Chateau @ MindSay

I went with Akila to a place called Chateau D’O where there was a small art exhibit that she wanted to see by two different women. She is always really interested by any exposition featuring women or any novels written by women. She tells me a lot about being independent, and I really love her feminist attitude.

Anyway, she took me to this place, and when we arrived we went inside the exhibit to see the first room totally illuminated.

We kept walking through the exhibit which featured mostly modern type art. One room had a copper piece that had pieces shaved toward the center where they were all in a bunch. It was really beautiful. Next to that interesting piece there was this piece of twig that had cables coming off of each of the branches connecting each of them together.

In addition to these more creative displays, there were some paintings and prints that were also really beautiful. I couldn’t take pictures of any of them because the man working there kept following us around. Akila’s friend Mireille touched one of the works of art, so we were pretty sure that’s why he was following us. I figured it might be a bad idea to whip out my camera in front of that guy, so I reluctantly abstained.

One room was really interesting with a black and white painting of a girl playing the piano and looking at the reflection of herself playing in a mirror. On the other wall of the same room, there were close up pictures of certain pieces of the black and white painting that were in color. One specifically of her face, one of her hands playing the piano, one of the dog sitting next to her foot. It was really beautifully done, but I was confused because it was painted directly on the wall. I wonder how she did that.

After we went through the exhibit, we went looking around the premises of Chateau D’O. It is a huge property with lots of outdoor stages where they have concerts in the summertime. Akila says that they put on some theatrical performances there in the summer too. It had a beautiful symmetrical garden right outside of the chateau that the art exhibit was inside.

So far, I am still amazed at how many public places there are like this in Montpellier. There are so many parks and gardens open to the public. Even if there are parks open to the public in Indiana, they aren’t as beautiful or as well kept. It’s so nice to just take your lunch over to a park and have a picnic whenever you please. Not to mention that the weather here is amazing, and it is still between 60 and 70 degrees everyday. Doesn’t get much better than that.

One of our French guides, Marilou, planned a get away to a chateau close to here called Chateau Flaugergues. She reserved a tour for us and also a wine tasting, and it was all free, so who could say no to that?

About 15 people from my program went to see the Chateau, and it was so cool. It is a house that was built in the countryside of Montpellier for the most prominent families to live in, and all of the original furniture is still left in the house, even though there is a family living there right now!

Descendants of the Colbert family! We got to tour around the house first and see the magnificent French gardens (which are known for being symmetrical) and also the English garden that was next to it which was an “all senses” garden with things corresponding to each of the five senses. That was really cool because they had a forest of bamboo that we got to go inside!

In the house, we got to see all the rooms; the bedrooms, the living rooms, library, and dining room. Our tour guide was really nice too and explained each room very slowly so that we could all understand everything. She quizzed us over something in every room, asking us questions about the objects she would explain. In the dining room, she asked us if we knew what this special spoon was used for. We were all guessing things like sugar, medicine, etc. but it was really used for eating bone marrow.

I was kind of grossed out. One room had a bunch of rifles from the time and some original outfits on display.

It even had a letter from Voltaire written to the family that lived there about some poetry that one of them had written. After we were finished touring the property, we went next door to a small wine tasting party. There were several red wines and a white.

I still find it interesting to hear what people can smell/taste in the different wines since I cannot distinguish any sort of aroma/flavor. My friend Brian guessed that one had jasmine in it and won a free bottle of wine!

Now that my trust fund has run out, wink wink, my friends and I have been looking more into day trips, visiting cities near Montpellier that might be interesting or at least have a museum or a beach or something to entertain us. (Ok, I get it that we’re spoiled.) Anyway, my friend David texted me to tell me that he planned our day trip; a lovely getaway to a small town on the coast called Collioure. When I found out that the train tickets were only 20 euro there and back, I really couldn’t complain.

We packed a picnic and headed off to Collioure for the day. When we got there, was I ever shocked. This place, which I had never even heard of, was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. I’m not exaggerating either. We stepped out of the train, walked about five minutes, and stumbled upon a beautiful cove with a lighthouse just in front of the mountains.

It was definitely lucky that it was 22 degrees C that day (about 74 degrees F with my rough conversion skills) and sunny. We walked around the lighthouse area and walked along the beach. We got to see the outside of the church but something was going on inside, so we couldn’t go in yet. We also saw a castle there and took some amazing pictures of the beach and palm trees.

After that we decided to hike up to the top of one of the mountains where there is a little chateau at the top. I realized what terrible shape I am in when I was totally out of breath and had to move out of the way for some resident of Collioure to run past me as he sprinted to the top of the mountain. I tripped about 87 times on the way up, and I can be fairly sure when I say that I would have been dead meat if I would have attempted to run up that rocky path. I don’t know how he did it.

When we got to the top, it was so amazing. The view was breathtaking, and we were hungry. We had a picnic of bread and cheese and wine (we’re practicing being French!) and took some pictures at the summit.

On the way back down, we stopped by the windmill that was built in the 1300’s and took another look at the view.

When we reached the bottom again, we went into the church to find the strangest thing…no stained glass like all of the other churches in France, but a huge gold alter that was very bizarre. It was pretty but almost gaudy it was so huge.

We sat around on the beach for about another hour before we had to leave the lovely town of Collioure. I think the day trip was just perfect…and really cheap to boot. If anyone is planning on visiting the south of France, I would not miss this small and charming town, especially if you like a good hike. Or, if you’re like me, and you just like the wine and cheese you get after the hike.