lunchtime treat

It was christmas lunch at the institute today. We all enjoyed a huge and delicious meal, while my colleagues (Yannis, Karine)



(Valerie, Christine, Phil)



patiently explained the jokes in the crackers to me about 20 times!

Malham

A few weeks ago I had a research meeting in Malham, England. We stayed in the grounds of Malham Tarn (shown here with one of our research students, Olivier).



And the hard work continued late into the night, typified with Dunja, Roger, Stuart and Yannis debating Muller's ratchet at the Tögelihoschte...

Such a beautiful horizon....

Barcelona!

only a Fatima Whitbred stones-throw from Montpellier is the magical capital of Catalunya. Richard and I decided to meet up there in mid-November.

After paying due homage to Gaudi....



...we explored the waterfront part of the city known as Barcelonetta.



Richard braved a paddle in the November waters.



And we both braved the heights of the Sagrada Familia.



A fab trip!

Saint-Guilhem le Désert

A short drive from Montpellier, is the lovely St. Guilhem with it's surprisingly hikeable terrain. Ana, Olivia, Sylvain, Richard and I visited on a sunny day in November.



Olivia led the way, with mum and dad trying to keep up!




In spite of our 'sauvage' efforts to live off the local berries....



....we relented and headed for the charming main square and enjoyed some crêpes and cidre.

Paris in winter

This weekend I was visiting Richard in Orsay, just outside Paris. Orsay used to be where Brigitte Bardot lived...in this very house....



Brigitte is attributed with some famous quotes. Here are a few of my favourites:

“I gave my beauty and my youth to men. I am going to give my wisdom and experience to animals.”
“It is not fatness! It is development”
“I can't do the same thing every night, the same gestures... it's like putting on dirty panties every day.”

Talking of wordsmiths(?!), we tried to improve our french (and escape the cold weather) with an old fashioned game of scrabble. Can anyone work out what the 2 words in the bottom-left corner are, which use a 'blank' tile?



We also ventured into Paris proper to enjoy a lunch and explore the quartier juif and la marais. The buildings of Paris were very striking in the winter light.



Adeline and Céleste joined us as tour guides to show us around some of the arondissements. After we all enjoyed a well-earned chocolat chaud, we headed back to Orsay where the christmas lights are already being assembled!

Cap d'Agde

Each year the world's chess elite gather in the south of france for a chess tournament at Cap d'Agde. From the end of october until early november, the 16 invited players from around the world battled it out until Grandmaster (GM) Teimour Radjabov (19 years old) emerged the winner and collected the 16,000 euro winner's check (not bad for a week's work!). I went to watch some of the games including the semi-final between 2 players tipped for future greatness. Here GM Magnus Carlsen (15 years old) is photographed while waiting for his much older opponent, 16-year-old GM Sergey Karjakin. In the background a photograph of a competitor knocked out in the early rounds: former world champion Anatoli Karpov. Apparently chess is a young man's game.

Sun Sete

Last weekend Christian & Susanne arrived in Montpellier from an overnight train from Switzerland. These hardy Swiss were soon exploring the coastline at Frontignan, where we stopped to look for shells and flamingos (2/2).



We also saw some jumping fish who, unfortunately, were experts at avoiding our paparazzi-like efforts to photograph them.



We decided to continue on to the port town of Sete, to see the sunset in this picturesque town.



This area of France has some excellent oysters I am told. I have never eaten one, but I suspect it is only a matter of time!

Twingo touring

This weekend I was visited by Richard, Leigh and Andrew from Paris. As the september rains were predicted to fall on Montpellier we decided to head east and west in the trusty Twingo...

...and head off to the town of Arles, which manages to be roman, medieval, and modern. The amphitheatre is still used (but not for lion vs. man contests)...

Arles used to be closer to the sea than it is today, and was once a thriving port and HQ for roman emperors during military campaigns. These days, the HQ is the impressive Hotel de Ville...

We also ventured to Carcassonne, home to the 'world heritage site' walled city.

Though beware - as Richard commented - inside it is "the world's oldest shopping mall".
Heading Back from Carcassonne to Montpellier, we made the impulsive decision to stop at Narbonne - a place we knew nothing about. It turned out to be a very charming town.
.
By the time we spotted the landmark church on the hill of Montferrier, the sun had returned and we enjoyed a well earned glass of pineaux!

Working (and eating) in Portugal

Last week I was at a conference in Lisbon with friends and colleagues from around the world. We spent many a good hour in the district of Belém, which is home to the impressive monastery built to commemorate the voyage to India by Vasco da Gama (whose tomb rests there).

While in Belém it is essential to try the local delicacies. Richard attempted the world record for pasteis consumption (beaten only by me!)...

...while Sam and Sylvain compared the sizes of their tentacles (a draw was declared).

Installé!

My new apartment has been IKEAed (thanks carpenter Richard) which means I can relax and enjoy the view from the arch window.

Montferrier-sur-Lez is a village on a hill, just north of Montpellier. The river Lez runs past the foot of the hill. On tuesdays and saturdays the village hosts a small market where you can buy fruit, vegetables, cheese, meats, fish, moules, honey and, as you can see, .... roast chicken ...mmmm.

Close by is the Camargue, famed for its wild white horses and flamingos (flamant rose). The pictures on this blog are taken with my camera phone (SEK800i) and by holding it up to Richard's binoculars, I was able to get this shot of flamingos with a lapwing in the foreground.

going live in september...

...when i move to the south of france and buy a camera. check back soon!