Discover the Mediterranean Gem for LGBTQ Retirees: Montpellier! - With Lloyd Meeker - Where Do Gays Retire Podcast

Episode Transcript
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(01:13):
Welcome to the Where Do GaysRetire Podcast where we help you
in the LGBTQ community find asafe and affordable retirement place.
Join Mark Goldstein as heinterviews others who live in gay
friendly places around the globe.
Learn about the climate, costof living.
Health care, crime and safety,and more. Now here's your host, Mark

(01:35):
Goldstein. Welcome back to thewhere to Gaze Retire podcast. I'm
your host, Mark Goldstein.Today we're traveling, at least in
spirit, to southern France, tothe beautiful city of Montpellier.
It's often called aMediterranean gem. And. But what

(01:57):
does retirement life reallylook like there, especially for the
LGBTQ community? Joining metoday is Lloyd Meeker. Hi, Lloyd.
Who's who's going to give usan inside scoop on everything from
housing and development tofood and culture and the community
vibe. Lloyd, I'm so gladyou're here. Thank you. I'm going

(02:19):
to tell the audience a littlebit about your background. So, having
led what can only be describedas an irregular life, Lloyd A. Meeker
can honestly say he's gratefulfor all of it. And he's got stories
to tell. Born and raised in anintentional community in rural Colorado,
he's been a minister, a lightaircraft pilot, an office worker,

(02:43):
a janitor, a drinker, and asoftware developer on his way to
writing novels. A Dodgers fanand three time cancer survivor, he's
practiced and taught subtleenergy healing all about his adult,
adult life. He sung in churchand rainbow choirs and currently
channels his passion for musicinto learning the octave mandolin.

(03:08):
He and his husband met in 2002and live in Montpellier, France.
His titles include TravelingLife, Russ Morgan, and Stone and
Shell. His novel the Companionwas a finalist in the 2015 Lambda
Literary Awards. Well,welcome, Lloyd. Thank you so much

(03:31):
for coming to the podcast. Ireally appreciate it.
My pleasure.
So let's talk about locationand first impressions. Let's start
with the basics. Montpeliergets described as this Mediterranean
gem, but for those who don'tknow exactly where is it, what's
it near, and how does itcompare to cities like Marseille,

(03:53):
Nice, or Toulouse?
Okay, well, it's smaller thanMarseille or Toulouse. It's just
about halfway betweenBarcelona and Marseille, pretty much
on the coast. Mediterraneancoast. We're about 10 kilometers
from the water, actually.That's the geography. Well, it's

(04:17):
a, it's a four hour high speedtrain trip from Paris straight north
and it's. It's about fourhours to Barcelona by train and Marseille
by train. So really wellpositioned. It's about four hours
from Geneva by train.
Wow. And are those the fastTrains, the bullet trains.

(04:40):
Yes. Except for Geneva. That'sa slower, that's a regional train.
Okay. But four hours is prettygood for all those destinations.
So let's talk a little bitabout the climate. Of course, near.
Living near the Mediterraneanmeans plenty of sunshine. What are
the typical summer highs andwinter lows? And as the climate shifts,

(05:03):
have you noticed any changeslike hotter summers, droughts, or
even flooding? And what'sFrance doing to deal with to eliminate
the climate change, if youknow that.
Okay, well, first off, itrarely freezes here. The first six
week visit we had here was inJanuary and for about half an hour

(05:28):
one day, big fat snowflakescame drifting down and they lasted
for about 20 seconds when theyhit the ground. But that was the
weather topic of conversationfor about three months. So it's about
8 degrees Celsius. I've losttrack actually of Fahrenheit, so
you're going to have to helpme translate here. Average winter

(05:53):
day is about 8. And during thesummer, in the height of summer,
in August, late mid July tothe end of August, it's easily 35
and often 40. It can be reallyhot. It gets a fair amount of wind,

(06:16):
so it's not a stifling stillheat or cold.
Is it humid or dry?
Very dry for the most part.There'll be times when it's humid,
just coming off the ocean, orif there's a bank of clouds sitting

(06:37):
over us.
Have you noticed any climate change?
I don't think we've been herelong enough to say that. We've only
been here three years. ButFrance is of course part of the eu,
and the EU is committed toaddressing climate change in a way
that the United States justisn't correct.

(07:01):
Okay, let's touch on housingand cost of living. What's the going
rate these days for a twobedroom, two bath apartment? And
beyond rent, do you know whatthe average monthly budget would
be for utilities such asInternet, gas and electric, Mobile

(07:22):
phone?
Sure. Well, I can. I can giveyou our numbers.
Sure. And a good bottle of wine.
Well, my husband and I don'tdrink, so the drinker is in the past.
Okay, gotcha.
But Montpellier is booming,construction wise for housing. There

(07:42):
are towers, apartment towersgoing up all over. And here the custom
is for a buyer to actuallycommit to buying the apartment before
it's constructed. And youparticipate in the construction by

(08:03):
paying tranches of your finalprice as the building develops. But
there we live in a an areacalled Port Marianne, which is just
south of the old city by about20 minutes by grand. And we're in

(08:24):
a. Our apartment is a threebedroom, one and a half bath, about
90 square meters. So that'sabout 1100 square feet. The thing
to remember is that airconditioning is not a given here.
Kitchens are typically small.You're not going to get these vast,

(08:47):
self indulgent chef kitchenswith sub zero appliances and all
the stuff that some folks inour community can't live without,
but they're big enough to cookon. Ours is essentially a one person

(09:07):
kitchen. Bob and I have beentogether for 23, 24 years now, so
we can navigate around eachother, but still when something is
just about to be served up,it's pretty much a one person kitchen.
Who does cooking mostly weboth do.
He does more of it than I do,partly because I've had some mobility

(09:29):
issues over the last year. Butwe also eat out a lot. So as people
do here, the cost of a simplerestaurant is pretty modest.
What would you say? Yeah, whatwould you say? Like it costs? Do

(09:53):
you rent or do you buy? Didyou buy?
We rent. The attitudes towardrental here is very different from
the United States where thepurchase of your home is the biggest
investment you'll ever make.And you're not a good puritan worker
bee unless you are paying amortgage right here. People haven't

(10:18):
owned their, their propertyfor generations. In some cases it's
very simple to rent and it's,it's customary. It's actually much
more customary than owning.And for us, buying was possible.
A typical apartment that weare talking about is probably about

