One of my favourite things about France is the food. While you are learning French in France for your language stay at ILA I can guarantee you that the food, the pastries, bread and delicious meals of all kinds will always be there temping you tempting you around every corner. I myself know I have in the past fallen victim while studying in France, to eating one large baguette and two croissants every day. Although eating whatever you want whenever you want is a fun and satisfying way to live, while you are living and studying French abroad; eating while keeping active and healthy are very important things if you want to succeed in your French immersion studies and feel great the whole time. When I don’t eat properly, eating breads and sweets all the time I know my body tells me it is not happy; by waking up groggy and tired and not at all prepared for the school day ahead. Leaning French early in the morning everyday requires attention, concentration and the energy to be able to put all your effort into doing the best you can. So, while you are in Montpellier for your French immersion education abroad, with my experience of nine months here already, I can give you my healthy living street knowledge of Montpellier.
Tips to living your best and feeling your best while living in Montpellier
One of the things I would suggest you do right away when you get settled into the city is to find the closest gym to where you live, or to the school. If you live in either of the residences close to the school New Planet Forme is a gym located right in the Gambetta centre and a maximum of 5 minutes’ walk from the school. This gym is for all kind of people, it is not too large but it is very well equipped. The employees are super friendly and there are even classes most days of the week you can attend. Joining a gym is also very beneficial for your language stay because you can speak French outside of your French learning school. To add to that, there is people from all over the world who go to this gym, In the locker rooms I have heard people speaking all different languages, so you will never know who you will meet and which languages they can speak!
Going to the gym is a great way to keep up your fitness especially if you have full day of classes and if you have intensive or delf classes, you are sitting for majority of the day. Going to the gym only takes a little time of your day, even if you go for less than an hour this daily activity helps to boost your energy every day and makes you feel a little better about having done something to get your blood pumping. Even if you are not someone who has even ever gone to the gym in the past, like me before I came here, I learned that it really can be a lot of fun if you find some people to go with, in fact you will definitely meet people in ila who also go to the gym and it becomes another thing you can do in the day with your friends.
In regard to fun physical activities you can do in Montpellier to keep up your fitness, there are a plethora. For example, it is amazing that Montpellier has bikes on every street that you can pay for on the spot and rent! This is so convenient if you don’t have a bike here in France, for example if you want to go to Carnon plage, the closest beach to Montpellier city centre it is a great option to rent a bike to go all the way there, or after you have taken the Tram on Line 3 since the walk to the beach from the last tram station is approximately 30 minutes having a bike will save you some time.
Montpellier also offers a plethora is healthy restaurants and bio stores which offer all kinds of food from vegan, vegetarian, and bio stores all over the city. So, if you are looking to eat clean and live clean during your language stay in Montpellier, you can see there are quite a few options you have to keep yourself active in between your French immersion courses. To make these experiences even better, make sure to find some people in your French classes who also want to stay active as I can assure you that you will meet more than a couple during your stay in ILA French immersion school. The most important thing while you are learning French in Montpellier is that you enjoy the experience, and feel great whilst improving you French speaking skills at the same time!