Hello there!
For the past 11 years of my life, I have lived just outside of a lovely town called Béziers. Now you might think that living in the same place for such a long time can get boring, that you look over the beauty of your surroundings because it’s all “normal” to you, if you think that, then yes, you’re right, at least in my case. For quite a few years I avoided Béziers and concentrated more on Montpellier (I’m sure you’ve heard of that wonderful place), not because it’s a bad area or that it’s not pretty, but mostly because it just felt very “been there, done that” and I wanted a change.
However, quite recently, my mother, boyfriend and I all went out to Béziers for the afternoon, and it was that moment that I realised that I’d been missing out on quite a few things in Béziers. Not only is the centre quite lively, but there’s also tons of shops and pretty little rustic apartments to be seen. As we were walking through the little side streets, I discovered brand new shops that I never knew existed in this part of the woods! Being a young girl, as soon as I saw that they had a Douglas shop, I literally ran in! (Douglas is the equivalent of Boots lets say, it’s a lot smaller and they usually have different sections of brands rather than it being a bit scattered everywhere). There were so many brand new restaurants, cafés, shops and art galleries that I’d never seen, because I’d avoided going there for so long. How wrong was I?!
We had an absolutely lovely afternoon walking around and discovering all of the beauty of the town. My boyfriend and I decided to pop into a little café and I came out with a mini rasberry Macaron for 1€, some of you may find that a bit pricey but it’s a Macaron, so it’s to be expected! We then decided to join my mother who was sitting in a lovely café along the Allées Paul-Riquet, it was a little tea shop and as she ordered her signature cup of coffee (yes, my mother is a coffee drinker!) the waiter brought her a selection of three different biscuits, very generous!
It’s a real pity that the younger population of Béziers don’t appreciate it for what it is. I know this because while in school in the centre of Béziers, my friends and I always used to “hang out” at exactly the same place day in day out, but now that I’ve had a chance to rediscover this lovely town, I can safely say that I’ll be going there a lot more often. There are things for everyone there, toy shops and libraries for the youngsters, clothes and shoe shops for the young girls, game and sports shops for the young boys, and countless other shops for the grown ups. It really is a great place to be.
Along the Allées Paul-Riquet, there are quite a few restaurants and cafés on one side, and shops on the other, including a very big and wonderful shop called Les Galleries Lafayette, which has basically everything you could possibly need in a shop! Clothes, jewellery, bags, shoes, hats, underwear, ties, wigs, hair colours, makeup, and there’s even a stationary level on the bottom floor! You can quite easily end up spending a few hours in there, looking at all of the designer brands.
One of the must-sees in Béziers is definitely the Théatre, it’s right at the top of the Allées so you really can’t miss it, it’s a great experience seeing as it’s so old and beautiful, and if you’re lucky, you can even catch a show there and explore the inside. Personally I have been to see a show in there and I wasn’t disappointed with the interior, red carpets, glorious mirrors and chandeliers…
Now of course there are hundreds of pretty places in Béziers that I could list, but who has the time? And quite frankly, my writing wouldn’t do the place justice because to get the full experience, you have to see it all for yourself. So when you’re planning your next holiday, remember that there’s a beautiful town in the South of France called Béziers! (it’s also very close to Montpellier and a lot of beaches, so you won’t be disappointed!)
Here are some more of the photos I took while there, if you’re a photographer or just love taking pretty photos, then I highly recommend Béziers as there’s just so much to snap away at!
See you next time!
