Toulouse

Toulouse

29 April on

Since Toulouse is where Chris is based, it is a city that I will be returning to while he is figuring out how to extend his stay here. I am not so much a tourist as a person being gradually shown the city. I’ve spent time in Alerte Rouge and Interlude, two internet cafes, where the price of a coffee entitles you to use their wifi system. I’ve checked out the Musée des Augustins, where I was enchanted by their efforts to recreate a monastic garden in the cloister. There is also a great collection of Romanesque sculptures.

And a whole lot of artwork that I haven’t yet seen. I’ve poked my head into the cathedral and St Sernin but will wait for Chris to be with me before I spend time there. I’ve mastered the bus and metro combinations from the Hangartners place to various destinations in the city, and eaten a kebab meal, one of Chris’s occasional staples and certainly a staple of Toulousain life. I’ve walked along the canal to get to Chris’s place, a very pleasant stroll, and eaten very passable, self-assembled lunches there.

Ramassiers, where I am based, is a metro trip and either a bus or train trip out of Toulouse. The train station is about 15 minutes away from the house and in an area that has not yet been developed, though they are working on the station car park and there are some partly completed apartment blocks beyond that. Great that the new residents will actually have transport before they move in. The trains that link in with the Metro about 4 or 5 stations further on are very smart and comfortable.

Chris and I have done a number of walks around the city, though there is still plenty of choice. We walked alongside the edge of the Garonne the other day and around the island – a real nature walk there.

The Pont Neuf is fantastic. Begun in 1544, it is the only bridge which survived the 1875 flood, which came up to the top of its arches. It has all sorts of interesting features. The water flow is first broken by the usual diamond-shaped bits around the piles (anyone know what they are really called? In French, un bec à piles) . But then, if the water gets really high, it can still flow through holes that conveniently take the pressure off the upper part of the structure. There is also a short channel which I imagine would take extra back flow in case of flood, and this can be closed off from the city by a large lock-style gate. Really impressive.

More photos at

http://picasaweb.google.com/101628277989220379025/Toulouse

Double-click to enlarge the ones in the blog.