parallel road. So much for Danice's famous navigation skills. Even so it was a fun and most scenic trip.