Beziers France

Cathédrale Saint-Nazaire-et-Saint-Celse de Béziers

Place Gabriel Péri

Photos taken in March 2017

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The old city or centre ville of Béziers has an array of medieval streets unlike any urban plan seen in the United States.  Certain shopping villages have a similar designs with wider streets & cars.  A closer comparison might be at a complex of closely spaced apartment buildings.  But what if this model were copied more closely in US urban planning?  Walkability would be very high.  Density on this level would have a certain charm when commercial spaces & small open spaces were combined with housing.  Access to nearby green spaces would be essential.  Every roof could be a deck with abundant planters & vigorous plants.  There should be easy access to frequent & speedy public transit.  There would be few cars, mostly in underground parking. Doesn't that sound like an urban paradise?  I'd like to see this happen.  Perhaps somewhere it has.

Béziers is a very charming small city on the Mediterranean coast of France.  It's not far from Montpellier where I was staying when I made a day trip to Béziers.  I was quite enchanted, not only with the narrow streets, but the high quality of the buildings, which are tastefully designed & mostly well maintained.  The medieval cathedral is impressive both inside & out.  There is a beautiful view down to the river & bridge from there.  The narrowest streets of the old city are in a small area just behind the cathedral.  There is an attractive central plaza nearby.  An abundance of narrow streets with ground floor shops flow from the plaza.  The centre ville doesn't cover a very large area, but comfortably covers the top of the hill. Béziers is one of the oldest cities in France. Research shows that Béziers dates from 575 BC. Béziers was largely destoyed during the Albigensian Crusade in 1209. Rebuilding started as early as 1215. The restoration continued until the 15th century.

From my travel journal: 3-8-17 Wednesday.  I got to the train station at 8:30 AM. I got on the train to Béziers at 9:30 & arrived at 10:30. I had low expectations for Béziers, because someone on the Internet said that Narbonne (which was just okay) was better than Béziers. But Béziers was great, way better than Narbonne & more charming than Nimes. The old city was lovely & well-integrated with the rest of the city. The streets near the cathedral were a very narrow warren & connected to a lovely plaza where the city hall & many shops were located. The cathedral was impressive but not huge, with vaulted ceilings that almost gave the impression of being underground, in spite of their height. There were views down to the river from outside & it was very windy there. Much of the city is on a hill. The shopping streets near city hall were narrow with eclectic shops. There were vintage/antique shops together on one street with items arranged outside, along the walls, to very charming effect.

Montpellier France

Place de la Comedie

Rue de la Loge

Place de la Préfecture

 Rue Foch

 Porte du Peyrou

Medieval streets

Hotel particulier at left

The Jardin des Plantes began in 1626 & is France's oldest botanical garden.

Tram station at the edge of the old city.  Photos taken in March 2017

Click here for more photos of Montpellier.

The old city (centre ville) of Montpellier offers an amazing experience of the medieval city plan. The majority of the streets in the old city are of medieval origin & also many buildings, although most have been modified.  The centre ville has a large public plaza & 2 relatively broad commercial streets. There are two substantial parks & a botanical garden just outside the old city. The centre ville is served by sleek modern streetcars.  (The old city is also called the Écusson.) 

Montpellier's example of high urban density in the old city contrasts greatly with modern cities.  I'd like to think it can serve as a model for contemporary urban planning, which is often devoid of charm.  There is a lot of residential construction in my home city of Seattle.  I'd to see something like this: narrow pedestrian streets with town-homes & apartment buildings with ground-floor retail   Cars & parking should be very limited.  

The first settlement of Montpellier began in the late 10th century. Situated near the major Roman road, the Via Domitia, the city grew rapidly during Medieval times. Sold to the kingdom of France in 1349, Montpellier became its 2nd most important city. During the Reformation, many of the citizens of Montpellier became Protestant. They built many churches, destroyed during the Wars of Religion.  In 1622, the city was bombarded for two months by French forces. Afterward, public squares took the place of the ruined churches.  

After Louis XIV (1643-1715) made Montpellier capital of Bas Languedoc, the Porte du Peyrou, Promenade du Peyrou & the Place de la Comedie were built. In the 17th & 18th centuries, wealthy families constructed elaborate private residences, the hotels particuliers. These homes were much the same. (A large gate is set in a high wall on the street. A vaulted passage leads to a courtyard, surrounded by highly ornamented facades. A monumental staircase winds around a large vault, open to the courtyard at the landing & rising to access 2 floors above.) 

In the 19th century, there was an effort to create wide avenues. That grand plan was never completed.  Only 2 fairly short & not very wide avenues were made: Rue Foch between the Porte du Peyrou & Place de la Préfecture, Rue de la Loge between Place de la Préfecture & Place de la Comedie. They link together & are the main commercial streets of the centre ville.

