Montpellier, France

My virgin trip to France. Never expect myself to fall in love with it so fast. Lol. It was really nice, did a couch surfing with Pat who happened to be a gay. He is half gay and fully bi. Oh well, this is my very first experience being really close to one, not that im a prejudice or what, but there are really interesting notes to share. Of course, them being them, I definitely sure kena taken advantage of in some ways. Lol, will share more when I’m asked personally….
My first thought of France is that it is so modernized and where the hell is all those stuff that I saw in my French lessons and in Mr. Bean movie. Well, for the starter, he brought me to a “Free Beach” immediately after I landed, which means I have not even changed or deposit my luggage at his place. “Free Beach” is a beach where you can choose to swim with something or naked, “Nude Beach” on the other hand is a beach that you MUST go there naked, so there is a difference. Then, being the photographer in me, I took a few shots, feeling quite shy to take more, the rest just reserve for my eyes only. =p
Then I end up at his place, and is also the first time that I have seen a bathroom in a kitchen, i.e., the bathtub just right beside the stove. This is damn comical, I wonder how you bathe until you dun wet your kitchen. I saw the cities and the architecture, it was quite modern, until I went to the old city, then it was really impressive, or at least is what I have always hope to see. Seen some nice houses and streets in old colonial style. Rustic, like what I think about Mexico, it is just like a dejavu feeling. Their monuments, statues and buildings are really very creative and abstract, which I think I have learnt to appreciate little by little after all my traveling. Then, the next day, he brought me to the country side, where I got a chance to see the French mountains, it is so nice and so different from the rest of the mountains that I have seen, nevertheless, it is still an eye opener. While hiking, saw a group of Germans hiking with Donkeys, so it is damn interesting. They are like trying to follow what Mary and Joseph did while carrying Jesus. So can’t help to stop and take a picture with the old arse. Got my first two bottle of French wine, and the owner of the wine cellar showed us around his cellar. Then he made us tried a few wines, which is like damn good, and of course, this was done after I bought the wines. He told us that his business is really bad, and he just bought over the place, but what keeps him going is his passion for this business, and he really enjoys what he is doing, so I guess in a way, this is somebody that I really aspire to be. He wraps my wine until so nice, and you definitely won’t believe the price too. Alright, and so the French always say they have the best wine, going to try and see how good is their best wines. Picture of Pat and me.The last day of the French visit, I was allowed to roam around all by myself. I thought Montpellier was kinda small city, and I was really surprised to see the downtown was full or mirth and live because the students in this town are having their orientation, so you get to see what they do during their orientation. Not that I want to compare, after the orientation that I have seen in Sweden and France, somehow or rather, I think what we had for orientation was really not a big thing. Though I have graduated, I wished for something more “happening” during my orientation. =p And I can safely say that this whole Montpellier trip was really fulfilling, especially when Pat even brought me out to the country side, and visited Carrefour (the stuffs are cheap and good, especially the cheese and the wine). I also get to know the mentality of a gay more, and really, I just feel that they are just like any of us. Really, is not a big deal…unless of course you are anciently traditional.Next stop, going to save the London eye from the hands of the Silver Surfer….