(10:42):
€500,000, something like that.But we felt it would tie up too much
of our capital to, to make itworthwhile. And for us, we're both
probably older than a lot ofyour, your interviewees and France
French banks won't loan you amortgage unless you are slated to

(11:06):
pay it off by the time youturn 75. Well, we arrived over that
age already, so it was eithercash on the barrel head or to rent.
And we chose to rent.
I think it's a wise choice.
We're very happy with that.
I think it's a wise choicemyself because even to purchase in,

(11:28):
in any country abroad has somuch different rules and regulations
than the US does. And it maynot be so simple to sell it also
if you had to.
Yeah. And in France that'sparticularly true where inheritance
law is extremely rigid. Youdon't get to leave your home to your

(11:51):
favorite nephew. It's already,the law already has parceled out
that home to all your childrenand Your ex wives and everybody else.
So it was to be avoided. Andreally we, in the year that we were

(12:12):
preparing to move, we rented atwo bedroom, two bathroom apartment
about the same size in FortLauderdale. And it was about 33,
3400amonth when we did that.And it's gone up since then, I'm

(12:34):
sure. But here we are paying€2,000amonth, €2,050amonth to be
exact. We pay about €150amonthfor Internet and two telephone lines,

(12:54):
cell phone lines. We. What else?
Electricity is, is electricity included?
No, we pay, we pay theelectricity and it's, we're, we pay
roughly about €60amonth forelectricity and we're not shy about
using because we, we'recomfort freaks and we need light

(13:19):
and phones and computers andall the rest.
So yeah, but 60 here, thatwould be. And we're in Phoenix, so
we'll never see 60. So the,maybe the least I've seen is 75 in
the winter when, you know, wedon't use any air conditioning, but

(13:39):
normally it's in the 200-8 orhigh 100s.
Well, we have two littleportable air conditioners, one for
our bedroom and one for aguest bedroom if we need it. And
so those during the hotweather, those are going every night
and that's our fee.Electricity bill includes that.

(14:04):
So. Got it, Got it. Okay, soin your case, yeah, it makes total
sense to rent, rent to play.So to me that's a good choice. Talk
a little bit about taxes forexpats. Taxes are always a hot topic

(14:24):
if you're an American retireegetting Social Security or pension
income, how does France handlethat? Are those benefits taxed or
are there treaties thatprotect them? Did you get tax credits
into the, on the US side? Andbeyond that, is there any wealth
or inheritance tax thatretirees should be aware of?

(14:46):
Not aware of any of those. AndI have to say right up front that
I am not a financial expert.That's not my area. Let's see, our
Social Security and myhusband's government pension come
into an American bank. They,we pay taxes in the US on all the,

(15:09):
all our income. That's USbased. And then we turn over our
documents to a guy here whotells us how much we need to pay
the French government. And sofar we have had to pay nothing. So
what the inner workings ofthat are, I don't know, but that's

(15:31):
the net result.
Okay, so yeah, differentcountries have different rules. So
you're saying that you fileyour U.S. taxes and whatever the
Balance is that you would oweFrance, you would pay that to France.
Whereas in Spain it's kind ofalmost the opposite. I think, I think

(15:55):
what happens in Spain is youpay Spanish taxes and whatever credits
you might have on your US taxbill, you get, you get credits and
you wind up paying nothing onyour US tax bill. So it's basically
the same.

(16:16):
Yeah. To be honest, we spentthree and a half months in Malaga
thinking about settling inSpain and by the end of that we realized
that it was going to be waytoo hot in the summer and that we
preferred the French healthcare system. So we, we decided on

(16:40):
France and to be closer to.Bob has two daughters in Paris with
their family. So.
Yeah, that makes sense.
It was a no brainer.
Definitely makes sense. Yep.So, yeah, we're going to be visiting
Malaga soon on our journey toSpain. We're going in October next
month and November. So Malagais like our, our last stop. So I'm

(17:07):
looking forward to seeing.
Yeah, it's a lovely city.
Yeah, I'm looking forward tomy Spain trip. Haven't been there
in 43 years.
So some things have changed.The ruins are still there. Yeah.
Yes. And I'm sure I've heardit, it's changed immensely. So let's

(17:30):
talk a little bit abouthealthcare in Montpellier. One of
the most important questionsis so how does the French system
work? Is it, I believe,believe it's called CART V and do
retirees have to pay into itto qualify? Is there the, is there

(17:51):
a public and a private andgive us an example of how much you
pay?
Yeah, sure. The first thing isthat you have to, I believe that
the French healthcare systemwill, will cover anyone who is in
France who needs medicaltreatment. But whether they get billed

(18:12):
or not is another question.But when you get your long stay visa,
which is a year long, youland, you register with the government
that you are landed and within90 days you are given a fairly cursory
medical exam to make sureyou're not bringing in tuberculosis

(18:36):
or who knows what else. Very,very straightforward. And once you
pass that, you present thatcertificate basically to the health
folks who then issue you acart vital. And you do not pay anything

(18:57):
into that. That is your cardthat you show when you get your prescriptions,
when you get treatment,everything. So it's, it's very simple
and you don't pay for any ofthat. Before I got my cart vital

(19:17):
in those first three monthsbecause I had had a heart event earlier
on, I needed to get a stresstest. And so we were in Toulouse
at the time, testing out thatcity. And I made the appointment
and the, the doctor, very nicelady, said, you know, do you have

(19:42):
a carte vital? I said, no. Oh.She shook her head and cast her eyes
down and said, I'm sorry,you're going to have to pay for it.
And I thought, well, I have topay for it. That's the way it is.
And I agreed, of course. Andshe administered the test and when

(20:04):
she was done, she presented mewith the bill, which was €176. So
a stress test in Florida wouldhave cost me $3,500 easily.
Yeah.
So we decided when we got ourcarte vital to also get what's called

(20:25):
a mutuelle, which is a privateinsurance policy that covers things
that aren't normally coveredby the carte vital, which is a fairly
short list. But we wanted tomake sure that we were covered. Gets
you a private room when you'rerecovering from surgery, that sort

(20:46):
of thing. And we got the. Thebest plan we could find was from
axa, which is a huge insurancecompany, global. And our cost is
about €270amonth for the twoof us. So that is our total out of

(21:10):
pocket expense. And my husbandand I have both had surgical procedures
since being here, for which wepaid nothing. I have, I'm being treated
right now for a recurrence ofcancer and that is costing me nothing.
It's. The healthcare system isunbelievably wonderful.

