One of my best friends from the Easy French School in Montpellier is called Chris and he’s a New Yorker. We became good friends when I moved to the B2 level on my intensive French
immersion course for adults in Montpellier. His parents had moved to the big apple before he was born and they originate from the Dominican Republic. Chris was well on his way to being trilingual as his parents had raised him speaking both English and Spanish and he had committed to a 6 month language stay in France. He already had a good start with it before he arrived so he was likely to be at a high level by the end of it.
Chris was a hard worker and that’s how we became friends as I wanted to find students at the Easy French Language School in France who wanted to only speak in French outside of our
French immersion classes. Chris is seriously motivated as he is working as an interpreter and taking on French would dramatically improve his prospects so not only is he doing the intensive French immersion course he is doing the DALF preparation as well.
He’s also got a taste for the finer things too and we are always looking for interesting bars to try out in Montpellier; places where we can get some craft beers, nice wine or in this case
rum! I used to work in the drinks trade in the UK and I became very fond of the spirit and it’s particularly popular with my family at Christmas time. There’s even some types of rum that
are so thick they can be poured over ice cream which is just what you need after a turkey dinner.
I was pretty excited when Chris told me about Rhum Runner. If you hadn’t guessed it’s a specialist bar in the centre of Montpellier, it has many types of drinks available but the vast
majority are straight versions of rum or cocktails where it is the primary ingredient.
Rhum Runner in Central Montpellier
The bar is just around the corner from the beautiful Square Dominique in central Montpellier so it’s not too far away from the Easy French School or the Place de la Comedie. If you are staying at the residence like Chris is it’s just a 10 minute walk through the quintessential Montpellierian streets to get there past the Arc de triumphe and lots of other gorgeous architecture.
The inside of the bar looks like a classy Caribbean hut and is entirely covered in a lovely varnished wood with all of the kooky looking bottles lining the walls. The cups they serve the
cocktails in are brilliant too and are beautifully carved out of wood or clay into interesting designs like the heads of Easter Island.
It is quite a small place so it’s very intimate and the barman will be well and truly involved in the evening. That’s the idea, they will talk to about the different rums show you how they
make the cocktails and generally keep you entertained throughout the evening.
When me and Chris went one evening after our intensive French immersion classes in France were finished for the day we had a fantastic and unique night. I knew a little bit about the process of rum making and Chris didn’t know much and the staff were very good and balancing the level of technical information so we weren’t over-loaded and could most importantly just enjoy the rum.
If you want something a little extra special one night during your French language stay in Montpellier then this is well worth a visit. You will learn something new and taste some
delicious drinks in the process. Just don’t have too many, rum is a powerful potion and you’ll need a clear head for your next day at the Easy French Immersion School in the South of France.