Online in the Back Streets - Thursday 7th August

The fountains of the Antigone

We are nothing if not determined. Clearly no phone bells were going to ring for us this morning so we drove as far as the Sabblassou car park at Castelnau Le Lez and hopped the tram into Montpellier in search of contact with the outside world.

With half the libraries in the region now closed for the summer holiday, we were aiming at one which apparently opened its doors briefly at 3pm and shut them again smartly by 6pm. It seemed a long way to go just for that, so we rode the tram into the city at around 10pm and walked through the park from The Corum to the Place de la Comedie. This is a lovely stroll under shady trees with some rather peculiar public art on display. The French are known to have a propensity for removing people’s heads, but do they have to insist on doing it to their statues.

We walked past the Musée Fabre and promised ourselves that we would pay a visit one day, but with the temperature slightly cooler and an absence of burning sunshine, it was a pleasure being outside and enjoying the light breeze. There had even been an early rumble of thunder and half a dozen drops of rain and the country seemed to be holding its breath waiting for a real downpour which never came.

The first order of business was a visit to Jean’s bank where he has been a client for almost as long as the bank has been open. The aim was to get a card issued for me, but without my passport, the nice man behind the desk apologised profusely and promised that if we called in another day, he could set the wheels in motion immediately. By this time, the idea of coffee and a croissant in the Place was starting to feel like the right way to go, but we found ourselves wandering down into the area where the old bus station used to be.

Somewhere in the area was a man who apparently had a great collection of West African Tribal art and more by good luck than good management, we happened to stumble across his shop. It was a real treat to be able to walk around the two floors of amazing pieces garnered from all over the West African area. Jean has been a collector from the years that he spent in Liberia, and we had our own museum on the farm which used to attract overseas visitors and locals alike.

Among the forty boxes of personal effects that we hope are going to appear soon are a considerable number of artefacts which have been travelling with us for the past fifteen years. We had to sell off some of the larger pieces while we were still in Africa, and it was so good to see the top quality Bundu Masks and the Dan statues that were on display in the Montpellier shop.

It wasn’t the smartest area of the city and the streets were getting noticeably more narrow and I found myself keeping a slightly tighter hold on my bag. I was cheered when we came around a corner to find a very impressive building directly ahead of us that clearly signified that we were returning to the more secure areas of the city.

“Wow, that’s mighty smart for this neighbourhood” I commented looking up at the delicate wrought iron balconies and the trailing geraniums.
“Have another look” said Jean, and I realised that what I was looking at was an entire building covered in Trompe L’oeil painting. With the natural tall cypress trees growing in front, it was hard to tell where reality ended and art began and it was just another of the delights that the city has to offer if you keep your eyes open.

We were zigzagging up a narrow street, dodging builders trucks and cyclists when I noticed an internet café sign in a window. Although lunchtime was looming, we had just enough time to check on our mail, and settling down at the computer amid a babble of Arabic language, we quickly dealt with the most important things that needed seeing to, and managed to finish in time for the proprietor to shut up shop at 12 noon sharp and head off for his couscous.

Having missed out on the coffee and croissant, food was now fairly high on the agenda, so we walked through the Polygone shopping centre and emerged into the Antigone development which is a spacious tree lined boulevard laid out in the old Greek style. Imposing buildings line the edges and there is a wonderful vista right down to the final triumphal archway at the bottom end, interspersed with fountains and Greek statues.

The pedestrian areas of Montpellier really do give the city back to the people, and the many and varied restaurants were doing a good trade in Antigone. We happily joined the throng with an order for omelette, steak hachè, frites and a nice glass of rosé wine, all of which cost a whole lot less and was a lot more tasty than many of the eateries we used to patronise in Miami.

Our feet were tired, it was getting hot again and the tram was right where we needed it to be, so we hopped aboard and were back home in no time, pausing only at the farm stall which sells the best melons ever. I must pause long enough to pat myself on the back, because we bought an aubergine the size of a small baby and I stuffed it with a mixture of minced pork, herbs, red peppers, mushrooms, onion and garlic and grilled the whole thing on the barbeque for supper, and it was utterly delicious.

After a couple of hours R and R and we were ready to work. There has been a rather jumbled item of machinery right next to the front door which apparently was installed to remove the calcium from the water system. However, it never worked particularly well and it was an eyesore, so Jean turned into the resident plumber and did away with it.

It was then time to climb into the compost pit and dig out the nice gooey stuff at the bottom and throw it onto the new rows awaiting the vegetable plants. This was topped off with a bagful of dried horse manure which was first mixed in what has become known as the “garden Magimix”. You can bet that my feet and the Crocs needed a thorough scrub that night, but the beans positively beamed at me when I went to bid them goodnight, so we are on the way to being self-supporting, at least in the vegetable line.