(21:35):
Can you explain to theaudience what the quality of care
is as compared to the U.S. youknow, in the U.S. the way the system
is, it's. It's pretty muchbroken that doctors spend 10 minutes
with you first you'll. Youwon't even get a doctor. If you're.
You're lucky. You get a doctorand then the doctor only spends minutes

(21:59):
with you after, you know,doing all the diagnostics or whatever.
Can you explain the differencein France's health care?
Based on my experience, whichis probably more extensive than.
Than some, sadly, but there itis. First you have to change the

(22:20):
paradigm of your expectations.In the U.S. certainly in Florida,
the first time I was treatedfor prostate cancer, I went to this
vast clinic with beautifulturquoise and peach pears and a swarm

(22:41):
of assistance running around.You know, it was a whole edifice.
So that doesn't exist really.In France, a cardiac surgeon's office
might be a single room, noassistance. It's you and the doctor,

(23:03):
and they take as long as theyneed to with you. And then if there's
any kind of payment for whatyou're doing, then you pay them directly.
They have a little credit cardmachine right on their desk along
with all their notes. So theoverhead is a tiny, tiny fraction

(23:25):
of what the industry standardis in the United States. And as I
say, you spend as much time asyou need to with a doctor. That first
time that when I reported forradiation therapy, I'd already had
the surgical procedure toprostatectomy and the doctor came

(23:47):
breezing in after hisassistant had basically covered everything.
But the doctor came in and hesaid, so when are you going to have
your prostate out? And I said,that happened two years ago. He said,
oh, oh, reset, reset. And I'mnot going to tell you the clinic

(24:09):
or the doctor's name. But hehad no clue as to who I was or why
I was there.
It happens often, unfortunately.
Unfortunately. And thehealthcare, the health insurance
policy that we had in theUnited States was fep, Blue Cross,

(24:31):
Blue Shield. So it was the topof the line policy. And yet this
was the kind of engagementthat we had. So I have how it works
here is you find a, a doctorto be your med centraton, your GP

(24:53):
doctor, and mine is about ablock and a half from my apartment
and I can make an appointmentwith her probably in 24 hours. I
have, I have a good rapportwith her and she's referred me to
all kinds of specialists asneeded for my situation. I don't

(25:17):
want to turn this into anorgan recital.
So I have a question though.Are your doctors English speaking
or do you speak French?
Yeah, that was the one thingthat I had to have was an English
speaking doctor because Ineeded to understand the lingo and
what was happening to me. Sothanks to the Brits being part of

(25:42):
the EU for a while, there's alot of English speaking done here
on the southern coast ofFrance, but I had to find that. So
I had my oncologist speaksEnglish not brilliantly, but adequately
and other specialists also,and my, my GP is fluent, so. So still

(26:09):
struggling with the language so.
Important you can communicate,you know, that's one of my fears.
If I move abroad to a countrythat I don't know the language. What
happens in an emergency? It'sbad enough here in the United States
in an emergency, you're goingcrazy and stressed out. I can't imagine

(26:32):
not being able to communicatewith someone in that kind of.
Situation so well to thatpoint. I think the first difference
between the United States andFrance is the mindset and the attitude
of the practitioners who maybe treating you in that Crisis, you

(26:53):
know, before someone loads youinto an ambulance in the United States,
they want to know whatinsurance you have. And you may be
taken to a different hospitalif you don't have the right insurance.
And you may not even get theright treatment if you don't have
the right insurance. And herethe mindset of the people who are

(27:17):
picking you up off thesidewalk or whatever they're doing
is to take care of you. Soisn't that terrible? Yeah, they take
care of you and ask questionslater. So it's usually fairly easily
sorted out. And there's alwayssomeone on staff who can provide

(27:39):
some translation. And I havefound Google Translate to be a huge
intercessor for me, justfinding the right term or raising
a question on the fly.
It's amazing. People care inplaces that. And money comes secondary

(28:00):
or money's not a much of afactor. It's your. It's your well
being.
Isn't that quite a different mindset?
Yeah. So, okay, state of theart. It sounds like it's. Do they
have up to date, state of theart equipment?
Sure. Montlier happens to havethe largest medical school in France,

(28:26):
and one of its majorspecialties is cardiac. There's.
I should move there.
And there's a separate clinicfor oncology. It's a huge network
of public and semi privateclinics where you can go to get treated.

(28:50):
But the university itself issomething like 50,000 students. And
I think the major portion ofthat is medical and has been for
a long time. That universitywas founded in 1200 and Nostradamus
was kicked out of medicalschool here for being too interested

(29:14):
in herbs and plants. Sothere's a long tradition of. But
still a long tradition ofcaring for people here.
So in comparison. So you'reliving in Montpellier now. If you
were living in the U.S. thecomparison, you feel a lot comfortable,

(29:36):
more comfortable and lessstressed living where you are now
as compared to the.
U.S. yeah, especially Florida,where, you know, the social contract.
We saw the social contractdeteriorating in 2021 when we finally
made our decision toimmigrate, and it just, it continued

(30:04):
to. To get worse. So we, wewere a standard couple. We lived
in Wilton Manors, which ispredominantly a gay neighborhood
city. We had a house, we had acar, blah, blah, blah. And it seemed
like we were always stretchedto complete the tasks that we had

(30:28):
in front of us here. We don'town a car. The public transit system
here is free for residents ofMontpellier. There are now five tram
lines plus a whole network ofbuses, and they're nothing like the
buses that we encountered insouthern Florida. They're punctual,

(30:53):
they. The whole nine yards.But what it was really interesting,
and this is kind of a sidecomment, when about a year after
we emigrated, I began torealize that I had been totally immersed

(31:17):
in the American view of itselfand the rest of the world. And as
I lived in Spain and France,that bubble started to thin and finally
popped. And I realized thatthere was so much more to the world

(31:41):
than what was going on in theUnited States. And that the stories
and myths that I had learnedas a student in the United States,
many of them just weren'ttrue. But all the rest were so lopsided
in favor of selfaggrandizement that I was just astonished.

