Toulouse 2

Friday 26 July

Toulouse 2

So today is Toulouse-by-ourselves day.  Having downloaded the appropriate Bus timetable and route, we walked over to the bus stop.  It came within minutes, we paid, our €2 and were taken on an interesting journey through the suburbs (like any other suburb, mainly 4 storey apartment blocks and town houses),

and little towns, and even through the Airbus site, where it picks up and drops off workers during working hours.  We arrived in Toulouse about 45 mins later, and I checked my app to see where we got off, the bus driver called out that this was the end of the line, didn't have a clue he was talking to us and a lovely lady who spoke English tapped us on the shoulder, so the penny dropped.  She was so helpful, asked us where we were going, and we said we were heading for the Basilica of St. Sernin and she pointed out the Metro station and said we needed to get off in two stops, and that the ticket we bought on the bus was also ok to use for the train fare.  Doesn't get better than that, so we headed off to the metro and worked out which side to stand on to go in the right direction, otherwise we might have had to get off back at Tournefeuille!  Then we decided not to go to the Basillica yet, we needed to get off at the Place du Capitale so that we could go to the tourist centre and pick up some maps, etc. the trains were packed as usual, but no worries for us seasoned travellers, we got off at our stop and just as we reached the up escalator, our lovely lady caught us up and told us to go back two stops,  we had missed the Basilica.  It wasn't easy to explain that we had changed our minds, so I hope she didn't feel insulted!!

We left the information centre armed with information and ambled around looking at this medieval city from all angles, so much to see, so little time, etc.  The Basilica was too far to walk in the heat so we settled for the Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Toulouse, which again was full of beautiful artefacts and stained glass windows, the flagstones on the floor of all these wonderful old churches are smooth and worn and some are so huge you can't help wonder how they worked out how to to do it.  Again, for me, it was cooling, peaceful and refreshing. 

So, time for lunch, we only wanted a sandwich and there round the corner was a tiny shop selling delicious baguettes, perfect.

After lunch our wanderings took us along a rather upmarket shopping area, so we thought we would take a look through Gallerie Lafayette.  All the signs pointed to a bit of shopping "soldes" , "soldes", and we both did a bit of 'touch and go', but somehow being hot and sweaty and having swollen feet, heads for disappointment when you catch yourself in the mirror - nothing like the picture??  So the best thing we did was put €.5 in the bowl and use the upmarket toilet.

Out onto the hot street again and down to the embankment. Pont Saint-Pierre is a very old and famous bridge crossing the Garonne River, the walkway alongside the river has been there since Roman times and I am sure the view has probably not changed a lot since then (except perhaps for the 'Eye' Ferris wheel?).  It was a lovely walk looking at the barges and boats going up and down, and it was soon time to head back up town.

 

We had to take a slight detour to avoid some holes in the ground. There are always roadworks, not a lot seems to happen, but they can be a bit of a challenge to both pedestrians and traffic, depending on how seriously the 'students' holding the stop/go signs take their job!

And so back to where we stepped off the bus and our uneventful journey home.