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If some incredible day, Paris would be liberated by all its Peugeots, Citroens and Renaults, it would look like the Place de la Comédie, surnamed “ l’Oeuf” (the egg). But this is Montpellier! You can hesitate between a visit to the theater, opera, a restaurant or simply a mall, will sit down at a terrace, because everything is near. The surname l’oeuf comes from the egg form of the pavement around the Fontaine des Trois Graces (1776). With a little bit of goodwill you could see a sort of Easter egg under the pedestal of the monument. And if you have a close look at the opera house you will recognize it is inspired by the Paris Opera Garnier. The one in Montpellier dates 1888.

L’Oeuf lies at the edge of the old city.  This old city has a number of pretty, old houses and palaces for show. The HOTEL DES TRESORIERS DE FRANCE was built for Jacques Coeur. This royal treasurer, in fact secretary of Finances, was not of Royal descent, what was seen as a serious handicap by the other noble specimens of the royal court. With the feeling for business that he had, he fought all his life to abolish all kinds of taxes and tolls on goods that destroyed commerce. The fact that these taxes were a big income for this same court, made him of course even more unpopular. He was finally accused of treason and came to his end. But for Montpellier his did very good things. He gave the Hotel as a gift to the archeologic society, which housed its collection, in the form of a museum.

Other beautiful little palaces are the HOTEL DE MANSE and the HOTEL DE VARENNES. The first hotel was also owned by a treasurer and has a splendid staircase. The second keeps sacred chapters of the baroque church Notre Dame des Tables. It houses two museums: MUSEE DU VIEUX MONTPELLIER, with a collection of furniture and other utensils of the history of Montpellier and the MUSEE FOUGAU, dedicated to local folklore.

The church NOTRE DAME DES TABLES was the heart of the old village Montpellier and became later the spot where the pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostella came to pray. The pilgrim’s route followed the design of the rue d’Aiguilliers, just next to the church. The building you see now is from the 17th century, when the king had retaken the city from the Protestants. In its crypt, a remainder of the previous church, an exhibition about the history of the city. Today, all around you is the students’ quarter, a sort of quartier Latin. One on four people in Montpellier studies and it shows: if you want to eat cheap, its here that you have to look.