(32:08):
But as I began to listen andlearn and converse with people here,
it became very clear that theworld is much larger, that there
is far more devotion tofreedom and the democratic ideal

(32:32):
than really has ever existedin the United States, which was always
built on the backs of thesuppressed. That's my interesting.
I'm not going to go fartherpolitically because that's probably
not what you want to do, but Ihave tipped my cards.
Yes, it gives us a good ideaof what life is outside of the US

(32:57):
let's put it that way. Andthat's a good segue into walkability
and transportation. SoMontpellier. Yeah. Gets high marks
for walkability. Can youreally stroll everywhere? Like to
the grocery, the market, thepharmacy, the butcher, the baker
and the candlestick maker?

(33:19):
I'm not sure aboutcandlesticks, but the rest resounding.
Yes. We have two generalgrocery stores within a 10 minute
walk. We have sadly becomebaguette snobs. And so we walk a
little farther to a bakeryboulangerie that we, that we love.

(33:42):
And that's probably a 12minute walk. Pharmacy is a five minute
walk. As I say, my doctor'soffice is a five minute walk. It's
in the same building actually.What else did we list there besides
candle maker?
Butcher.
A butcher. Yeah, there's, there's.

(34:04):
I, they don't have them in, inthe United States anymore. It's just
all supermarket.
Right. And we have massivesupermarkets too. They're, they're,
there's one, just one tramstop away from us. So that's a, that's
probably a six minute tramride. And they have a massive meat

(34:27):
department. We have a closerbutcher who is halal. And so no pork
of course, but everythingelse, including rabbit, which is
a frequent staple of Frenchcuisine. You can get just, you can
really get Anything you needat one of these massive shopping

(34:50):
centers or in a local shop.
Like, remember here in the USback in the day, they used to have
shoemakers. Do they have themlike cobblers still in Europe?
Yes, they do. And here inMontpellier, it's usually billed
as through repair, butthey're, they're usually middle kiosks

(35:15):
in a complex of otherstorefronts, usually close to a tabac
somewhere. And they, they'llfix your shoes in very promptly.
I wouldn't wear mine in andask them to, but I'd be prepared.
I kind of missed that. Youknow, it was like the neighborhood

(35:35):
grocery store and theneighborhood shoemaker. You know,
your heels or soles, you'dhave a hole in your soul. And you,
please put new heels and soleson now. I buy a pair of shoes, I
throw them out if they getworn out.
Here the mindset alsodifferent from the United States,

(35:58):
where use and throw away isstill very big. Here, if you can
repair it, that's preferable.And you, you have your shopping bags,
which you bring with you tothe store so that you can pack what
you've bought into your ownbags and bring them home.

(36:24):
And you mentioned, youmentioned the tram. So. And you said
it was free.
Yep. Free bus, free tram.These are. Montpellier has five lines
now, and our apartment sitsnear two of them. So it's incredibly

(36:46):
convenient. Yeah, but we canwalk to the downtown, the Ecuson,
which is the old city, inprobably 25 minutes. 20 minutes.
And oddly, with the weight forthe tram, it probably takes about

(37:08):
the same if you miss one.Otherwise it's 15. And what you do
is you, you, you prove yourresidence within the city. You go
into a municipal office andshow them your proof of residence.
Usually it's an electricalbill, utility bill, and they give

(37:31):
you an annual card which you,then you present whenever you're
asked for your fare, andthat's it. But we're asked for our
fare probably once every 25,30 trips.
That's great. That's great.Free transportation, clean, well

(37:54):
lit, another plus. And okay.Yeah, I can definitely deal with
that. Being a New Yorker andbeing. And grew up in Brooklyn, all
about walking and taking thesubway, you know, and transportation,
public transportation, eventhough New York City's public transportation

(38:16):
subways are not the best asfar as safety. But yeah, that's,
that's what I long for,because I don't.
Montpellier is a little small.It's. I don't know what the actual
population is. It's aboutmaybe between 2 and 500,000. Somewhere

(38:37):
in that range. So it's smallerthan Toulouse and Bordeaux. And the
tram lines do slow down atnight. I don't know when they actually
stop, but probably aroundmidnight. But we're ancient either
anyway, so we're home and inbed by midnight.
Yeah. So that's, that'sexcellent. How, how close is the

(39:00):
airport to you?
Actually, it's. It's probablya 15 minute cab ride.
Wow. Yeah. Can you take a tramto the airport?
No, you can't take a tram tothe airport, but you can take a tram
to either of the two majorrail stations. Because here rail

(39:23):
is the primary mode of transportation.
Right.
And I love the trains.
I can't wait. My trip to Spainis going to be train travel. So from
Madrid to Valencia, Valencia,Alicante, Alicante to Malaga, all
by train. I don't. I wouldn'tknow where the hell I'm going. But

(39:47):
we'll find a way.
Well, you'll be going northand south a lot in that because you
have to go back to Madrid togo somewhere else. Yeah, exactly.
Yep. Yes, sir. Okay, great.How about now? Let's zoom in on community.
The LGBTQ community. Iunderstand Montpellier is pretty

(40:08):
decent, or pretty. Has apretty large LGBTQ community. Are
there any clubs, centers forseniors? Is there pride events, Pride
parades, bar, gay bars,gayborhood meetups, or just different
ways for, you know, people toLGBT people to connect?

(40:32):
Yes, to all of that.Montpellier was one of the first
locations to perform same sexmarriages. The mayor of Montpellier
is gay. And the pride flagflies outside City hall as a permanent
fixture.
My place.
Yeah. The thing here, Mark,though, is that being gay is such

(40:57):
a non issue that there's noneed for a gayborhood. You're just
in the life and you're gay andthat's the end of the story.
That's the way it should be.
Yeah. One of our decidingelements when we were looking at
places to live was a communityof expats, English speaking expats

(41:23):
that we could connect with andrefer to. And as our immigration
process went forward, and thatgroup meets every Thursday for coffee
at a downtown square rightnext to the prefecture, actually.
And they're predominantlystraight, but there are now probably,

(41:48):
I'd say probably 14 or 16 gaymen in that and I. There are a bunch
of little things here. First,there was a, an organization here,
a social club called the bca,which stood originally for British

(42:09):
Cultural association, but withBritain's withdrawal from the eu,
they just changed it to bcaand they, they support and communicate
about any number ofactivities. Singing groups, patank,

(42:29):
travel, happy hours, the rest.And we've. I found myself in a. In
a singing group where I'm notthe only gay person out of about
20, and we have a great time.Includes karaoke, which is still

(42:51):
a stretch for me, but I have.I have performed karaoke, and I won't
say how well, but I've alsofound two writing groups. One is
bilingual, and it is basicallya group that gets together every
Saturday that you just sitdown and in the company of your colleagues,

(43:12):
you work on your project for acouple. Couple hours, two and a half
hours. The other is a critiquegroup, and that is purely English
speaking. And there's somereally accomplished writers in that,
so I enjoy their feedback. Andthere are a couple of beginning writers
as well, so we get toencourage and help develop as well.

