June 1
Dear Liza,
After a long day of towing our giant suitcases across Lyon, onto trains and boosting them into overhead shelves, a train ride that included meeting Bianco the traveling cat and his two dads, then lifting the bags down and hauling them a few blocks through sunny Montpellier, we are settling into our new city.
Montpellier has a very different feel from Lyon. Hotter and more humid, of course, but also more casual, less business-oriented. Almost nothing is open on Sunday, and Monday is about half-open. It’s a smaller city with slow-moving ground level trams instead of a zippy underground metro.
Walking around, I use the GPS on my phone a lot.
The twisty narrow streets get me turned around and I don’t know I’m lost until it dawns on me that I’ve seen that fountain before.
Close to our apartment, we have seen parts of the city walls built in the 1400s, statues erected in the 1700s, and contemporary Banksy murals, only slightly ‘defaced’.
Once I get my bearings and organize my thoughts, I’ll tell you about the history and life of this city.
Love,
Grandma Judy
Dear Liza 