Last autumn, possibly before I even applied to my Sheffield post, I wrote proposals for a short assortment of conferences, mostly in North America and one in France. I've never been all that interested in going to France (though I enjoyed my day trip to Calais a few years ago, that was in large part due to the company and the eclairs) and, indeed, was not particularly excited about the location of this conference. I may have been one of the only people who applied to this conference in spite of (rather than because of) its location in Montpellier, only a few miles from the Mediterranean Sea.
My ever-patient husband, who listened to a litany of anti-France grumblings for at least a month, would have loved to have spent four days in sunny Montpellier, basking in the heat and enjoying the coffee. (I did, at least, enjoy the coffee). Originally I had invited him to come along, but the School of English funding petered out a bit at the end of the year (and I waited a bit too long to book my travel) so I used up I.'s travel money on my own travel.
In a blog post that showed growth and maturity, the previous paragraphs would then be followed by a paragraph explaining that my bias against France was unwarranted, that I now love France, and that I had a wonderful time. It's more fair to say that I enjoyed the conference in spite of the location, and that the coffee, cheese, and colleagues actually made up for the exhaustive and incessant heat in a land that has clearly never even considered the idea of refrigerated air. It was also, as I think the photographs will show, actually quite beautiful whenever I wiped away enough sweat to allow myself to see the scenery.
(I whine about heat a lot, but during my trip, I actually spent four consecutive days sweating constantly, even when taking ice-cold showers. I had planned for this somewhat by bringing an assortment of sleeveless dresses, which I peeled off at the end of each day and let dry overnight before shoving their stiffened forms into a plastic bag in my suitcase, but it was pretty awful).
At most academic conferences, attendees can usually choose to attend various seminars (or discussions between people who have already read one another's work) or panels (where the panel members read papers aloud and then invite general questions and discussion) that often run concurrently. (This conference was primarily built around seminars.) Almost every conference I've ever attended (including this one) has also had several sessions called "plenaries," in which invited guests give lectures (or read papers) to the majority of the delegates, with no other scheduled items on the schedule. Our plenaries were held in the oldest Theatre of Medicine in Europe.
The acoustics were occasionally challenging, but the setting was pretty stunning. I stayed a bit outside the city, so I took the tram to the School of Medicine each morning, and the following two photos show two parts of my walk from the tram stop to the Theatre (you can see the tram tracks at the bottom of the first picture).
In the above picture, one would turn left near the stoplight to go to the medical theatre, but on the right side of the street was a lovely large botanical garden originally designed to supplement the scholarly work being done in the School of Medicine.
One of the most amazing things about this conference were the coffee breaks, in which the university supplied copious amounts of espresso and little baby pain au chocolats or croissants. We had long breaks (allowing lots of time for networking) and enormously long lunch breaks (necessary in Montpellier, we learned). On one of the first afternoons of the conference, I also took a long lunch to re-read all the papers for my seminar, accompanied by a very delicious cup of espresso that, like most things in Montpellier, cost far more than I had anticipated. It was nevertheless very delicious (also, to be fair, like most things in Montpellier).
My seminar was easily the best thing about the conference, but given the relaxed nature of our schedule, I also took some time to wander around the city, something I don't always manage to do on academic trips. On one lazy afternoon, I meandered to the aforementioned botanical gardens, which were not only beautiful, but also filled with quite a lot of other conferencegoers.
The gardens were stunning (and also really hot).
I really loved this flower, though I don't now recall what it was called:
One of my favourite parts of the botanical gardens was the very large bamboo garden, around the edge of which were many stalks on which people had carved their names and initials.
I took this picture of cacti for Isaac; the shadows are funny because the cacti were kept in a greenhouse (in case it got too hot in Montpellier, perhaps?)
This cat was supremely friendly, and each time I stopped down to try to take a photograph of her, she would exuberantly scamper towards me and try to wind herself around my ankles. I mostly evaded her, and eventually managed to take a photo from some distance.
I also spent one afternoon skiving the conference sessions and wandering around the city centre for a bit. Montpellier seems to have been built upon a hill initially, and that hill is now a warren of alleys and squares, most of which are lined with shops and cafes.
(I had lunch in this square one night, and my seminar group had dinner down a little alley from it one evening as well).
By far, one of the best features of Montpellier were the grocery stores and markets selling probably hundreds of differing types of cheese. On my last night in Montpellier, I played recluse and treated myself to a round of brie and a bottle of wine (only to find that my little French apartment with a kitchen hadn't stocked a bottle opener!).
My skiving afternoon took me to some very beautiful locations. The two fountains below are at opposite ends of an enormous pedestrian walkway, which is shown more clearly in the third photo. Many parts of this walkway are lined with cafes and shops, and it begins at an enormous shopping mall just at the edge of the city centre and ends at a little canal with a cluster of internationally-themed restaurants.
The palm-tree-lined street below is on the south side of the city centre, I think.
These two photographs show two parts of the square in front of one of the large Montpellier theatres (the Commedia, perhaps?). The theatre is the building at the top of the first photo. Apparently lots of people like to sit on the steps and drink, which--although the entire square is more or less surrounded by outdoor cafes serving alcohol--seems to be frowned upon by the authorities.
The above photo is almost the view from the theatre's front steps (not quite, as they were covered by a pop-up cafe). There's a tram stop at the right side of this photo.
On my last evening, I briefly considered going to the sea just to say I had been, but eventually elected to stay in my flat and unwind. Someday, God willing, I. and I will go to the Mediterranean together, and see it for the first time in one another's company.
Perhaps because of the conference and the apparently enormous popularity of southern France, flights to Montpellier were excruciatingly expensive during the dates I required, so I elected to make this trip entirely via train. It was my first trip on the Eurostar, and also required two confusing (and fast-paced) connections in Paris. I appreciated getting to see this staple of American-films-set-in-Europe with my own eyes:
I don't think I'd ever realised until this trip that the flipping board is actually real, and modern. I tried to take the photo while the destinations were switching, but it isn't quite as exciting in this static capture as it was in person. (Also, it only flips every five or ten minutes--or every time a train departs--which is decidedly misrepresented in American films, in which it seems to be in constant motion).
By far, the best part of the travel was getting to take my first double-decker train from Paris to Montpellier, which involved getting to see the Pyrenees. Although French, they were actually very lovely.
After I arrived safely back in Sheffield, I had a day to finish wrapping up things at the University, spent another day transcribing at Chatsworth, and then I. and I spent two days absolutely crazed with packing and cleaning. Despite a somewhat crazed last-ditch attempt to give away all our worldly possessions on freecycle, we managed to shove twelve suitcases into a storage unit, and then treated ourselves to a wonderful final hurrah in Poland (coming in the next blog installment).