(43:38):
That sounds great.
And we're about to. Just tofinish that, I guess. My husband
is a political creature, andhe is the stare for democrats abroad
in Montpellier. And they'rehaving the national conference next
month sometime. I kind ofsteer clear of a lot of it. But as.

(44:01):
As the group, the expat grouphas grown. He also wants to start
a strictly gay coffee group.So the women and men who are not
heteronormative have a placeto. Not a place to be safe, because
that's not the issue, but havea place to talk about things that

(44:22):
you don't talk about to yourstraight friends.
Correct. That's why I like gaybars, even though it's in places
that they say it's not needed.I also feel like I'm just. I could
be myself and I can talkfreely about, you know, common things
with others.

(44:42):
Yeah. And if my husband and Idrank, that would probably be a good
thing for us too. But, youknow, alcohol creates a particular
ambiance, and it's a very goodambiance for most people. It's. It's
not bad. But when you'reoutside that ambiance, you really

(45:04):
are energetically outside thatambiance. Even if you have. You're
clutching a glass of Perrier,it's just not the same. So we have.
And we have found others,photography exhibits and sports events
and just all kinds of things.So we're not lacking for ways to

(45:27):
commune, meet people.
That's great. And I'm gladthat you've kind of found your, you
know, your community there andhave made community. That's. That's
so important in moving abroadis finding your people and making
community. It's really, really Important.

(45:47):
Yeah. It's especiallyimportant for my husband, who is
very extrovert. And I'm not.I'm extremely the other way. And
I could happily become arecluse and not miss most of most
of what goes on. Although whenI do take part, I enjoy it.

(46:08):
You should friend me on Facebook.
90 minutes or 2 hours and thenI'm done.
He should friend me onFacebook. I, I, I'm in charge. I
add in quite a few groups,such as the where to gays retire
gay men 60 and better.
So I have, I'll, I'll look you up.

(46:29):
Yeah, I have quite a few. So.Okay, moving on. How about the arts
and culture scene inMontpellier? I know it's also a university
town, which means art, energy,and nightlife. What does it offer
culturally? Museums, livetheater, opera. Any festival.

(46:50):
Yes, to all of that. Yeah. Anda season, a classical season of the
orchestra. There's a beautifulconcert hall here which has replaced
the old opera house, which isornate and lovely and has decent
acoustics, but it doesn't seatas many as the new one. So you can

(47:14):
subscribe and, you know, gettickets to all, or you can cherry
pick. And that's just in theclassical scene. There's also a lot
of jazz and kind of not a cutor two above open mic, spontaneous
music. But there are placeswhere you can go and just have a

(47:36):
good time. And if you feellike getting up and, and singing,
you can do that or playing aninstrument. Visual arts. There are
some really lovely museumshere. The Musee Fabre is probably
the best known. It's a very,very finely curated museum. Art museum.

(48:00):
Let's see. The thing aboutMontpellier is that a lot of the
art just doesn't stay insidefour walls. There's a lot of wall
painting. There's somefabulous trompe l' oeil paintings
on buildings. There'swhimsical stuff with, you know, serpents
following downspouts. Bollardsthat are there to protect an area

(48:26):
from vehicle traffic are oftenpainted with googly eyes or something.
So.
So there's a sense of humorand spontaneity that I find very
nourishing because it doesn'ttake itself so damn seriously.
Yeah, that's nice. That'sreally nice. And did. Have you ever

(48:49):
attended live theater there?
No. Because most of it's gonnabe in French. Yeah. And I just can't
keep up.
Gotcha. Gotcha. Which we'lltalk about language in a little bit,
so. Okay. One of my favoritetopics is cuisine because I love
to eat, so tell us about foodalways tells us a story of a place.

(49:15):
What defines is it calledOctetan cuisine?
Occitan.
Yeah, Occitan. And are thereany standout restaurants that deserve
to be on our retirees much,much try, must try list?
I'm not the one to ask aboutthe high end restaurants because
I just don't have the patienceor the appetite for those things.

(49:42):
The regional cuisine has a lotof seafood. I've discovered how delicious
cuttlefish and squid can be.And I'm not crazy about how the French
cook beef it. They don't treatit with the same, certainly not the

(50:03):
same reverence as Americans.But you have duck, rabbit, veal,
pork, and of coursevegetarian. Most restaurants that
we go to, which are in kind ofthe middle range, always have vegan
or vegetarian options. Thefood that we like is unpretentious,

(50:30):
I guess. I, I'd say, you know,three green beans stacked in a teepee
is not our jam.
That's like, you know what? Itreminds me of it like, I grew up
in New York, so if we went toa French restaurant in New York,
I'd be like, oh, I'm going towalk out in there hungry because

(50:52):
it's such a small plate. Is itlike that in France?
No, no, the portions aresmaller. Definitely. You're not going
to get Cheesecake Factory orTexas Smokehouse portions of things.
But we go to a fancierrestaurant probably once or twice

(51:13):
a year or two, celebrate abirthday or something else. And the
portions are modest, but ifyou take your time with them, you
don't leave hungry. If you're,if you're into volume, there are
places where you can load up.But what we do is most of the time

(51:40):
we eat at home. So we eatexactly as much as we want of the
things that we like to eat.And duck has become one of our favorites,
a comfit canard, as they say.
And I'm sure the fruits andvegetables you purchase are much
fresher than anything thatI've tasted in the U.S. yeah.

(52:06):
Once a week we go down to anopen air, a giant open air market
to buy cheese and fresh fruitand vegetables and, and bread. It's,
it's amazing to go first offto see tubs and tubs of olives and
cooked food and cheese andvegetables. But the quality of the

(52:30):
produce is, it's seasonal, soyou're not going to get everything
all year long, but when it'sin season, you get it and it's delicious.
I don't think I ever tasted aripe pear Until I moved to France
and my eyes just about rolledback in my head. It was incredible.

