My 2nd week in school and Montpellier

This week, my new professeur is Eléa. I quite like her because she speaks a little more slowly and I understand the gist of most of her instructions and explanations. She, like Pauline, is very patient with us. New students joined our class, or perhaps we joined them, but there are now 10 of us instead of 5 or 6. Three of the new students are Swiss, one is Mexican and the other is English. It really is very interesting to meet people from all over the world. We are bombarded with new vocabulary daily and there are always lessons in grammar. I sometimes wish that I had taken an English refresher course in grammar because I think it would help me grasp some of the French grammar concepts more easily. Too late now!

Patricia has many children's books in French because of her grandchildren. I figured it might be a good idea to try and read some simple stories to help with my French. Even though I had the dictionary at hand, there were still expressions and phrases I didn't comprehend and that was on the first page! I'll work on it again tonight and ask Patricia for help when I get stuck. Needless to say, I have so much to learn, but then again, that's why I'm here.

School ends about 12:30. My classmates and I often go out for lunch and then explore some part of Montpellier. Today was no exception. A new student from Germany named Petra joined us. It was a hot and sunny day, so I suggested we walk to the Place Royale du Peyrou. This is an area that Patricia said was a "must see". En route, you pass a beautiful building called the Palais du Justice. As the name suggests, it is a courthouse that was built in 1853. 

Palais du Justice

Shortly thereafter, you pass through L'Arc de Triomphe, only a smaller version than the one in Paris.

On the other side of L'Arc de Triomphe is a long esplanade with a statue of Louis XIV.

As you continue to the end, there is the Château d'Eau, a water tower that held the city's water reserves. You can go up the stairs and see Montpellier from all directions.

From this view, north of Montpellier, you can see the hill or mountain, which is Pic Saint-Loup, a region in France that makes excellent wine. 

Our next stop was a brief visit to La Faculté du Médecine built at the end of the 12th century. It has an excellent reputation world -wide.

The Cathédrale Saint Pierre is directly behind the Faculté de Médecine.

Two circular columns support the portico at the Cathédrale.

We tried to visit the Jardin des Plantes, a botanical garden just a few steps away from the Faculté, but it is closed on Mondays. I have included a couple of pictures taken from the walkway above, but we will have to return when it is open. It looks very peaceful.

Tomorrow, I will tell you a little about the village of Celleneuve where I am living. À demain.