Old Wall

Call me silly, but I like old walls and old doors much better than new concrete walls and plastic doors, despite all their wounds and the wrinkles left by the passage of time. Every broken stone, every scratch in the painting of the door, everything has a story to tell. This old door on which a sign has been nailed (costumes de carnaval for rent here) is on the side of the "cazerne des troupes" shown in the former post. I found that rather unexpected: carnival costumes versus military uniforms....

Même si ces murs sont tout vieux et tout branlants, je les aime bien mieux que les portes et les murs des immeubles modernes. Ah l'affreux béton et l'horrible plastique. Chaque pierre abîmée, chaque rayure dans la vieille porte, chaque changement de couleur dans la peinture usée, a une histoire à raconter. Voyez cette porte d'entrée sur laquelle on a cloué un signe indiquant "location de costumes de carnaval". Inattendu et paradoxal dans ce lieu, le flanc de l'ancienne "cazerne des troupes" montrée dans le post précédent. On a remplacé les uniformes militaires datant de Louis XIV par des déguisements......

Trees and sun

I didn't take these photos in Montpellier but in Villeneuvette, one of the jewels of Languedoc. Villeneuvette dates to Louis 14th. There was a "manufacture royale" there.

I like the reflections of the sun and the trees on the houses (not in the lens of my camera though). The residents are very "jealous" of their little city.

Arc de Triomphe

The Arc de Triomphe stands at the end (or beginning :-)) of the avenue Foch, before the entrance of Les Jardins du Peyrou. As you can see, it is perfectly aligned with the statue of Louis XIV and the water tower.

Before it was restored a few years ago, the stone was white, or rather grey and black. We were first surprised at seeing this ochre color but we were told that it was the original color of the Arc when it was erected in the seventeenth century.

You can read a complete description of the Arc de Triomphe on the site of Montpellier Hérault.

The Sun King

The statue of Louis XIV has been placed so high that it is impossible to take a good shot of it. It is right in the middle of the Jardins du Peyrou.

Can you imagine a Sun King riding a horse, without spurs?