(52:52):
Or figs, for example. Bobbrought me a bag full of. He doesn't
like them, but I adore them.And he brought me back a bag full.
And they're. They disappear intwo or three days. I'm.
Yeah.
So.
Yeah, so that's what I'mlooking forward to. Also to sample

(53:14):
Europe's fruits and vegetablesas well.
You can also get horse andtripe in the grocery stores, but
you may want to give that apass if you have philosophical. We've
never ventured that far and Idon't think we will. But there are
things there that you can buythat just aren't familiar foods to

(53:37):
North Americans.
Right. I definitely understandthat. Okay, so is it a ca. It's a
cafe culture too. Right.There's a bunch of cafes that you
could just sit and watchpeople watch and have a coffee and.
Yep. We love doing that.
I love that too.
And we love to. We actuallylove to meet our friends there rather

(54:00):
than entertaining at home,which is always a much bigger production
in a small kitchen. So we gosomeplace for drinks and tapas or
even a meal. Most of therestaurants in Montpellier have a
dedicated outdoor area throughthe winter. People will sit there

(54:24):
in their jackets if they'recold, but they'll still meet for
a beer and. And talk and bethere for as long as they want.
See, I love that.
Yeah.
Cafe culture. I think I belongthere in Europe. I don't know, it

(54:45):
just seems everything thatpeople talk about is like, oh, yeah,
I love that. I love that. Solet's talk a little bit about crime
and safety. I mean, I knowit's. Every city has its quirks.
How safe is Montpellier forwalking around both day and night,

(55:07):
Other neighborhoods orsituations that you tell people to
be a little bit more cautious?I'm sure every city there are. Yeah.
How does it rank as far as.Even in comparison to a city of its
size in the US that's aninteresting question.
Because the nature of thecrime, I think first off is different.

(55:29):
There's petty theft and that'sprobably the biggest thunk right
there. Aggressive crimes aremuch rarer here than they are in
the U.S. and of course,shootings are non existent because
you don't have guns.
Right. They don't allow guns.
Yeah, the. There are areas.And I have to say first off that

(55:55):
I've never been out at 2amdrunk on the sidewalk. So I present
a very different kind of riskthan perhaps what some people are
Talking about when someonestumbles out of a club and they,
they get their wallet lifted.

(56:16):
Right.
I've seen, I've seenpickpockets at work. I have seen
someone steal a trot net,which is those electric scooters
that you know. But other thanthat, we don't feel endangered at
all. We walk around hand inhand, we embrace, we kiss, we. It's

(56:43):
really not that big a deal. Soto your point, it took more deliberation
to hold hands in southernFlorida than it does here and to
just PDAs of whatever, kind of.

(57:03):
So do you feel, you feel safewalking home from a restaurant at,
let's say I don't know howlate people eat dinner, but let's
say 9, 10 o', clock, 11 o'clock in the evening, you feel safe?
Yes. And I would stick to thewell lit streets.

(57:25):
Okay. It's also using common sense.
Yeah. But if I felt unsafe, Iwould just call a cab. But I've never
called a cab in thosecircumstances. And we've, we've walked
a lot, missing a tram. And thenext one is 20 minutes. We're home

(57:46):
in 20 minutes, for heaven'ssake. So let's just keep walking.
Yeah. Yeah. And it's so, it'sso different here. I even remember
back when, back in the days,20, 30 years ago, working on Wall
street, coming back from on aFriday night, hanging out with, you
know, coworkers, coming homeand getting myself to the subway.

(58:11):
I always felt there might be athreat. You know, even, even here.
I live in Phoenix, but I liveacross the street from the light
rail. And unfortunately thatbrings some homeless people or people
that are not mentally, youknow, there. And it's always a concern.

(58:32):
I'm looking over my shoulder, so.
And there are unhomed orhomeless people here. To be honest,
they've never bothered me,never scared me. It's the ones who
have an agenda that havefrightened me from time to time.

(58:54):
Yeah. Yeah. At least they're not.
They're in their own worldsfor the most part. They may have.
The government is notgathering them up and putting them
somewhere.
No, there is no alligatorAlcatraz here.
Okay. So for the most part,safety is pretty much, you know,

(59:18):
petty theft, pickpocket. Youjust have to be aware of your surroundings
like you would be in any city.
You keep your bag zipped upand. Yeah, it's just common sense.
Yeah. Okay, now let's get tointo language. So that's okay. That's

(59:39):
a big one. For those whodidn't exactly Ace French in school
like me, even though I tookFrench instead of Spanish. How essential
is it to speak the language,to get by? Can you survive in English?
I'm sure you're surviving, butdo you really need to commit to learning
French to make friends orlocal friends and handle daily errands?

(01:00:06):
And the answer is yes, you doneed to commit to learning French.
You don't have to be, youknow, literary top notch Sorbonne
French, but you do need tocommunicate with people. And Bob
and I both started takinglessons when we first got here and

(01:00:29):
very quickly I found that itwas interfering with my ability to
write in English. And so whilehe's continued on with his French
lessons, I've taken a morepassive approach, just absorbing
the sounds and the phrases.And I can stumble around in a store,

(01:00:52):
I can ask for directions. Youknow, the main thing is to.
Try.
Because the imperiousAnglophile who just starts talking
in English is not going to getvery far. And so if you, if you say
bonjour and try and puttogether your question, they will

(01:01:17):
bend over backwards for you inthe grocery store or on the street.
It's really, it's really alive and let live relationship. So
long as you show respect. Ifyou show disrespect, then you're
not going to get very far.

(01:01:39):
I put myself in this position.I'm in the United States and English
is the language. If someonewere to come up to me speaking a
different language, I would belike, what are you talking about?
You know, so can you speakEnglish? So I definitely understand.
And you know, you being animmigrant or an expat, you know,

(01:02:03):
it's number one, it's, it'sreally not the country that you grew
up in. Have some respect. Andtry to communicate in their language
first. I would say bonjour, jene compa or je ne Paul pas.
And that helps. Desolate,meaning, I'm sorry, it helps, but

(01:02:28):
a few phrases just to kind ofset the stage really helps.
We. Okay, so yeah, it'simportant. I think it's important
wherever you are, in whatevercountry you're, you're living in,
if it's not your home country,to number one, it's very important

(01:02:49):
to learn the language. And ifyou ever were interested in a pathway
to citizenship, each of thosecountries require you to have a certain
level of language proficiency.
Yes.
Proficiency. In order to get it.
The bar is lowered for oldguys like me, but it's still there.

(01:03:11):
And language is the heart of aculture. And so you are never part
of the culture until you havesome rudimentary skills with the
language.
I agree.
Because joie de vivre is aphrase that describes something that
doesn't have a directequivalent in American English.

