B and I went to Montpellier last Saturday to visit his brother and some friends and Saturday evening we went out to eat and strolled around downtown.
The downtown of Montpellier is considerably smaller than Toulouse, but what I found more noticeable was the difference in atmosphere, ambiance, and the crowd.
Toulouse has more students in numbers than Montpellier, but I feel that because the campuses are spread out around Toulouse, you don't see them as concentrated. Walking from the Comédie up to Place Jean Jaurés and around rue Saint Guihelm and rue Foch in Montpellier, you pass tons of bars and cafés overflowing with people and sidewalks filled with tables. There were a lot more people playing "music" (when the musician is drunk, I don't think it counts), selling wooden jewelry, or generally hanging out with their dogs than in Toulouse.
B thinks that the municipal laws and local police in Toulouse are a lot stricter and that keeps away the "musicians" and sellers. I've seen a few people selling posters recently, but not a ton. Another factor is that cars are still allowed on many streets. Only the most commercial and tiniest of Toulouse's streets downtown have become pedestrian, compared with the majority of Montpellier's Ecusson. Bars and restaurants are scattered over a much larger area as well, with a few high density areas, such as between Carmes and Esquirol, between Capitole and the Place St Pierre, and around rue de la Colombette.
It's interesting how each city has it's own ambiance, it's own rhythm. I think the mode of public transportation has an affect on that, as well as the lighting and location of public squares and gardens. Restaurants and bars are of course important, but it's definitely more than that. What defines the atmosphere of your city? What tangible aspects shape the mood of the people? How is your town different or perhaps tried to distinguish itself as different?
1 comment:
Montpelier is an interesting place. We have been living in Toulouse for about 6 months now. We aren't tied here and would consider either Montpelier or Bordeaux depending on certain situations. I like how Montpelier has an unmistakeably Mediterranean feel to it because you are right on the sea. We went with some friends who live there so we had a different perspective. In Toulouse I feel it is all students all the time. The other night we wlaked around about midnight, the weather was warm, it was a pleasant night, but the only people we found out and about were students. We went to a bunch of different neighborhoods and mostly found students. Where do the adults hang out?
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