Montpellier

I had one more day in Barcelona before I went on le France. I stayed at the Centric Point Hostel, which definitely had all the services of the best of hostels, but it made me lonely after staying with Marta and Nora.  It was harder than I thought to interact with other travelers, but I was only there for less than one day. I spent all morning in a fabulous bookstore called La Central.

 It reminded me of Analog. I picked up a copy of The World According to Garp, which kept me entertained on the train ride to Montpellier that afternoon.

Montpellier is charming in a way that reminds me of Disneyland. 

I have never gotten lost as many times as I have in this city, and I have been here one day. My host is Florence, a freelance journalist who lives on a street that is very cute and very French. On my way out this morning, I stopped at a boulangerie for a croissant. When I said "un croissant" she thought I said "deux" so I ended up with two croissants, which is surprisingly filling. I spent the morning in the city center looking for this English bookstore. I scanned a few guidebooks on Montpellier to find out what there is to see here. So, I went to a small museum inside an old mansion where I was the only person in the whole place. The girl at the front desk even had to turn on some of the lights for me! They had a great collection of antique maps, which I loved. Then, I spent the afternoon outside the city a free zoo and an indoor rainforest. 

This man donated money to build a zoo under the condition that it be free to the public. The zoo was shady and cool, but the animals were mostly sleeping. Never go to a zoo between noon and three o’clock. It’s naptime. But, the ostriches really liked having their photo taken. 

I wish I could say the same for the rhinos. 

The rainforest was amazing, all these colorful frogs and bird and scary snakes and fish. 

and one badass iguana.