(01:03:37):
It means something to live.What is it?
The joy of life.
Joy of life.
That's the literaltranslation, but it's actually slightly
different from that. It's akind of effervescent sense of adventure
as well as joy of life. Sothere are a lot of pieces to it.

(01:03:58):
And there's a reason thesephrases develop in the language of
a particular culture. Becausethey relate to the culture.
Yeah. And I think French issuch a beautiful language in itself.
That's why I took it in inmiddle school, in junior high school,

(01:04:19):
and growing up, I was like,oh, I think French, it sounds so,
so beautiful. But I wasn'treally very well. Didn't do very
well in it. But I know myenditoire Casangsi said, we know
deep.
It's a start.
Yep. Okay, visas andresidency. Let's talk about a little

(01:04:42):
bit about the paperwork andwhat visa options there are for retirees,
specific retirement visas,long stay visas. And what type of
visa did you get? Did youhave. Do you have ancestors that
live in France? In France? No.
So are you on a long stay,long stay visa? Which is what we

(01:05:05):
applied for in 2022 and weapplied at the French Embassy in
Miami, and obviously that'sgood for a year. And you have to
prove that you have financialresources to sustain yourself so
that you're not a burden onthe state. I don't think there's

(01:05:25):
the equivalent Frenchequivalent to the golden visas that
some of the other countriesoffer. I just don't think it's there.
So we renew our visa annuallyuntil we have five years here, and

(01:05:45):
then when we apply, we get afive year visa. And then once we
have that, I think the nextstep is we can apply for citizenship
after 10 years.
Right.
Which I won't. I won't do. Ialready have two passports. It's
as many as I can handle.

(01:06:06):
Oh, wow. Where's the other one from?
Canada.
Oh, okay. Yeah, that's prettycool. So, okay, so citizenship is
in 10 years. After 10 yearresidence, you can apply.
And I think it's 10. If it'snot, it's. It maybe it's 15. Since

(01:06:31):
that's not a goal of mine, Ihaven't really scoped it out.
Okay. And they require youfor, at least for the first year
to apply for private healthcare?
No, no, that was totally our choice.
Oh, really?
Yeah. Carte vital is availableto all. I think the financial requirement

(01:06:55):
is something like €1400amonthfor a person, which is not a lot.
No, because the cost of livinghere is not huge. Cost of food, cost
of utilities, cost of anapartment. Much less than in the

(01:07:17):
U.S. do.
You know if they offer, likesome countries say there's a main
applicant and then a spouse.So there's a spouse. Have to prove
less income for the month.
I don't know. Even though Boband I are married. Got married in

(01:07:40):
Canada in 2007. We. We appliedfor our visas separately. So we each
have a carte de sejour. It'scalled a stay visa, and we apply
for renewals separately. Andwe. But we do use our joint finances

(01:08:02):
as the resource, thebackground documentation for that.
Now, besides the. And I'm surethat France also has a digital nomad
visa.
You know, I don't think itdoes. You can, you have to, you can.
Anyone can come for 90 daysand then they have. There's a limit

(01:08:28):
of 180 days a year that youcan be there, but it can't be back
to back within the Schengendistrict. So now you could go to
England or something. A couplefriends of mine are digital nomads
and they've been at it foryears now. And I think right now

(01:08:51):
they're in Taipei. So they,they just go.
Oh, was that.
Yes, probably.
Yeah, I know.
Okay. Michael Jensen and, and,and Brent. Brent Hartinger. Yeah,
I've known them for years.
So yeah, they.

(01:09:11):
Since they were in Seattle.
Yeah, yeah, they were on myshow, too.
Cool.
Okay. It's a small world. Soyou know what? I was also thinking
about banking. Do you have abank in France or.
Yes.
Okay.
Yes. And here's how it works.You can't get a bank account without

(01:09:33):
a lease, and you can't get alease without. You have to prove
residency somewhere before youcan get a bank account. And you can't
get an apartment lease withouta utility bill. And you can't get

(01:09:55):
a utility bill until you getan apartment. So it's. Right. Right.
There is a huge obstacle. Butfortunately we worked with a relocation
company. They helped us get anaddress and we leased our apartment
through them. And then we gotutilities. And then finally we got

(01:10:17):
a. We got a bank. And onewrinkle in the French banking system
is that they don't really liketo give you a credit card. They give
you a debit card. And soeverything is instantly taken out
of your account when you buyit and works really well for us.

(01:10:38):
It's very progressive. Youknow, it's just the tap and read
thing everywhere, restaurants,grocery stores.
And I think that's howbasically it works in Europe. And
the good part of that is Ibelieve that for every tap or however
you pay, it never reads youractual account number. Like there's

(01:11:03):
a token or something in between.
Like, yeah, there's an inter.
Intervening ID that can'treally be, you know, messed with.
Fraudulent. Fraudulently.
So, yeah, that we've hadabsolutely no trouble with our French
bank with our card once. Andthis is the thing about France in

(01:11:30):
a, in a nutshell, really, isthe requirements are all quite rigid.
Everything is highly defined,and getting into the system is the
biggest challenge.
Right.
Once you're in, you're in andeverything runs on its little rails
and you get your renewalsonline and you do your banking online.

(01:11:58):
We haven't been to our bank inmonths. No reason to.
Do you transfer funds fromyour US to your French via, like
wise, or.
We can do it via wise, butabout a year, year and a half ago,
we decided that we would getBob's government pension transferred

(01:12:22):
directly. And so that happensmonthly. And that's basically what
we live on. If we need more,we can always scoop it out of our
American bank account.
That's interesting. So, okay,a direct deposit into your French
bank without doing the transfer.

(01:12:43):
Without a punitive exchangerate too. Because the banks don't.
They do charge, you know,they, they have a little slice, but
it's nothing like the, thecredit card exchange rates, which
are usurious.
Yeah. Unless you have like afree international charged credit

(01:13:05):
card.
I don't.
So that's interesting. So youtrans. The direct deposit comes from
the US and your French bankautomatically converts it to euro
and euros.
Yep.
And so you don't even see.
And that just as a, as a wordfor prospective immigrants, in the

(01:13:29):
last eight or nine months, thedollar has depreciated against the
euro by about 14%.
Yeah, it's 15. So it's 85 yesterday.
Yeah. So be prepared for alittle sting there.
So that's a big problem.
But that's not the Frenchbank's problem.

