Day 10

Today we went on a gourmet walking tour of Montpellier. Montpellier we were told has 253 days of sunshine but not today as it was raining lightly. A gourmet walking tour is where you stop at various shops and sample different foods that are unique to the region while still seeing the various iconic land marks that are also unique to the region. Our first stop was to the chamber of commerce which was the first medical school in the region. After that we stopped at a chocolate shop and sampled macarons. I don't think any of us had ever had macarons before and afterwards we became fans of the macaroons. Unfortunately, they can only keep for 3 days which means that none of you will get a sample from Montpellier. Next on the tour was a stop at a cheese shop with a certified cheese maker. While there we sampled roquefort cheese and were told of the love story behind the origin of the cheese. Next we visited a produce market very similar to Granville island, however, very much smaller. We sampled fresh olives. There are so many varieties of olives but we sampled just two types to taste the contrast between young and more mature olives. Our final stop on the tour was to a sausage shop. The sausage sampled was not only delicious but is was low in fat...who knew? The tour lasted 2 hours and was informative, enjoyable and very tasty.
Our game against a Montpellier club team was canceled. After our last visit where we defeated the Montpellier University club team by a substantial margin the teams here are a little apprehensive to play and lose to much younger players. Instead we went for a 40 minute team run through Montpellier, stopped halfway and did some plyometrics and core training before running back. Afterwards we went to the nearby pool. To the surprise of all of us was the attire required to enter the pool; a swimming cap and European swim  trunks. Only half of the guys had the "balls" to go swimming ( no pun intended). While the boys swam a little and played jackpot for awhile, I was in the supposed hot tub ( should be renamed the luke warm tub).
A late supper like the French and then to bed. After the workout and visit to the pool, getting the boys to bed was rather easy tonight. Good night from Montpellier.

Mo and Hunter sampling macaroons

Macaroon display

With the cheese master

Faraz sampling roquefort cheese and bread

Many varieties of olives

Unique building corner

Arc de Triumphe

Government building

Mural of a building on a building

Sr. boy's synchro swim team?

Kyle, Jaden and Mo at the sausage counter