Ten Things Thursday - Montpellier

So it's Thursday again, and this isn't just any Thursday for me...tomorrow I'm leaving and jetting off (first class of course :P) to France! As a recap for anyone who didn't read my previous post about going, I'm off to a city called Montpellier, which is a university and language school hotspot.

There's lots to do there, and so my theme for this Thursday is 'Things to do in Montpellier":

1) Visit the zoo - I know zoos are a bit of a controversial topic, but I can't help liking them!

2) Visit the Odysseum - This place sounds like a SERIOUS mall (being a serious mall rat, this suits me just fine). It has an ice rink, a planetarium, a big cinema, and loads of shops. YES PLEASE!




3) Visit the beach - Alright, so I'm going near winter, but from the sound of it, it will still be warm for about half the time I'm there, so hopefully I'll get to sit on some of their beautiful beaches. There are also supposed to be natural flamingo colonies - which I hope I might get to see, if they haven't left for winter or something!

4) Visit old buildings / historical sites - As in most European cities, Montpellier has loads of stunning old buildings and churches, statues, and historical places to see. Some people my age wouldn't be interested in this type of thing, but I am (must have something to do with being into art).

5) Visit the parks - Montpellier's park "Le jardin des plantes", literally "The Garden of Plants" (creative), is meant to be the biggest botanical garden in France. They seem to have lots of other parks and gardens too, all so beautiful. Normally I'm not into gardens, but these really are pretty, so I'm definitely going to see them...my mom would be so proud!

6) Visit the caves - Montpellier is quite close to the Pyrenées mountains, so there are some beeg caves in the area. I'm actually scared of caves...but I'm not going to miss an opportunity to take photos of these (bragging rights you know...)

7) Go to the markets - There are a few markets in the area, but the one I'm most interested in is the Flower Market. I love flowers, and although nobody ever buys them for me, I still like to look!

8) Hopefully visit the nearby towns - The school that I'm going to has classes till 12:30, then they go on excursions some afternoons of the week. They do tours of the nearby cities and places, like Provence, Camargue (where they do horse riding), Avignon, Pont du Gard, Carcassonne, Nimes, Uzes, Aix-en-Provence, etc. I'm really excited about these excursions - they look like they organise really interesting things to do!

9) Visit Le Bookshop - I found this on one of the websites about Montpellier (yes I've been looking, I'm excited OK!). It sounds like a big bookshop, that sells all kinds of things, and also runs conversation swaps. They do this is other countries where people wanting to learn a language (either the local language or English) come to speak to people who can speak it. Hopefully I can go there to practise my french or even to speak English to someone! Buying a few books never hurt either....

10) And of course....MOST IMPORTANTLY - have an amazing time, eat lots of yummy food, make new friends, and speak french :D



More on whether or not I actually get to do all this coming soon!!