Toulouse

according to lindsay's guidebook, supposedly toulouse is the place to come when all french cities start to look the same.
its funny, its not like i thought toulouse was a super exciting city or anything, but i really enjoyed my time there. maybe it had something to do with the fact that it was actually hot out, or that the city really is different from everywhere i've seen recently, but i loved wandering around and taking it all in.

the trip started out at the ridiculously early hour of 7h11 when our train departed from gare part dieu. four hours, a nap or two, and a few stops later, we finally arrived. we found our hotel faster than i ever had before (probably having something to do with the fact that it was one metro stop away from the gare and about a 5 minute walk from there). amazingly enough we were actually able to check in even though we thought we'd just have to leave our bags with them for safe keeping because the room might not have been ours for a couple more hours. we were very impressed by how nice it was considering how little we were paying. so we dropped off our stuff and headed back out, ready to start the day.

we decided we would be picnicing for lunch because it was cheaper and just as delicious. so we went to monoprix to pick up some cheese, jambon, fruit, chips, cookies, and water before finding a boulangerie where we could buy better bread than we would probably find at monoprix. then we made our way to the river and sat down on the quai to eat our lunch in the sunshine staring out over the water.

with food finally in our stomachs, the real exploring began. we wandered through the streets and saw a couple churches. once going in mostly because we needed to get out of the heat for a couple minutes (oh how long i have waited to be able to say that!). but i mean, they were nice churches even without the added bonus of air conditioning. it was amazing to be able to walk around in shorts and a tshirt though, without worrying about being cold.

as we walked, we noticed blue was a pretty popular color in the city. plus the streets were just kind of cute. we also realized that there was an abundance of brick buildings. i felt a little bit like i was on the east coast because of it. but it certainly was a sign that this city was different.

soon we found ourselves in a park. but this one had something i haven't seen in quite some time. peacocks!

there was also a rooster, but every time i tried to take it's picture it moved away to fast walking behind a bush or flowers or whatever.
we had a nice break in the park, but eventually we realized we should probably check out more of the city, which would involve standing up. so we got our stuff together and moved on.

our next stop was a cafe where the drinks were delicious but the service was horrendous. and by horrendous i mean we first had to wait to get any attention at all. then we asked the lady if there was a 'menu' to which she responded they didn't serve food instead of deciding to acknowledge that we meant to say 'carte', before walking away. finally another server brought us the carte thought it took even a little while longer before we were even able to place our orders. which then took forever to arrive. mine even later than lindsay's and giulia's. at least the drinks were good though. my chocolat frappe turned out to be much closer to chocolate milk than i had expected. but it was chocolate and it was cold, which meant it was just what i wanted.

with renewed energy we explored the main square, place du capitole, and the museum inside it. we also learned that inside is apparently where everyone gets married, and saw at least two brides.

after feeling like we had explored a lot of the city already, and wanting to leave a little for the next day, as well as ready for another break, we found another nice little park. well maybe not a park like the one earlier in the day, but there was a fountain, a statue, benches, and plenty of grass for us to sit on where we could eat a snack.

for dinner, we picked a nice little restaurant that didn't seem to expensive on a street populated by restaurants. it turned out to be delicious. greek salad. wine. and a massive amount of ice cream for dessert. mmmm :)

after dinner we figured out the quai was a happening place to be at night. everybody was out, and the bars near the river were all completely packed. we ended up deciding to just wander around for awhile enjoying the fact that it was still an amazing temperature even though it was dark.

and to finish off that first day we decided to get a beer before heading back to the hotel. we all got les bieres fruitee, which i actually liked. although i realized that giulia's peach and lindsay's raspberry were much better than my choice of strawberry. oh well, it was ok anyways.

we started our second day reasonably early by heading to the marche in the main square. it turned out to not be quite as exciting as we had anticipated, but were glad we went anyways.

next though, on our way to check out a church, we found une fripperie, aka a flea market. giulia even found a book about california from 1969! it was interesting to look at the pictures, but i was disappointed when i realized sacramento wasn't in it, thinking it would of course be in there being the capital and all..

finally we got around to checking out the church, which of course was really nice. i especially liked this section:

we checked out the university next, and found a lot of the common blue shutters along the way.

we thought the campus was very nice, much more modern than our quai campus, and much prettier than our bron campus.

for lunch we decided to do the picnic thing again because it had worked out so well the day before. but this time we decided to head to the opposite side of the river and sit in a grassy area with shade. the sun had been great before, but this time it was just too hot to even consider it. and what a lovely view :)

next up we did some shopping. we found this vintage shop, and i actually found a small purse! i love how when i say i'm not willing to spend more than ten euros on anything i might buy, and then we find something i like and it fits into that category.

we also went to a store (that of course i forget the name of), but we referred to as the blue store. this store was known for its blue dye that the city is known for a little bit, and lindsay even bought a scarf.
my favorite purchase, however, was at a store called pylone. this store is super colorful and i wanted everything in it! but i settled for a new toothbrush holder. and reminiscent of an old obsession, i felt i had to choose the cow one.

when we started to feel like the sun and wandering was getting to be too much for us, we headed to monoprix to pick up some chips and salsa and go back to the fountain park where we had been the day before to relax. its amazing how much nicer it can be in the shade when its so hot out! but i definitely prefer to be a bit too hot than to be freezing when im already wearing about 6 layers.

after a nap and some time to clean up at the hotel, we headed out again in search of dinner. we had already decided on a place that was in the guidebook, so it was just a matter of figuring out where it was. and then after wandering around for awhile deciding to actually start walking in the correct direction. which for some reason was more difficult than usual, and we became very obvious tourists.

eventually, however, we did figure out the map and find the restaurant. turns out, it was a buffet style restaurant which we had not antipated, but decided to try it anyways. it wasn't amazing or anything, but it was fairly inexpensive, all you can eat, and had some variety.
we ended the night with a little wine and the thoughts that we would be going to some salsa bar... which it turns out doesn't exist anymore. which meant that seeing as it was a little past midnight when we figured it out, we just headed back to the hotel to hang out a bit before going to bed since we would be getting up fairly early the next morning to leave for bordeaux!