Montpellier take 2

Salut tout le monde,

I'm really enjoying the course - the lectures are really interesting, and everyone is very friendly. Greg would be very interested in the content of the course, as much of it is concerned with haptics, and computer modeling of organs and interactions with surgical devices. However there are lots of control theory aspects, which stretch my memory a bit! Every one is very nerdy, of course! ;-)

Selina is enjoying gallivanting around the place. She rode to the beach, and had a swim, which was apparently very nice. They have bicycles that the city hires out for 2 Euros per day, which is a pretty awesome deal. Yesterday she spent the day wandering around the city, discovering churches, squares, and a 2nd-hand English-language book-shop. She saw France's oldest botanical garden, the Jardin des Plantes (opened 1593), and the Cathedral St-Pierre (similar era). This cathedral is similar to Notre-Dame (Paris), but is more fortress-like, and has a massive 15th-Century porch, which is two towers (maybe 40m high?), and an arched dome between. The whole cathedral is annexed to a newer (but still old) medical school, which is famous across France. The whole thing was bloody impressive!

We saw this on a tour around Montpellier yesterday evening. The tour started at 6:30, and finished at 8:30, as the sun was setting (we were atop the Arc de Triomphe, 1692). Even at 5pm, the sun is still very high in the sky, and hot!

We also saw an ancient Jewish ritual bath which is supplied by a spring, constantly refreshing the water. It looked cold!

As we write this, we're thinking about Hannah and Owen, who are (hopefully!) at this moment being wed! It's all very exciting, and we wish we could be there to celebrate with them. Best of luck for the big move to Cambridge guys! See you soon!

Everyone else, keep in touch, hope all is well in your respective parts of the globe!! Photos are starting to go up on picasa, so check out link top right.
Cheers,
Selina & Angus ;-)