Montpellier: You got a cheap hotel, now deal with it.

When we got off the train in Montpellier, we had no idea where to go next. I had managed to misplace our hotel information, but we knew the name and that it was very close to the train station.

Rowan went to figure out where the hotel was located. She asked a cab driver, and he pointed her in the general direction. When she asked if he could take us there, he replied, “You are a smart tourist who found herself a cheap hotel, now deal with it.”

Rowan responded that we had a lot of bags, but he told her, “That is your problem, not mine."

We lugged our bags to the hotel. It wasn’t that far, but I had to leave Rowan behind at the halfway point to check in, drop off some of the baggage, and then go help her with the rest.

The hotel was reasonably nice. The tile floors had been re-laid recently, and our room was air-conditioned. Rowan was concerned that there was a two-foot-tall step up to the shower, but neither of us managed to tumble perilously from that precipice.

We wandered around town some. There was also some striking architecture, but of a more French than Roman variety.

Here is one of the many Arc du Triomphes scattered throughout Europe (we also have one in Barcelona; I believe the one that is most well known is in Paris):We also found an old abbey and cathedral, which now serves as a school of medicine.After looking at architecture, we wandered around town for a while.It truly is a beautiful city.

At one point in our wanderings, we came across a plaza where an old dude in a bright pink tank top was gyrating his hips and getting funky to some dance-pop song playing from his boombox. (I apologize, but I don't have a picture.) He played the same song over and over again. After awhile, he put his boombox on his shoulder and walked away. We later encountered him in several other locations throughout town.

After much walking, we headed to McDonald's, not to eat, but to take advantage of the free wireless internet they provide. Here I realized that I didn't have the necessary equipment to plug in my computer.

We went to an internet shop so we could email home. We found out that foreign keyboards are a little different. Instead of a QWERTY top row, they have an AZERTY top row. Also, you shift for numbers, since the symbols are the defaults. And the punctuation is in different places.

At night, we went for a drink in a plaza. There were guys breakdancing on the ground in front of one of the restaurants. The dancing was interesting, but they were doing it to 1960s American rock. I have forgotten what was playing, but Grand Funk or The Band wouldn't be too far off.

We went to bed early. Our train to Barcelona would leave at 7:30.