Ask the French where they dream of living, and the southern town of Montpellier (in Languedoc-Roussillon) always comes out on top. It’s easy to see why, since this ancient city in the sun has turned into one of the most vivacious villes in France during the last 20 years. A sleek new tramway, with colorful, kicky exteriors (flowers, the dove that’s the symbol of the city, sprays of color) by designer Christian Lacroix, snakes through city; fountains splash everywhere; and a young population crowds the cafe terraces in the heart of the handsome Vieille Ville (Old City), site of the world’s oldest medical school and several of the most beautiful parks in France. Almost the entire downtown area is pedestrians only, and a visionary local program has been restoring the beautiful 18th-century houses built of biscuit-colored limestone that line the city’s medieval lanes. The Musee Fabre, one of the best fine-arts museums in France, has just reopened after a million-dollar renovation, and in less than 20 minutes, you can leave the city behind for a beautiful Mediterranean beach.
Where to Stay:
Hotel du Parc, in a handsome 19th-century manor house on the edge of the
Vieille. Ville.
Where to Eat:
The Musee Fabre’s
Insense, the latest restaurant from the local Pourcel brothers and easily one
of the best museum restaurants I’ve ever been to. Their version of a chicken
Caesar salad puts most of those served Stateside to shame, and the succulent rouille de seiche comme a
Sete is
tender squid braised in a shellfish sauce as they do in the nearby port of
Sete. The Pourcel’s main restaurant, the two-star Jardin des Sens, occupies an
amphitheaterlike modern dining room on the edge of town. (Try their arugula
gazpacho, sea urchins stuffed with crab, and pigeon breast in a cocoa jus.) Tamarillos has a pleasant
terrace overlooking a quiet square, and chef Philippe Chapon’s tuna tartare
with orange and black currants is superb, as are his baby vegetables in coconut
milk.
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