In my last week in France I managed to tick off the last major thing on my Montpellier "to-do" list: a road trip down the full length of Gorges du Tarn. I had already been once before, but we were on a tight time schedule and didn't manage to get very far. This time Alex and I followed the road from beginning to end, driving past lots of little villages and stopping a few times to paddle in the river.
The views were breathtaking, and sadly I don't think my car photography can do them justice!
Thankfully my last day in Montpellier was not a sad one, because it was Helen's birthday! She and Belinda joined Hugo, Alex and I at my apartment for some surprise midnight champagne opening, cake eating and birthday singing. During the day we all went to the lake for a picnic and some sunbathing, and in the evening we headed to town for the final time to enjoy several happy hour cocktails.
I'm not a big fan of emotional goodbyes, so instead it was cheerful "see you soon"s for everyone as we all went our separate ways.
The next morning Alex and I were up bright and early to pack my stuff in the car and begin the road trip that would see us eventually end up at his house. Saying goodbye to Hugo was a very sad moment for all 3 of us (but he's coming to visit us in Germany soon, yay!), and leaving the apartment for good felt incredibly strange.
A few hours later, we were in Nice! Our hostel was gorgeous, and once we'd checked in we hopped on a tram straight in to town. Nice is beautiful, and the sea is just as blue as I remembered it from the last time I (very briefly) visited.
The next day is was up and out again for a long day of driving. We stopped for a late lunch and a spot of exploring in Turin, and I loved it so much I wish we could have stayed longer!
Sadly we only had enough change between us to buy a couple of hours on the parking machine, so it was fairly quickly onwards and eastwards towards our destination for the day: Milan. I don't want to talk about the hostel because it was so horrendous, so all I'll say on the matter is if you're travelling to Milan AVOID HOTEL SALUS. On the plus side, Milan is gorgeous! We headed straight for town on the first evening to find that in the square in front of Milan's Duomo (an enormous cathedral for those as clueless as I was) there was a famous pianist playing an outdoor concert. We stayed to listen for a while before wandering through the streets and stopping off for a meal, where I had probably the nicest glass of white wine I've ever tasted!
The next day was all walking and exploring as we attempted to get around as much of the city as possible.
My highlight was climbing to the roof of the Duomo (building in second photo, views in fourth and fifth photos), which is a fantastic building, and gives you amazing views around the whole city. Milan was probably the most exhausting day in terms of walking, but the most delicious in terms of food (and by food, I mean multiple gelatis).
The next morning we were on the move again, this time leaving Italy altogether on our longest driving day. Having never seen the Alps from the ground, I really enjoyed the chance to drive straight through them! Our route took us (via a little village called Bolzano for lunch) straight through Austria, and we were surrounded by snow-topped mountains almost the whole way.
We ended up safely in Munich by early evening, and spent some time relaxing the hostel bar with my first official German beer.
Of course, being Germany, it rained basically the entire time we were in Munich! The temperature drop was very noticeable, but on the plus side the city was really cool, and I even got to see some unexpected surfers!
I was also lucky enough to try my first German kartoffeln (potatoes) at a little festival going on in town. Alex was able to give me a few mini history lessons as we walked past some of the more famous monuments in the city, and he also guided me to the top of the university building which has a balcony overlooking the city. I also took the opportunity to laugh at the many long words written on the university billboards, with "Bauvertragliche Regelungswerke", "Abschlussbericht Forschungsvorhaben" and "Realisierungsentscheidung" being some of my personal favourites.
We left fairly early the next morning for our final part of the journey, and made it to Alex's house, in a village just north of Frankfurt, in one very tired piece! It was great to see his parents again, and I also met his brother Tim, whose English is basically as good as Alex's (thankfully for me!). We were greeted with lots of food and beer, which was the perfect way to relax and wind down after our very long road trip.
Since arriving here I've managed to explore the nearby town of Wetzlar, see Malificent in English in Geissen (well worth watching if you get the chance), explore the woodlands surrounding the house, bike ride down to the local lake, and have a day out in Frankfurt.
We had an unexpected heatwave when we arrived, with temperatures hitting 36 degrees Celsius for 5 days straight!
Sadly Alex was called away to France for a couple of weeks on an architecture job, so I've been left to my own devices to continue exploring the local area, and keep up to date with the World Cup. Luckily for me, Tim is a great chef and a very patient German teacher, so I've been able to make myself quite productive in all the spare time.
Anyway, this blog has definitely been long enough so I'm going to end it here!
Auf Wiedersehen!
Sarah
xx
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