The city of Nimes, etc.

It has been 4 days since I arrived in Montpellier and I still had not found a gym to workout in, this may not seem like a huge problem to most people but I cannot stand not being able to get to a gym of some sort in order to get a workout in.  So to alleviate the problem I went to the tourism office and got a list of gyms throughout the city that I may be interested in.  Initially the lady sent me on a wild goose chase to a part of the city that was supposed to have a very nice gym, but in term ended up having no gym in sight.  Even a nice old french lady who tried to help me find it had no idea where it could be.  That aside I got home and showed the list to my "french mother" who noticed that one was pretty close to her house.  We then drove over to the gym to check it out and see how much it cost to get a membership...this is where it all goes terribly wrong!  From the outside the gym looks nice, small but nice.  But as soon as I walked up the stairs and opened the door it all hit me like a smack in the face...the entire gym smelled of body odor, sweat, and just plain people who have not showered in what smelt like a long time.  It was unavoidable, no matter what part of the gym you were in the smell was there!  I don't understand why the French, who I love very much as a people, feel it is necessary to not bathe themselves once a day or at least when they start to smell.  Is it a fad or a new trend of some sort? Because if it is, it is not a cool trend at all!  How is smelling like shit ever considered cool or normal for that matter?  Congratulations you smell like you live on the street...your in style!  And to top it all off, there were two grown men in "cat suits" aka tight spandex shorts and tops, with ipods on dancing like two men shouldn't be dancing in the middle of a work out...or at all for that matter.  They were loving it too!  At this point if I did not already know that this specific gym was not for me...i did now.  Good news is i have found another gym that is relatively close to my house that I am staying in and is a lot cheaper and less smelly than the first one, so the problem is resolved.  On a better note, today my class and I took a day trip to Nimes, which is a town about 25 minutes from Montpellier by train.  We went on a guided tour of a Roman coliseum as well as a temple.  We also walked around the town quite a bit too with the extra time we had.  In fact a few girls and I came across a very big and very beautiful garden just outside of the center of town that extended up to an old tower now used as tourist attraction where you can see a panoramic view of the city of Nimes.  We paid the 3 euro it cost to climb to the top and believe me it was all worth it!  The view was spectacular as you could see for miles and miles in all directions just about.  This was by far the best part of the trip and I am fortunate that I came across it.  I even managed to have a quick conversation with some Brits at the top about our new President Barack Obama, who they love and are excited for as well!