Notes from my travel journal (March 4 to 8, 2017):

The central shopping district is beautiful. The streets are  narrow & mostly closed to cars. There are throngs of people. There is a huge plaza by the opera, Place de la Comedie. At the other end of the old city, a long, 2-story aqueduct feeds into a water tower that looks like a Greek temple. That was built in the 18th century. And there is an Arc de Triomphe built in the 17th century. Montpellier looks nothing like Nice or Marseille, which look nothing like each other. This looks a lot older. 

I went out to walk in the old city from 8:30 to 10:30 AM. There were very few people out. The sky was gray & it was fairly cold. The old city continued to amaze me. The narrow streets seemed to go on forever. I saw a number of large houses (hotels particuliers) with historical markers, built in the 17th century. The houses all have stone facades. That morning was one of the best experiences of the trip. I was fascinated & excited by the old city environment. It was magical.

One evening, I walked down a narrow street, lined with small shops, cafes, a few tattoo parlors & a bar named The Titty Pincher. There was a lurid & graphic neon sign that showed exactly what that meant. Lots of young people were on the street. It leads to a tram stop for 3 lines & 1 goes to the university. Montpellier spreads far beyond the old city.

Menton France

Photos taken in March 2017

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Menton is a pleasant little city on the Mediterranean coast of France near the Italian border.  During the 13th century, the Vento family of Genoa built a castle along the Roman road, now the site of the Vieux-Château cemetery, providing the core around which the current town grew.  This small, medieval town is now the oldest & most charming neighborhood in Menton.  The castle was built at the top of a steep hill, not very large, nor very high.  There are wonderful views of the Mediterranean Sea from the hill.  The view from the plaza by the two churches is stunning.  The rest of Menton is pleasant & peaceful with a certain amount of quiet activity.  There are as many stores & restaurants as you might need.   I was staying in Nice when I came here.

This is an urban landscape you would never see in the United States.  Hills like this are not developed into high density neighborhoods.  But very narrow streets like those of the medieval city could be used on level ground to form small & dense townhouse developments free of cars & near transit.  I've seen something like this done including garages.  But there should be car-free options for housing in an urban environment.  

From my travel journal: I got the train to Menton at 10 AM. The train took 40 minutes each way. I loved Menton! The 18th-19th century town was nice. The medieval hill town was fantastic! The narrow streets wound around & criss-crossed the hill, going under arches & up steps. The houses were nice, but not too nice. There were few tourists. Real people seemed to live there. The views of the Mediterranean, the city & surrounding hills were excellent from the top. There were 3 castles up there between 1200 & 1800. But two were destroyed in wars & the 3rd fell apart & was replaced with a cemetery. There were two interesting churches & a school on a small plaza halfway up the hill. People were out with their dogs. Farther up the hill some residents came with groceries & set the bags by their door. Their cat ran down the street & stuck its head in a bag. Then they all went inside. There was a market hall down in the lower city near the beach. Inside were stalls with fish, meat, or produce. One just had spices. I got a sandwich that was breaded & fried chicken fillets with fries in the sandwich, on an 8-inch baguette. It was oh so starchy. Pigeons harassed me while I ate it on a bench.

Le Panier Marseille France

 

Photos taken in February & March 2017

Le Panier is the Old City in Marseille, France.  People have lived on this piece of land for more than 2,000 years.  This neighborhood was heavily damaged during World War 2, then rebuilt with the same street plan & sometimes the same foundations, as before. This streetscape was not as appealing to me as those in other cities, where the buildings are much older.  These houses look modern.  But the place still has more charm than many urban neighborhoods in the US.  The narrow houses, the street plan that does not conform to a modern grid & the narrow streets that can barely accommodate a car, all that feels intriguingly alien to an American.  How nice it would be, if this plan were adapted for use in modern cities, a respite from too many cars taking up too much space.  Compare this with other old cities that evolved centuries ago & more modern urban landscapes.

Vieux Nice France

Photos taken in February 2017

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Vieux Nice is the antique heart of Nice France.  It is also called the Vieille Ville, or Old City.  Vieux Nice was an expansion of the village on the hill above, beginning sometime during the Middle Ages.  The map below shows that Vieux Nice had developed significantly by 1624.

 
I thought Vieux Nice was charming.  It had a theme park atmosphere, with buildings recently painted in rich shades of pink, yellow & orange, as though the city had passed out paint chips.  The streetscape was very appealing to me.  The narrow houses, the street plan that does not conform to a modern grid & the narrow streets that can barely accommodate a car, all create a fantasy landscape that people find intriguingly alien.  How nice it would be, if this were adapted for use in modern cities, a respite from too many cars taking too much space.  I'm thankful places like this still exist & hopeful that similar places may be built now & in the future.  Compare this with other old cities that evolved centuries ago & more modern urban landscapes.