Toulouse (of Lautrec fame)

After the open spaces and almost white limestone architecture of Bordeaux we arrived in Toulouse to find red bricks and pink stone everywhere. Again some very large buildings and lots of lively squares. However the biggest difference was that there were people everywhere in the city. We have been very surprised about the lack of people and activity in some of the big cities.

I'm including this photo as it it the world's most understated
 McDonald's store. They must  have strict rules here!

Of course we had arrived on the Saturday of a long weekend which explained the holiday spirit. The Monday public holiday was equivalent to our Labour Day. The lady in the Tourist Office said all workers would be on holiday and everything would be closed and we weren't sure how to interpret that exactly ....but most importantly she told us the Boulangeries (bakeries) wouldn't be open. Ye Gods!!!!! How could the French possibly survive without their daily baguettes.


After spending our first afternoon getting oriented to the old city we realised we would have to cover quite a few attractions in one day, as on Monday all of the museums, art galleries etc would be closed.

Ewan decided to take himself off to the Aeroscopia (Aeronautical Museum) and perhaps the Airbus factory for the day. so he can tell you about that.
Tempted though Liz and I were (!) we decided to check out the galleries, cloisters and some other interesting attractions (that's another way of saying going shopping!).We had purchased a tourist pass for a day which meant free entry to all of the places we wanted to visit, and free public transport so we set a route based on a checklist to get to everything!

We set off in beautiful sunshine, although the weather forecast predicted rain and thunderstorms. The route looked like this:

1. Fondation Bemberg, a magnificent private mansion built in the mid 16th Century and filled with furniture, objects and paintings. Quite a diverse collection and very enjoyable.

Degas: my favourite!

Henri de Toulouse Lautrec - I couldn't resist! 

2. Musee des Augustins - Musee des Beaux Arts, with an extensive collection of medieval sculptures and paintings up to the 19th Century. It is all housed in a gorgeous red brick 14th Century Augustins convent complete with cloisters and a row of gargoyles

It had an astonishing display of capitals from the top of pillars which was great as these are the part of the architecture you never get to see up close. Most of them tell interesting stories so we spent some time wandering around them admiring the detail and craftsmanship you never see..

3, Couvent des Jacobins. This was the former monastery of the Dominican friars commenced in the 13th century and famous for it's palm tree decorations in the gothic arches of the church. The cloisters were beautiful and the inner space filled with fruit trees and gardens. A small chapel had some 14th Century frescoes.

This delightful guy who was working on the restorations of an old chapel decided to add to my photo of this statue:
very funny!

Whilst being impressed with the age of many of these beautifully restored buildings and the artwork they contained, it was time for something slightly more modern!

But first it was time for sustenance and coffee specifically,. We found a cute cafe near the Pont Neuf over the Garonne River (Liano Cafe) and ordered salmon lasagne, which was enormous, and we were thankful that we were doing lots of exercise!

So it was over the windy bridge, watching the families and couples enjoying the sunshine, to the next stop on our schedule.

4. Les Abattoirs. This is a museum of modern and contemporary art set in - not surprisingly! - an old red brick abattoir building. There was a lot of different artists and medias included, some of them part of an exhibition from the Pompidou Centre 40th Birthday celebrations. As usual some of it we hated and some of it we loved and some of it was just weird...but each to their own when it comes to modern art!

Old coffee grinders in case you're wondering!

To our dismay when we emerged into the outdoors it had been raining, so the weather forecasters were right. Fortunately it was dry as we made our way to the last stop for the day so our checklist was complete.

5. Le Chateau d'eau. A restored  (I know...another old building!) tower which was probably an old mill judging by the size of the water wheel it contained. It specialises in photography exhibitions and is very small. As the weather worsened we strolled around inside enjoying the exhibitions.

When we finally emerged, the wind was fierce so we decided to hurtle ourselves across the very windy Bridge before the rain started again. We moved fast, I can tell you, but managed to get to the Metro station and home without being blown away or getting wet.
We have been trying to convince ourselves that the weather will be warmer as we head south, but it's a bit erratic. Most days it is very sunny but still with a cold wind, so we are looking forward to warmer climes.

We did discover in our travels that NONE of the shops are open on Sundays so that put paid to our ideas about ending the day with a bit of leisurely shopping.

After our very busy day we had a home-cooked meal in the apartment and early to bed!

(NB the apartment was in an 'aparthotel' so it had a lift (!) and no beams or angled walls for us to run into. Phew!)

Monday 1st May
Having experienced a complete close down of everything on Easter Monday we were a bit worried about what we would do for a day whilst all of the workers had a day off. The Victor Hugo Market was open so off we went to stock up on food for the day. It appeared that not everything was closed but the one thing we did need - the Metro -was closed. We arrived at our local station to find it blocked by a gate complete with huge padlock!

It was back to the car and to the market where we bought Dauphinoise potatoes ( an essential for Liz) chicken with lemon casserole, ham, jambon, very good coffee and lots of other delicacies. Stocked up it was back home via a very circuitous route because we came across the May Day parade barring our way.

Watched by police kitted up in riot gear ( no photos as I didn't wan't to get arrested!) hundreds of people paraded down one of the main streets representing various Unions and the Communist Party and all sorts of radical organisations. The problem was our car was on the other side of the Parade and the route home was to go down the street they were using.

After negotiating all of that we went home so we could have lunch, I could do the washing and Liz could spend a few hours swearing at the French railways website which kept crashing just as she was booking her trip to Barcelona next week.

Once she had success (thank heavens!) we decided a trip to the Jardins de Plantes and the Royal gardens next door would help her stress levels. So we spent a couple of hours wandering around trying not to get in the way of too many tiny French kids on very small bikes and scooters letting off steam.

To our surprise there were chooks wandering around the very lovely gardens.

We were pondering on the meaning of a war memorial that looked very recent but actually had the words 'barbaric Nazis' in its description when a delightful older French man came to explain it to us in fluent fast French. He didn't seem phased at all that we didn't understand most of what he said, but just kept passionately describing the memorial in detail. We think it was a memorial to those who died in the resistance from 1940-1944 and whose participation had been inaugurated in the this memorial only a few years ago. It was very kind of him to try and help us understand  and he clearly was very passionate about it. There are a lot of war memorials in France as there are in Australia. The difference is that many of them are for the many civilians who died here, as members of the Resistance or innocent victims of war. lest we forget.

Home to our meal from the market and packing as we head off again in the morning.

your cultured and relaxed correspondent,

Dianne

PS : Ewan says that if you want to look at the photos in a larger size then just tap on one and all of them should be able to be seen more clearly, one at a time.