It’s Still Standing 31 August

You know I’m still Stand-in’ better than I ever did

Looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid

I’m still standin’ (yeah, yeah, yeah)

-Elton John

While Elton John’s words are about someone moving on after a breakup, these words ring true for the older buildings we experienced this week visiting Montpellier. The kids and I took off to the city. Our little village of Saint Drezery is about 25-30 minutes away from the city center. Our adventure was to find parking, locate an English bookstore, and come home with books for Z and Mz to read. The pictures below show our successes. It was incredible to see buildings older than our country still beautifully standing.

Arc de Triompe: I had to drive through the arch of the Arc de Triompe replica built in 1692. CRAZY!!!

Was I doing something wrong, was I going the wrong way, will I get stopped by the police, will I hit anyone, am I in a movie, where do I park??? So many questions peppering my brain all at once while I was still driving. After relating this story to a friend she encouraged me by reminding me that the Arc is still standing. Mazie took the picture for me as we were on our way home, after my brain had settled down.

Place des Martyrs-de-la-Resistance: The nearby prefecture, a political region or local government area, during the Second World War was a place of transit for resistance fighters. The parking deck was under this area. CRAZY again. The parking garages in DC have nothing on me anymore. This place made DC’s garages seem like parking on a football field. I wish I had a photo.

Le Bookshop: Seriously about the cutest thing I have seen so far. I was surprised by the enchanted feel of just the alleyway. The closeness of the walls, people chatting around small tables, and pennant flag banners decorating the skyline gave this magical experience to my eyes. I quickly snapped a picture, let’s not attract attention to ourselves. The bookshop was located on the right.

The old walls of the store led us downstairs to the cellar occupied by a menagerie of books old and new, adult and youth. Incredible and incredibly HOT! We were sweating.

After finding several books (including one for Uncle Greg) we climbed the stairs decorated with pages from books lining the kick plates to the main floor. Success!