18-9-2010

18-9-2010
Originally uploaded by cspatrick

Saturday, September 18, 2010 Day 80
Every year on a weekend in September, the French celebrate Les Journées du Patrimoine, the one time each year when many historic sites, including embassies, government buildings, and churches, are open for public visits and tours. Additionally, some private buildings are open. Patricia suggested that we visit a couple of specific sites, so she came over to our apartment, admired it appropriately, and we left to catch a bus almost in front of the apartment. We arrived at Mas d’Alco, which is a series of modern buildings in some lovely gardens.

Geopolitical history time: France is divided into 26 Régions, which are the rough equivalent of states in the U.S. Each Région is divided into a number of Départements – there are 100 in all of France. We live in the Région called Languedoc-Roussillon. Our Département is called Hérault and it is one of five which make up the Languedoc-Roussillon Région. We visited the Hôtel du Département, which houses the administrative offices of the Counseil General (akin to a governor) of the Département of Hérault. The grounds were quite nice, and there was a modest 18th century two-story house on the grounds which appears that it may be used as a cultural centre or an event/reception hall. Unfortunately it was not open for the tour. We did get to see where the Département governing body holds session.

From there we walked over to Chateau O, (the O is for Olives, I think); however we were too early. Chateau O is a former chateau comprising a modest house and extensive grounds. In the middle of the 18th century its owner build marvelous fountains and water gardens which were supplied by an aqueduct. After the death of the owner, the chateau lost its water rights and litigation ensued for many years. The chateau was finally given access to some water, but not nearly what it had in the past. Today, the waters have dried giving an O-soaked irony to the name of the chateau (pun on “eau” or water). It is now a concert and arts venue with an amphitheatre on the grounds. We walked through the grounds and saw lots of olive trees, had a drink of water, then left to catch the tram back to the center of town.

After resting briefly and having lunch, we found the regional bus depot and hopped aboard bus #117 for an adventure into the country, truly. We were headed almost to the end of the line, and Patricia asked the bus driver to let us know which stop. He misled us – not deliberately, I think. We talked to a woman in the village who said that he is a new bus driver; further, the bus used to be allowed to go into the village center but the new mayor decided he wanted to keep the buses out of the village center, so has had them redirected along a different route. At any rate, we got off the bus, walked along the road a bit, and determined that we had gotten off too early. A young woman walking along the road indicated that it was about a two-kilometre walk, so we debated what to do. Patricia has something of a disability and sometimes walks with a cane for support, and she decided that she didn’t want to go on. Roger said he would, and set off. I stayed with Patricia. It was during this time that we spoke to an older woman who told us the tale about the buses. At this point, the next bus was due in 15 minutes or so, and we decided to catch it onward. When it arrived, Patricia managed to talk the driver into letting us on for free since the other bus driver misinformed us about the stop. We arrived at our destination, a village called Murviel-Lès-Monpellier. As we hiked up the hill to the village, Roger waved at us – he had just arrived less than 15 minute prior – the “2 kilometres” that the woman described having been more like four! We were here to view the site of some old Roman ruins which are being excavated. A good deal of excavation was done in the 1980s and 1990s, but work continues today. It was quite interesting – a temple, some drainage canals which run under the temple complex, and a couple of tile floors, one of which is in quite good condition. We returned to the center of the village and, since we had about half an hour to catch our bus, we checked out an old Roman fountain and saw a 10th century church. We caught the last bus back into Montpellier and were glad to be back home. Roger particularly put in several miles of walking today!