November 22, 2009
It is easy to be politically involved in Montpellier.
And the walls came tumbling down…. To celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago , the city built a small cement block wall that students covered with a constantly evolving tapestry of graffiti until the mayor and about 100 others hammered it into rubble. We, about 100 strong, came with our signs as a reminder that there is another wall that needs to come down. If you squint you can see Bob holding the far pole of the big banner demanding an end to Israel's apartheid.
A subset of this group demonstrated in front of the the government offices on Friday demanding that the Regional President cease and desist with his plans to invest $20,000,000 in a warehouse for AGREXCO, the largest exporter of agricultural products in Israel. In addition to being part of the international call to boycott Israeli products of any kind, this action is based on AGREXCO's violation of international law and its misappropriation of Palestinian land and water.
In addition, Montpellier France hosted The Hiroshima Flame, lit from a flame from the embers of the nuclear explosion in 1945 in memory of those who perished because of that explosion. This flame is being carried to 90 counties around the world as a call to end nuclear weapons. In Montpellier, about 300 people encircled it.
Much of our time is much less serious. For example, we relaxed early Saturday evening with about 7 other French friends for a short organ concert by the man who is “the organist Laureate of the Conservatory Superior of Music of Paris" as well as the director of the CNR de Montpellier, an excellent dance and music school. Free of course.
Weekdays are the best times for a ride to the beach especially when it is sunny which they claim is 300 days a year. This bike trail to the Mediterranean starts right by our house in downtown Montpellier.
There are never-ending opportunities for learning. Especially interesting is how interested this community is in science. For example, 750 people showed up for a 90 minute lecture on the beginning of the universe by Jean Pierre Luminet director of the most prestigious of the French scientific institutes, CNRS, an astrophysicist, a speaker, and a published writer and poet. We stood and listened for 90 minutes in a very hot room captivated by his pictures of the swirling universe. Besides that, Jean-Pierre Luminet is cute. Look for yourself.
A biologist gave another lecture a week later on the beginning of life. This time we arrived 30 to 40 minutes early and got about the last two seats together in the very warm main hall.
These free science lectures will fill every Wednesday night through June. In addition, on Monday evenings Bob will be attending another series on the origin of the universe at the Planetarium by an astrophysicist who is a professor at UMPII and a researcher at CNRS. Bob also attends one or two other science lectures during the day for a total of four French lectures a week on science!
This community also supports science for high school youth. Friday as I was leaving gym class, high school science students from all over the city were gathering in small groups for an outdoor science fair complete with tents, a play, interactive games, and posters. Bob studied the 10 posters on France's experiments on fusion, while I tried to answer the question: at what stage in the development of homo sapiens did language start? Can you read this poster, you French speakers? It gives the answer.
My most recent science event during the last two weeks was with CIRAD, a scientific research center in Montpellier where 125 scientists from all over the world study food and water. Its workshop on chocolate led to a late afternoon visit to the chocolate store Le Diamant Noir, 25 rue st. Guilhem, a husband and wife boutique that makes and sells fabulous chocolate for 2.5 E for a big bar. He makes the chocolate and she sells it. They asked me if I thought a store like theirs would work in the US. I didn’t understand their question so I said no. Guess I will just have to go back, buy some more chocolate and correct my error. Will I ever be able to understand French?
Bob is really predictable in terms of his science, biking and photos, and talented, if I do say so myself. Last time he showed you one of his submissions to the mayor. If you want to see them all:
Looking for new vistas, Bob jointed his French photo club for an all day jaunt to a small French village:
Two nights later we joined our Jewish Montpellier friends for an evening commemorating Crystal Night with original videos and excellent posters followed by a lecture on the film “LTI, the Language of the Third Reich" describing Hitler’s use and control of language to accomplish his ends. What does it mean to you that they tried to make torture more acceptable by calling it "an enhanced interrogation technique? "
Finally, a brief mention that it is newcomer's month at AVF, a club in most French towns run by and for newcomers. Their three hour breakfast meeting last week left me with three pages of lists of new restaurants, where to buy fish, best places to buy bread, the least expensive dental work etc etc. A few days later I joined one of their lively guides who showed for a tour of some of the architectural history of the medieval center of Montpellier.
If you are new to Montpellier, first use the government tourist office (available in all towns) where they will give you maps, directions, make hotel reservations and generally hold your hand. After you have exhausted them and their services, go to The House of Democracy, a XVIIth century "hotel" owned by the city where more government workers will help you with your questions. Finally, join AVF where you can go on walks and outings with others who have lived here less than three years. No wonder France has more tourists than any other country in the world. No wonder Montpellier is the fastest growing city in France.