Carmina Burana - Montpellier

For the first time ever, in almost 9 years of living in Sète, we went to Montpellier to see a show! 

We both love the music for Carmina Burana, and this touring company from Paris was doing the entire show - chorus, orchestra, *and* ballet - that was a pretty big incentive 😍

For me, the ballet added a lot; before, it was all about sound, and now I had a story to go with it!

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Moaning and lessons learned:

It was pouring down rain! We had intended to go early, get lunch, then see the show. I'm glad we changed our minds and skipped lunch, because it was just miserable outside! 

The drive was extremely tense - rain, super bad Google maps directions for parking, worrying about flooded roads.

We should have waited a while after the show before leaving - it's been so long since I've had to deal with that, I had forgotten how crowded it gets at the exit.

The Corum has a lot of elevators, but at least 2 were out of order. We spent a lot of time looking for the right ones. 

We had balcony seats, but the audience wasn't big enough, so they closed the upper levels - we were upgraded to excellent orchestra seats 😊. The lesson - don't panic...

Narbonne 2025

We spent a little bit of time in Narbonne last week; we wanted to combine some sightseeing with our evaluation of what it might be like to live there. 

One of the main sites is the unfinished Cathédrale Saint-Just et Saint-Pasteur

The center of town has quite a few interesting "normal" buildings as well 

The main square is bordered by the Archbishop's Palace 

The Canal de la Robine connects to the Canal du Midi (which links the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea). It runs through the middle of centre-ville, and makes a pleasant walk.

Les Halles (covered market), famous throughout the South of France, is a Belle Époque building full of interesting food

Less than a half-hour drive from town is Narbonne plage, a seasonal spot on the sea

with a fantastic view of Canigou, part of the Pyrénées 

There are a number of archeological sites and museums where you can learn about the Roman history of Narbonne.

For more photos, see the Narbonne 2025 album.

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Our evaluation included:

Checking online (ahead of our trip) for apartment rentals, bank branches, parking options, public transportation 

Walking/ driving through a few neighborhoods (even missing a turn made a fun discovery)

Eating out 😊 - nice diversity!

Discussing the town with the tourist office representative. This (as usual) was the most enlightening. We asked about neighborhoods, the hospital, the bus system, the beach scene, and baguette recommendations (always important!).

Overall:

Narbonne is a bigger town than Sète, and you can rent more for less, but the services are not as good. The bus system doesn't run very late, and only one runs on Sundays and holidays. The hospital handles emergencies and basic diagnostics, but for surgery, people go to distant cities - Toulouse, Montpellier, Perpignan... 

Our bottom line - Narbonne is still great to visit, but not for us to live in. 

Fennel Fritters

Fennel Fritters 

1 bulb cooked fennel (braised in 1/4 liter stock, plus oil)

Orange peel 

2 eggs

2 Tablespoons flour

Nutmeg 

Cloves

Cinnamon 

Cook in a layer of oil in a hot pan, pouring as for small pancakes. 

Brown both sides, move to paper towels on a plate.