Blogs from Toulouse, Midi-Pyrénées, France, Europe
Off Travelling Again and very excited!
Published: March 3rd 2012Europe » France » Midi-Pyrénées » Toulouse
March 3rd 2012
Hi there - It's me again. We are off on our travels again tomorrow and am soooo excited!! Some people have asked me to do this again and I should imagine there's others who are thinking - Oh Noooo - not again! So to those I am sorry but you can always ignore me - I wont mind and I wont know!!! We set off tomorrow morning on our way to Santiago in Chile. We are flying via Heathrow and are very much looking forward to meeting up with the boys for a lunch in London before continuing on our way. It's an overnight flight going by Sao Paulo which will take eleven and a half hours and then changing there and onward to Santiago - another five and a half hour trip. I am not ... read more
February 15th 2012
"There are years that ask questions and there are years that answer." -Zora Neal Hurston I had thought this would be the latter kind, but I'm discovering that clarity is elusive and doubt sets in like a fungus: always beneath the surface, ready with new tendrils. I can't say what exactly has me locked in this self-reflection mode but it's a difficult trap to spring. Maybe it's the fact that what my trip is and what I had expected it to be do not coincide; that change comes so unexpectedly that any reaction feels dreadfully belated; or that what I had hoped to find here, knowing in my heart I wouldn't, is indeed absent or fleeting. This is not a post about a place I've been to see. This is catharsis. I recently met someone on ... read more
Toulouse and my own failed pilgrimage
Published: February 15th 2012Europe » France » Midi-Pyrénées » Toulouse
February 15th 2012
Ok people, as I promised in the last posting, we are back to sailing the blue, happy waters of France and will be avoiding the dark abyss of my self-analysis. So, grab a friend, grab yourself, or grab whatever, because here we go... From windy Narbonne I jumped on a rickety old train and landed myself smack-dab in the middle of snowy Toulouse. There's no taste of home like the sharp, icy prick of winter air that burns your lungs and freezes your lips so that you can't feel the snot dripping out of your nose. My hostel happened to be out in the bum-stink part of town, about seven metro stops away from the station. My least favorite part of traveling is the time spent on the metro with the great big pack on your ... read more
October 3rd 2011
Voyage en velo Nort Sur Erdre, France - Guadix, Spain, which started on the date of 11/09/11, barely keeping in itself the smallest part of symbolism. The first part of the trip is done - by the 29th Sep, we made it to Toulouse. 17 days of biking have taken us through almost 900 km, sliding places and faces some of which will remain in the memory much longer than the others. Now that I'm trying to recall the fragments, let me flashback for a moment. Day 1, Nort-sur-Erdre – Bouaye , 42.5 km, 3.5 hours Day 2, Bouaye – Prefailles , 54.5 km, 7 hr. Early morning of the 11th September in Blanchetière - Amandine's Father's house. Woken up and discouraged by the rain. Still not packed. Shambles. Excitement about something we've been waiting for ... read more
August 2nd 2011
Continuing from last blog: We're just back from five glorious days in the South of France; a perfect trip, staying with our very good friends who have recently relocated there from Christchurch, New Zealand. The sun shone every day, in fact it became almost unbearably hot most days and any shade, however small, was most welcome! We were based in Corbarieu but our wonderful hosts and tour guides ensured we had an amazing snapshot of the wider area: Montauban, Bruniquel, Cordes, Albi and Toulouse. The scenery was splendid - fields of tall yellow sunflowers, rolling green meadows and valleys, and terracotta-colured rooftops and cathedral spires dotted throughout in the numerous small towns and villages. The drive to Bruniquel, Cordes and Albi in particular was spectacular, with sweeping views across open countryside, making you want to reach ... read more
June 29th 2011
Toulouse was our third and final day trip away. This time we didn’t have mum as she went to London to be with Rhonda while she had some nervous tests done to figure out the reason behind her weird eye. Toulouse didn’t really have any tourist sights to see so the whole day was basically spent shopping. The train trip was good, it was only a few hours and we didn’t have any difficulties. When we got there we went to find the tourism office where we got a map of the city and got shown the main shopping streets. All the shops were having their annual end of season sales which was good although I didn’t end up buying anything. The weather was quite cold which is a change from what we’re now used to. ... read more
Toulouse and a couple days in the Basque country
Published: June 24th 2011Europe » France » Midi-Pyrénées » Toulouse
June 14th 2011
Villa De Rose, Toulouse is a great city, full of student life, art and music. Its called the pink city and at sunset it glows the warmest color a city ever could. I stayed with Anne, we met in La Paz a couple years ago and spent a lot of time talking through our language barrier and getting to know each other. I was stoked that we kept in touch and we got to hang out when I came to town, and to have an awesome place to crash! Thanks Anne! Anne took me for a road trip to the Basque country for a day to hang out with Emmanuel and his family. I was treated very warmly and was even called uncle. We had a great lunch by the beach then went swimming, my first ... read more
May 23rd 2011
Cette fois-ci, c'est en train que nous nous sommes déplacés. Notre hôtel, très bien situé au centre-ville, n'était qu'à quelques minutes de la gare ferroviaire. Encore une fois, je laisserai les photos parler pour moi... A l'intérieur de certains endroits visités, l'utilisation du "flash" était interdit. Le résultat est évidemment plus mitigé, mais j'ai quand même édité les photos ; à vous d'imaginer combien çca pouvait être beau... J'aurais pu en mettre des dizaines de plus, mais il faut savoir brider son enthousiasme ! En passant, quelqu'un a déploré la petite taille des photos. Si vous cliquez sur n'importe laquelle, vous l'agrandirez et aurez ainsi accès à toute la galerie de photos. Toulouse a été mon coup de coeur en 2005 et c'est avec beaucoup de plaisir et d'émotion que je l'ai à nouveau ar... read more
May 4th 2011
Hello All. I have been house sitting in Cazeres for 8 days now, and I have to say it has been one of the most relaxing weeks i have had for a long time. The house is beautiful, and the location is stunning. The house itself is located on a woody hillside, and i can only see open countryside 360 degrees. My only company has been a labrador and a german shepherd, who are great, despite being a little scarey at times. So when I am not doing my web design, I am throwing sticks for the dogs, eating, or sitting in the extensive grounds of this lovely house. I will be sorry to leave actually, as the peace and quiet is great. It has been a little lonely at times, but the dogs are good ... read more
April 15th 2011
9th April – Another early morning call as the Commodore informed us at 6.30am that we had arrived in Sharm El Sheikh. We met up with Elly and Chris for a leisurely breakfast as no trips were planned for this visit. We had arranged to have a look around the place and then head off to seek out PJ, Frank and Carys who were just coming to the end of the holidays in Sharm. As we left the ship the greeting from the Egyptians was in the form of a DJ playing really loud dance music with a backing track of people cheering. It was quite good music but think they may have been expecting a younger crowd who might have appreciated it a little more than the wrinklies who were getting off this ship!! We ... read more
