No Time Toulouse!

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Oeuf No. 1

Bonjour!

As you will no doubt be able to tell, our grasp of the French language has improved dramatically in the days we have been in France (see French paragraphs previous). We spent yesterday driving from Blois to Toulouse after spending about an hour taking our tent down and drying it out over a hedge. There were a few scary moments for Egg No. 2 when insects of various sizes crawled out from under the ground sheet - but fortunately she could only run a few metres before she was out of puff and had to sit down.

We had a lovely drive down through the back roads of the French countryside, stopping along the way for breakfast "en plein air" in the 25 degree sunshine. As a bloke I feel that I have to point out that the French roads are exceptionally well maintained in this part of the country. Also worth mentioning is the quality of the facilities and food service stations. I´ve never had such a light pastry in a Shell garage!

We arrived in Toulouse about 6pm, parked up and went looking for a hotel. We found "La Clochez de Rodez" within about 20 mins. After a bath and change of clothes (a more urbane style is required in the French cities) we went looking for a good restaurant. In true style we found the least expensive kebab shop in town and had a quality meal of meat kebab (of unknown origin) with a complimentary vegetable side-dish of chips in the comfort of the air-conditioned salon. To accompany the food we splashed on on a bottle of Heinekin 2005 each which was chilled to perfection. We had a few drinks and went back to the hotel for an early night since all the excitement of travel had tired us out.

We spent our first full day in Toulouse exploring the city on foot, walking through the town and along the River Garrone. Shaz noted that the following interesting points about the city...

- There are lots of hairdressers for dogs
- There are lots of dogs
- Hot fashion items include boxer boots, mullets and light trousers that tie-in at the bottom
- The beer is more than 4 quid a pint
- There is a lot of building work going on at the moment although the city is still very grand and beautiful

Our first hotel only had a room for 1 night so we moved to another nearer the old town. After the big walk during the day we rested in the evening and had a meal in the hotel. Shaz tried out the Cassolet which consisted of beans, Toulouse sausage and duck. To my mind it looked a bit like a Heinz All Day Breakfast. But it tasted better. Shaz declared that she could make a better one herself, though that didn´t stop her from polishing off the lot.

We plan to go to Albi to see the collection of Toulouse-Lautrec paintings there tomorrow.

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Photos

Weird Geezer outside our room
The decor of our 1st hotel was somewhat puzzling

The 4 Batards
Not sure what these 4 guys did but clearly the city want to honor them for it!

Pont Neuf
Bridge across the river

Comments

[malcolm]

Trip to France
sounds like you are having great fun travelling around France and enjoying the local food and wine as I knew that you would!! .Enjoy the rest of your short trip before the long haul begins next month. See you soon