(01:13:49):
Right. That's another thing.That's a US problem devaluing the
dollar because of what's goingon. But yeah, that was another factor
that I looked at. I said, whenI try to figure all these things
out and costs overseas, I alsoincluded FX foreign exchange, you

(01:14:14):
know, in there that the euroto the dollar is 85 cents on a dollar,
so.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Too good.
And a wise. Wise accountreally helps. Yes, because it's essentially
another bank, an online bank,and you can do an amazing amount
of your grunt work through that.

(01:14:37):
In fact, I do. Yeah. Have awise account, and I've already converted
some way back a couple ofmonths ago from US Dollars to euros.
I figured, why not?
Yeah. If that's where you're headed.
Yeah. So. Okay. So thecommunity feel and lifestyle, what

(01:15:02):
is it? Does it feel like acozy town, a bustling city? A little
bit of both, yeah.
It's not a bustling city. It'sa happy, carefree university town
with a lot more going for itthan a standard university town.
So it's not as seasonal as auniversity town. But one of the things

(01:15:27):
I love most about Montpellieris that it doesn't take itself too
seriously. And so there's thislightness, fun, loving atmosphere
to the city that is. It'sreally nourishing. It's very supportive.
It sounds. It sounds lovely.Someplace that I would love to visit

(01:15:50):
one day.
Well, do you?
Yeah. Now that I'm retired.
Yeah.
I just retired last November,so I'm trying to catch up. It's not.
You know, there's a lot. A lotof catching up to do, so. And locals.
How about the locals treatingforeigners or expats? Is that a problem

(01:16:15):
at all?
I don't see it. But I'mpretty. I don't push myself out a
lot, so I'm not making a lotof noise. And I'm not saying. You
got any of that pink wine here?
Yeah.
Wouldn't go well. Wouldn't gowell. But the. I think they accepted

(01:16:40):
it basically as a fact oflife. And, you know, it is. It is
a. Represents a revenuestream. So the economy is strong.
The. The expat community issubstantial, and there's a lot of
integration. Like the. Thesinging group that I'm part of, it's.

(01:17:00):
There are Francophones as wellas Anglophones in it, and so we trade
off singing different songs.And if that's any representation
of a. A basic acceptance, thenI'd say we're home and dry.
Sounds good. Sounds good.Because when things heat up, especially

(01:17:24):
politically, you know,marginalized groups are the first
one to get picked on, such asimmigrants. So that always concerns
me that if I moved to anothercountry, will I. Now that I'm the
immigrant, will that affect mein any way? So that's important.
Yeah.
In the back of your mind, to.

(01:17:44):
Be blunt about it, I don'tthink white immigrants would be the
first hit. It would be AfricanAnd Arab immigrants. And there's
been long standing tensionthere anyway, so. And Marine Le Pen,
who is the right wingpolitician, has fanned the flames

(01:18:06):
of immigration. And of course,when she says immigrants, she means
people with not white skin.
Got it. Yeah. All right.
But you'll see a huge rangeof. Of skin color here, so that's.
That's not an issue.
Yeah, got it. Okay. Inclosing, Lloyd, this has been amazing.

(01:18:28):
Before we wrap up, are thereany words of wisdom you'd like for
our listeners to know about orif they're considering a move to
Montpellier?
Yeah. From some of our friendsback in Canada and the U.S. we've
got the message, oh, you areso brave doing this. It's such a
huge move. And. Yeah, it is.But don't be overwhelmed by the move.

(01:18:55):
Just take it in little chunksand lay the groundwork carefully
and work with someone incountry if you. If you want to. Not
everybody wants to do that,but represents. It's. For me, it
represented a kind ofliberation that I didn't know I needed.

(01:19:17):
And it's shown up in mywriting. It's shown up in my relationships
with other people. It's shownup in my intellectual life. And I
wouldn't trade that for the world.
That's great. What was thatone thing, that catalyst that you
were. What was the last placeyou were in? Wilton Manors, was it.

(01:19:43):
What was the deciding factorthat said, you know what? We're going
to move to France, we're goingto move to Montpellier?
Okay. Well, we didn't know wewere going to move to Montpellier
right away. We tried a numberof cities and landed in Montpellier
eventually. But there were acouple of factors. First, the political,

(01:20:05):
social, political environmentof Florida was an issue. Our house
was six feet above sea level.So climate change was a factor. And
we realized that we were atthe stage of life where we couldn't

(01:20:26):
maintain a large house with abackyard full of over 250 orchids
indefinitely. We were slowingdown physically. So we decided that
before we could, before wecouldn't move, we should. And we

(01:20:49):
looked to Europe because herea basic social contract with citizens
is not an issue. Abortion isnot an issue. Being queer is not
an issue. Those are allprotected rights that are now obviously
being eroded in the US andhere. Someone could try to take a

(01:21:14):
dent, put a dent in them, butthey'll not get far because the EU
is a network of countries thateach political system doesn't control.
So it's a family of countries.And that, I think, is our greatest
safeguard.
And those rights are.

(01:21:36):
They're written in. They're inthe constitution.
Constitution of the country ofthe of the eu, individual of the
eu as well as.
And then every per everycountry that joins the EU or is a
member of the EU mustsubscribe to those.
Got it.

(01:21:56):
So there we have it.
Sounds more united than I'mnot going to say it.
Yep.
Yep. All right. With that,Lloyd, thank you so much for sharing
your experience and insight. Iknow our listeners are going to walk
away with a much clearerpicture of what retirement life looks

(01:22:16):
like in Montpellier. Idefinitely will myself. And to our
audience, thank you for tuningin to the where to Gaze Retire Podcast.
And if you enjoyed thisepisode, don't forget to subscribe
to it. Leave us a review andshare it with a friend. It's always
great to get reviews, and themore reviews we get, the more that

(01:22:37):
I get ratings and more peoplelisten to the podcast. So stay curious,
stay connected, and stayproud, everyone. We'll see you on
the next one. Bye Bye, Lloyd.
Bye. Thank you for listeningto the Where Do Gays Retire Podcast.
If you enjoyed today'sepisode, please subscribe. Subscribe

(01:22:58):
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Discover the Mediterranean Gem for LGBTQ Retirees: Montpellier! - With Lloyd Meeker

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Discover the Mediterranean Gem for LGBTQ Retirees: Montpellier! - With Lloyd Meeker