15 days exploring the highlights of Provence and Occitanie
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The total delay to my journey was over 2 hours. The plane was late arriving in Bézier and then we had to wait for permission from air traffic control to take off because we missed our slot.
The flight was pleasant and I landed back in London Stansted around 8pm GMT. As soon as the plane touched down, one thought ran through my head. I want to go back to France. I think that I will be very soon.
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I struggled to find anywhere to eat last night. The majority of restaurants in Béziers close their kitchens at 9:30pm, even on a Saturday. I ended up in an Italian restaurant who weren’t very hospitable.
After a rather plain pizza, I sat outside the cathedral and enjoyed a can of beer as a gentle breeze began to blow around the city. Half way though my drink, I was greeted by a man named Benoit. We spoke about my love for French music and the political situation in France. He’s not a fan of Macron, however he is a fan of Beyoncé, Rhianna and Any Winehouse. His family live in the pink city of Toulouse but he lives in Béziers and works as a chef. His English wasn’t perfect, neither was my French, but we managed to communicate. Suddenly Benoit said “we must go, youth, violence”. A group of Moroccan lads were hanging around by the cathedral. I thought that they were fine, but he didn’t feel comfortable. We strolled around Béziers until eventually we said our goodbyes. On my way back to my Airbnb, I observed that everyone who was out after dark was Moroccan. The city still felt fairly safe, but it did have an edge to it. I don’t put this solely down to the Moroccans, the natives French people you meet in the daytime can be a bit abrasive. As I approached the door to my Airbnb, I noticed that there were two ladies sat smoking on my doorstep and that they were accompanied by a man of West African descent. “Excusez-moi” I said firmly as I edged past them. As soon as I closed my front door, it clicked, he was their pimp. I didn’t expect this in a main square not far from the tourist office. My initial thoughts were accurate, Bézier is rough.
The morning brought thunderstorms and I took a stroll to the cathedral to admire the view one last time. I got lost in the side streets and discovered a really cool coffee shop with jazz playing. Sadly I didn’t have time to stop.
At midday my Airbnb host Manuel picked me up and drove me to the airport. It cost me €20. Taxis cost over £50, so he saved me a lot of money. There is a bus service which runs to the airport, but this is infrequent, and I would have had to walk to the bus station. Basically, it’s difficult to get to Bézier airport.
As we drove to the airport, we discussed the reality of Béziers. It’s one of the poorest cities in France and there is a lot of unemployment. A lot of those who are unemployed are Moroccans. It’s a real problem throughout France. I was the last guest to stay in the Airbnb, Manuel has sold the apartment. Recently it hasn’t been very lucrative and he wants to focus on his software development business.
The drive to the airport was beautiful, I managed to get another glimpse of the Midi Canal. It took around 30 minutes to get to the airport. I was over 3 hours early for my flight, but it didn’t matter, I had arrived at the airport. The airport is probably one of the smallest that I’ve visited. I brought a baguette and coffee before taking a seat in the outside area. Then I received an expected notification from Ryanair, my flight was delayed. Thankfully, it was only by an hour.
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The canal which runs through the heart of Narbonne
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I took my final walk through the old town in Nîmes and took the train to Narbonne. When I arrived, I strolled along the canal into the heart of the city. Narbonne looks like Béziers but it’s a lot busier. This is to be expected as it’s a larger city.
I explored the cathedral and parts of the castle. I didn’t fancy paying anymore to enter museums and to be honest I’m getting a bit fed up of castles. This is a really ignorant thing to say, but I have seen a lot in the past 2 weeks. I strolled around the city and spent some time by the canal before it became too hot and I decided to walk back to the station. I did well, today it has been 34 degrees Celsius and I explored the city on foot.
The journey back to Béziers took 15 minutes and cost €6.50. As you approach the city by train, you get a great view of the cathedral up on the hill.
Béziers is beautiful, but it still feels rough to me. I considered heading back to Montpellier for the evening, but I can’t justify spending that much money on trains and so I did arguably the best thing that there is to do in Béziers, grab a beer and enjoy the sunset from outside the cathedral. The sunset wasn’t as spectacular today. It was nice, but what I experienced on Thursday night was out of this world. It’s my last night in France. It has been an amazing adventure in which I have seen and learnt so much. I want to come back soon and explore other parts of this great country. Travelling down the west coast from Bordeaux to Biarritz is definitely appealing to me at the moment. I also want to come back and visit Montpellier again. In the end, I really began to love its artsy bohemian feel. Although when I visit again, I will book my own private accommodation!
Thankfully my flight isn’t until tomorrow afternoon, which gives me the morning to explore Béziers some more. That is, if I get up…
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