Today we head to Toulouse which we bypassed yesterday on our trip down to Mazeres.
Our first stop is at McDonalds to check on the internet and the election results. At eleven-ish we pretty well have the place to ourselves. The internet connection is free and lightning fast. The store itself is on the outskirts of the city and almost band new; like most of McDonalds we have seen so far. Yesterday and today are the first time we have used the free WiFi at McDonalds and it is excellent.
While John updates the blog online, Jenelle goes looking for groceries at what appears to be a supermarket just across the road. It is a supermarket but she discovers that it only sells frozen food. The chain of stores is called Picards. We saw one of their stores in Tours but never went in. Twenty minutes later Jenelle is back, very excited about her discovery, with none of the groceries on the list, but has brought a box of crème brulee.
Like McDonalds the large supermarkets/shopping centres are mostly on the outskirts of the towns and cities. We use our GPS to list the supermarkets in the area and then we select the one we want to go to. This is a very useful feature of the GPS which we are starting to use more and more.
We drive to a few different major shopping centres and they are all closed. Maybe we will find a smaller supermarket open in the inner city.
Toulouse is a grand old city, steeped in history. After Paris one of the most vibrant cities in France, the guide book says. Well not on Sundays. The inner city is shut up tighter than a drum. We are talking about an inner city (CBD) area about 4 times bigger than Brisbane. We wander the streets of Toulouse, along the river front, through huge gardens and parks, up the alleys for nearly four hours. In that time we see precisely one Boulangerie and one 7Eleven store open. That's it!
Toulouse is the biggest university city outside Paris, with over 100,000 students. The university campus is integrated into the heart of the city. The uni holidays may account for the lack of vibe in the city as well.
Apart from a few hundred, confused and bemused tourist like us and a few local homeless people, the streets are deserted. There is the occasional cafe or hotel restaurant open but even they are subdued. Apparently it is common in southern France that there is NO Sunday trading and during the week shops are closed for 3 hours in the early afternoon. We will need to be more mindful as we are planning shopping sprees.
With no people and only a few cars driving in the city it was easy to get around.
Apart from the Tourist Information Centre the cathedrals and churches were the only major buildings open.
Note giant mirror around pillar to reflect the ceiling.
The Cathedral St. Etienne has a magnificent baroque style, carved marble altar dating from 1670.
In the centre of Toulouse, the Place du Capitol is a huge open, paved square. The design of the buildings surrounding the square complement the main facade which is the Theatre du Capitol. Very impressive architecturally and aesthetically.
The city buildings reflect the wealth and importance of Toulouse through the centuries,
The PalaceThe medieval section of the city is well preserved.
The heart of the city is bounded one side by the River Garonne....
and on the other by the Canal du Midi. This canal runs from the Atlantic coast right though southern France to the Mediterranean Sea. We have crossed paths with this and other canals from time to time in our travels so far and have been surprised by the lack of boats. Apart from our time in Rennes we have not noticed very much, if any canal traffic; you'd think with everyone on holidays, the canals would be as busy as the roads.
By mid-afternoon the thermometer has hit 40 degrees in the shade. The sun is burning. We stroll though the huge gardens and parks that occupy one corner of the city. There are a few locals sprawled out on the grass in the shade of the huge old trees.
and a few little kids playing in the fountain to get cool...
We keep walking down the main avenue, passed the war memorial, staying in the shade of the buildings and trees as much as possible.
Scattered throughout the city in addition to the standard founding fathers and warrior statues we see a surprising number of very attractive modern sculptures.
