Blogs from Toulouse, Midi-Pyrénées, France, Europe - page 4

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

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 arpentée. Demain ... read more

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

My bus ride from Barcelona to Toulouse was not bad considering it went from 1am til 7am! I met a really cool French chic on the bus who was from Bordeaux and had been visiting her Spanish boyfriend in Barcelona. We talked almost the whole way in French! Felt good to kinda speak a language again! After mumbling in Spanish & Serbian for so long! ..... I arrived in Toulouse at 7am on a Sunday morning. There was absolutely no one around, no shops were open except a couple of cafes & the only people in the streets or cafes were drunk men… mostly northern African sleezy men who insisted on shouting me a drink (among other things) :/ urgh! I started to hate Toulouse, feel disappointed about being there & wonder what on Earth I ... read more

Hey there, Just trying this blog for the first time. Not sure if it will work but I hope so. The car is all packed up and ready to go although it's now a lot nearer the ground than usual. 10 bags - is that excessive ... and will they fit in the cabin?? Going to set off for Caen tomorrow morning and cross to Portsmouth overnight. Then will be staying in Southampton til the big day - 5th January. Well that's it for now except I am getting a little bit sad as the dogs are letting us know they don't like suitcases. Excitement is overtaking sadness tho. Will get back on here soon with updates. And Happy New Year to all!!... read more