Though there’s obviously much more to Montpellier, the principal city of Languedoc-Roussillon than its old town, most visitors don’t tend to stray much beyond the couple of hundred square feet of crumbling, honey-colored buildings, medieval churches and creeper-trailing ramparts that make up its ancient heart.
Stay at the beautiful 18th-century townhouse hotel Baudon de Mauny, situated right in the centre. Nowhere in the old town is more than a 10-minute walk from its enormous wooden front door, meaning that you can walk from one end to the other without your ice cream melting in the hot Mediterranean sun. The hotel, a five-room chambre d’hôtes, is gorgeous. To enter its stone courtyard is like going back to the 1700s, and you can almost imagine dukes and marquises traipsing up the stone staircase before you. Its salons and bedrooms are huge, airy spaces with original flagstone floors, and blend period details with stylish contemporary furnishings.
There’s no restaurant at Baudon de Mauny– though owner Alain de Bordas does prepare a fine breakfast spread – so take to the streets in search of sustenance. Cheeses, ham, bread and all other picnic staples can be picked up from the covered market on place de la Comédie, and little shops, cafés and kiosks pour out delicious-smelling steam from their kitchens all over the city. For sit-down delights, go for the assiette Setois – a brochette of grilled fish served with julienned vegetables – at Bar du Musée and the set menu at Le Grillardin. Here, for around €20 a head, you can dine outside on pigs trotters, cuttlefish and sticky caramelized belly pork. If you want a treat, head for the Michelin-starred delights at Jardins de Sens – where the Pourcel twins serve up world-renowned ethnic-inspired cuisine.
