When I checked into the hostel, I specifically asked the reception desk not to put me in a room with drifters. I knew from the experience in La Rochelle that in the more urban hostels, you run the risk of being roomed with psychos. When I got to the room, I unfortunately saw an entire wardrobe laid out along the window sill including an entire collection of shoes and sneakers. At least one the roommates had moved in permanently. Oy. Two of the roommates were napping and I tried to be as quiet as possible. Later on, I asked one of the nappers who had woken up what the deal was. He was from Africa. He explained that most of the people in this hostel were from North Africa studying at the local university. They were staying at the hostel because the French university system prioritizes French citizens for student housing and international students are usually left to fend on their own. In essence, I was staying in a freshman year dorm of North African international students.
Montpelier Botanical Garden
Montpelier is a beautiful city. It’s famous for its beach but I was really not feeling like beach time. I wanted more green, more nature, especially after Aix-Les-Bains. I walked around the town and had my beer and took my pretty photos.
Urban environment
Monuments
The issue was at night when I was taking my nap after my full day walking around. There is a strict “no alcohol in the room” policy at all HI hostels. They don’t want people partying inside out of respect for the other roommates. You can openly drink in the common areas and the outdoor patios. Two of my roommates decided to pregame in the room and were having a full volume conversation while I was trying to sleep. I thought this was totally messed up because I was so quiet when I came into the room when they were napping. At one point, I just gave up and decided I had to tell them I could hear them and if they wouldn’t mind drinking in the common area… that’d be great. Well, I got a good taste of North African international student lovin’ (sarcasm). He did not respond well to that suggestion. He basically told me to shut up and mind my own business. I was not so cool with that. I spelled it out to him. There are rules. Go drink outside, let me nap. He refused to listen and the two of them just kept drinking and chatting away. Actually, it was kind of weird. Only the aggressive one was talking… and talking and talking… and the other guy did not say a word the entire conversation.
Fast forward to 5am when the two of them came home from the bar. They turned on the lights to the hostel room, started making a bunch of noise and were just outright rude. I, of course, was woken up by this. I told him to turn off the light. He yelled back at me that he was changing his clothes. Ouch. I realized that I wasn’t really another guest in a hostel. This was his freshman year dorm room and I was the random guest and he did not want me there.
The next day I told the reception about the experience and they put me in a room with only two beds. My roommate arrived after I went out for the day. Rather than go to the beach, I walked to the closest nature reserve: Parc du Lez. I was not sure if the lake was considered swimmable but I did some some dogs swimming in it. I hiked around the area for a considerable number of hours until I got too tired and decided to head back.
When I came home, the room smelled like cigarettes and I saw ashes in the garbage can. I took the garbage can to the common area to throw out the ashes and luckily it seemed like that was the root of the foul odor. When I came back, the new roommate was there. He was a little confused and I explained that I don’t like the smell of cigarette smoke. He apologized and said if he had known that I did not like cigarette smoke, he would not have smoked in the room. Yes, it usually works the other way around but alas. I asked him where he was from and he said Syria. This guy was a Syrian refugee. Suddenly, my annoyance with cigarette odor seemed less critical.
We discussed life and opportunity and living through a war. He’s studying computer science looking to create a new future for himself. I wished him luck and the next day we both went on our separate ways. It was time for me to get back to nature and the French Alps were calling my name.