Another exploratory adventure !

Alright, guys, after getting frustrated that I can never get this internet to function properly when I want it to, now you can finally see the fun photo story of my accidental discovery of the centre historique of Montpellier. I was riding my bike to the Place de la Comédie one day and decided to try a different route. I feel like I'm getting to know the city very well this way, so me, being the time waster that I am (I was supposed to be recharging my phone's sim card: this is at 2:30 in the afternoon, or 14h30 France time), decided to slow down and take some photos. I stopped my bike every so often, looked like quite the tourist but without the map, and enjoyed the pretty trees and buildings.

Here, I spy on two people having a chat in a garden. I pretended like I was photographing the trees, but they look quite cute together :)

At this point in the journey, it starts to get rather hilly...

 

 At this point I also decide to abandon my bike. Look, another side road! Sorry, I'm sure you're sick of them by now.

And finally, what do you know? A massive cathedral packed between these teeny tiny streets: I soon learned that this is the Cathedral Saint Pierre, and they still hold services there to this day.

Hey, when did this get here?

See those two gentlemen in stone to the left? Yeah, that's the school of medicine. There are still classes held there today, though there are others in newer buildings in other areas of the city. It was such a cool thing to see the schedules and offices in there, that such an old piece of work is still functional and not just aesthetic.

Observe among the pretty lions, that universal snake o' health.

So, in my world, what's the next logical course of action? Why, let's go in, of course!

Learning takes place here.

And what is that off to the right?

 

Coffee machine on the right. All the proof I need that students actually study here.

 

Alright. So the first room was pretty cool. But I get the feeling that there's more to see here. Time to snoop and see what I can find.

 

 Doors are locked. I checked. But very pretty. :)

I proceed through this hall, etc., and eventually find myself some stairs. And there's somebody greeting me on the way up.

 

 Anatomical statue. 'Sup?

 Something really old in Latin. I thought it was quite cool. There were lots of them.

Look, more! It's all Greek to me! (ha, ha?)

Alas, students must have their downtime, so I came across this little courtyard. Looking down wasn't much; not much grass to be had in the centre court of a grand building. But let's not forget to look in all directions...

 What an atmosphere for learning...I eventually found my way to the library and got reprimanded for trying to into a room I wasn't supposed to (spoil my fun, why don't ya?). But it was fun checking out all the nooks and crannies, and I couldn't possibly post all my pictures here and expect to get some sleep tonight. So in conclusion (for now, at least!) I give you some idea of what the Cathedrale Saint Pierre is like. The street was impossibly too narrow to get a full view or even a half, but this thing was a behemoth. We're talking HUGE. Check it out:

 Picture number one. Those doors are larger than normal. They're also permanently shut. You enter the church another way.

 Some perspective. See those tiny people and four-story buildings? There is nothing misleading about this picture. This church is that huge.

As far back as I could go, and sitting on the ground. 

So, with all that, I'm still not done with my tour of the centre historique. There's much more to see after I left the medical school and the cathedral, and I ended up coming home three hours later than anticipated. But what a lovely day. Until next time!