The band entertaining the open air dinner last night played until after midnight. We could hear the music even with the window closed, and it was rather nice going to sleep listening to it.
On Sunday morning we were on the road by 9am for the trip to Toulouse. Even though we have lived on and off in Ceret for a dozen years, we have never managed to get to Toulouse, which is only a little over two hours drive away. It was one of the reasons we decided to choose our flight to Amsterdam to be from Toulouse.
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| The Toulouse/Carcassonne region is famous for its cassoulet dish, mostly beans |
We made good time on the road and arrived before lunchtime. John had found a carpark on the outskirts of town where parking was free and with tram and bus stops very close by. It was pretty easy to jump on the tram for the 20 minute ride to the centre of the city. Instead of connecting with a bus we opted to walk the few kilometres over the Neuf Pont bridge and into the central area. It was Sunday, and therefore all the shops were closed and it was incredibly quiet with very little traffic. People were strolling or cycling around, perhaps having lunch in a restaurant, but it seemed far quieter than even Perpignan on a Sunday.
Toulouse is a very old city, with one of the oldest universities in Europe (founded in the early 1200s). Very old buildings are everywhere in the central area, some with very bowed floor beams which have progressively warped during the centuries. We were surprised to find many of the inner streets were quite wide, and much of the central area had quite an open and spacious feel to it. We grabbed a pastry and kept walking because the weather forecast was for heavy rain later in the afternoon and we weren't keen to get caught in it.
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| Inside a small local market we came across. People were stopping to have a drink while they selected their cuts of meat, fish or cheese |
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| Note the drooping first floor beam on the orange building |
A change in the wind and drop in temperatures around 3pm ensured we walked faster, completed the walking tour that had taken us past a number of the inner city sights, and then hotfooted to the closest bus stop. The public transport network is highly efficient, and we were soon set down at the curbside virtually beside where we had parked the car.
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| Cathedral Saint-Etienne - a joining of two separate churches. A major column sits right in the middle. |
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| Place du Capitole - the main square in Toulouse |
Of course we are greatly looking forward to tomorrow and seeing Alastair and Sophie. They fly into Amsterdam about midday and we arrive at 1.30pm. Chatting with them online, they are pretty exhausted from a very busy few weeks in San Francisco. They have just spent the weekend in Milan, where Sophie had been charged with organising bachelorette activities for a friend's upcoming wedding. The wedding itself is scheduled for next weekend in Portofino. They are stuffed and are very keen to have a quietly paced few days in Amsterdam. That is why they elected to book four days there between the wedding events. John and I are very keen to do the same. Instead of rushing around to see swarms of tourist sights, all four of us would much prefer to just spend a lot of time catching up with each other over a few meals, drinks, coffees and so on. A boat cruise on one of the canals and the odd museum are likely to be thrown into the mix but will be weather dependent. The forecast is for sun on Tuesday but rain all Wednesday.
