We'd had a wonderful afternoon and a amazing dinner the previous day. So we were excited to see what surprises Montpellier had in store for us on this day.
It was a bright and sunny morning as we headed out to do some exploring.
And so we headed out to get our caffeine fix from a place I had on my "list" heading thru Place de la Comédie (of course).
Remember I mentioned that there always seemed to be something going on in Montpellier. Well, we noticed part of the square was blocked off. Specifically the street we were headed down, Rue des Étuves. Soon enough it became clear what was happening. There was a Cancer Run going on.
The sign says "La Courstache", which I believe means "the course", but we also noticed some of the folks had drawn moustaches on themselves…..so I'm thinking there's some funny "pun" in the works here.
Meanwhile, the runners were being cheered on from the folks sitting at the cafes.
Right past the Opera House was our destination, Café Bun.
The place was buzzing! The Missus got some kind of special roast and I got an Americano, which was quite good.
The croissant though, was not. It lacked butter, wasn't flaky and crisp, and was too doughy.
And one interesting fellow kept trying to converse with us in several languages. I spoke back in English and he looked surprised, but we had a nice little chat. Then I noticed the gentleman in the business next door could not open his front gate. A bicycle had locked itself to the gate and in the process locked the two sliding pieces together. I walked over to help. Of course the gentleman thought it was my bike, but I made it clear it wasn't. I helped him get to the point where he could squeeze himself onto the street. He then went to the café, but it wasn't anyone from there. He then started ringing up all the apartments across the street. And guess what? He got his man and was able to open his shop. It was quite an interesting morning so far.
Café Bun
5 rue des Etuves
34000 Montpellier, France
When the Missus and I did have a few minutes to chat during our coffee, I opened up the map and we came up with an outline of where we'd be walking this morning.
So, we crossed back on Place de la Comédie and I took another photo of the interesting building we were staying in.
I sent a copy of it to Cathy who replied in what I think is the quintessential Californian response; "Earthquake"!
We veered left and headed North thru Esplanade Charles-de-Gaulle a wonderful green space with restaurants, cafes, and lots of family friendly things to do.
After passing the park we took a left and went strolling thru the Ecusson (the old city).
And passed some lovely squares.
Winding our way until we came across the impressive Cathedral Saint-Pierre a massive structure.
We checked to see if the place was open, but it was not. I'd later do some checking and found the hours of operation and we'd return.
Right next to the Cathedral is the Faculty of Medicine. Montpellier is home to one of the oldest Medical Schools and there's a Museum of Anatomy we wanted to visit, but it has been closed since the beginning of the pandemic; so hopefully one day….
Right past all of this was the Jardin des Plants which was established by order of King Henry IV and is the oldest Botanical Garden in France; established in 1593. And even better; it's free!
It was winter so there wasn't a whole lot going on; but it was a nice escape from "the city".
We headed back to the apartment, thru the meandering old town, trying to decide on a place to have an early lunch. Just by sheer luck, we came across a place I had on my list, Le Guru. And though I mainly had this tiny corner restaurant on my list for the interesting Asian Fusion dishes, they served up a prix fixe brunch during weekends, so we thought, why not?
We got one of the tiny tables on the ground floor of the restaurant.
As part of the menu, one had to choose between two Oeuf Benedicte….hmmm, Eggs Benedict, not the Missus's favorite thing……She was having second thoughts, and this wasn't cheap at 23 Euroes a person. But we decided just to go for it.
Things started with a Smoothie and Boissons Chaude, hot chocolate.
The hot chocolate lacked flavor and was quite watery; but the passionfruit smoothie was tart and refreshing.
When the Viennoiseries arrived we started getting an understanding about the price. Holy smokes…..
The croissants were mediocre, but the sourdough bread was outstanding.
And then the Benedicts.
For the eggs, you could get either Smoked Salmon or Bacon, so we ordered one of each. The frites were nicely fried; hot and crisp, the small salad refreshing. As for the "Benedicte", well, to my surprise the Missus really liked the smoked salmon version. The Hollandaise sauce was creamy, but not overly assertive in that eggy-overly buttery manner. The smoked salmon was excellent; lightly briny and with a great smokiness, it reminded us of what we'd had in Scotland, The "bacon" was no slouch either; thick cut, but not tough, perfect salt, nicely smoked. The egg was a nice runny orb and "muffin" on the bottom was actually pretty light.
This meal turned out better than we thought and was well worth the price.
Le Guru
36 Rue de l'Argenterie
34000 Montpellier, France
And we enjoyed our "short escape" from French cuisine.
We had a nice stroll back to the apartment, which seemed quite close now. Montpellier was getting smaller by the hour it seems!
And while we loved the heads of kings of Judah that originally graced Notre Dame and were severed during the French Revolution ("off with their heads I say!!!!") in what is called 
And though we had passed the Cathedral several times a day, and even 
Indeed St Giles has quite a tumultuous history. It was established as a Catholic Church and then came the 
The lean deer loin had a nice, moist toothsomeness, had been seared and seasoned nicely. It wasn't overly gamy, but you could tell it was venison. The jus was wonderful, not overly rich, and went well with the delicious potato pave. Loved the celeriac puree, but that round ball of venison haggis was super mild in flavor. It did have quite the gritty-grainy texture though.
Much like 
Our visits on this day revolved around tastings, though we were given an short walking tour of the distillery.
Basically a smoked haddock cream soup….think of it as a less thick smoky chowder if you will. Actually, I enjoyed the rustic bread the most! This was nice and filling.
Since we had already visited 
According to this 
As before the tortillas were up to the task though not outstanding. The pulpo was on the tougher end of things and we thought more citrus/sour tones were needed as well. We enjoyed the lemony-peppery-slightly anise tones of the epazote.
There's a Cervantes Festival in Guanajuato. And the 
From the center of town we made our way Northwest, past Mercado Hidalgo, then up the one of the hills that surround the town. Right past the Mummy Museum is Panteón Municipal Santa Paula, the cemetery.
It was somewhat divey, the bartender was super friendly, the decor was quirky and eclectic. The music was what I often call the Unites States' greatest export…rock 'n roll.
La Clave Azul
We walked down one of the side streets and came to a point where two buildings were a mere two feet apart. This was the scene of a tragic, "Romeo and Juliette" story. Thus giving the spot the name "Callejón del Beso" (Alley of the Kiss). To 
Naturally, the first thing that came to mind was that this was a product of the silver mining days of the city. Which was incorrect. These tunnels were actually created in the late 19th century to divert the Guanajuato River which had flooded the city several times. In fact, Susana went and showed us markers of the height of the waters of several historic floods in the city's history.
Nice and crisp exterior, the smoked fish was really the star of the show here. It was moist, smokey, not overly salty, with great savory tones. The queso was used sparingly, which was actually a good thing. Look at all that smoked fish!