Mon petit voyage à Toulouse

When I was looking for places to go, Toulouse was on that list because of Airbus and that they produce aircraft there. I was under the impression that Toulouse Airport and Toulouse City would be huge because of this.

I had wanted to return to France (especially since I had to ditch going to Bordeaux) so Toulouse seemed the place to go.

Before this trip, I wasn’t feeling too good. I cancelled a couple because of my poor mental health. It took everything in me to actually leave the house and not ignore my alarm (it was for 02:00 because of a 03:05 coach). I decided to get out of bed, shower, get ready and head to the bus station.

I got to the airport a couple of hours before the flight. I realised as I was almost at the coach that I had forgotten my tote bag with my food in it. Grrr. I had to spend money at the airport and get some food there.

I got my bits and pieces and waited for the gate to be shown.

We were bussed to the plane as it was on a remote stand. Haven’t done that at Stansted for a while.

I got on the flight and I had an aisle seat. I like window seats but the aisle is preferable as it’s easier to get to the loo and easier to get up and get my stuff from the overhead locker.

The flight was a little turbulent but I was too tired to care. We landed in Toulouse and I was so ready just to get to the hostel and get my head down.

As I was in the queue for passport control I saw an Airbus Beluga (seriously, Google a pic of it. Those things are HUGE) take off. It was cool to see. I had always wanted to see one take off. It’s a shame I couldn’t record it. I did see a couple in the background so I managed to get a pic of those.

I got the tram to the hostel and they told me I couldn’t get to the room just yet. There was still 5 hours before I could get to the room. I asked to leave my luggage and some suggestions so I could go and wander until it was time to go to the room.

Day 1

I left the hostel and got the bus to the Jeanne d’Arc area so I could walk around. As I started to head to the centre it started to rain. I saw a Primark so went in to get an umbrella. I was in the queue for about 15 minutes and by the time I got out of the store the rain had stopped – typical!.
I carried on walking to see if I could find a shop for some souvenirs. I found a couple and had a look in to see what was on offer. I didn’t think buying souvenirs would be quite the chore it was here.
I left the shops and saw a church so headed in that direction. The church was called Saint-Sernin. I went in and it was a pretty cool church to see. The tower was cool too. You couldn’t go up it though.
The churches in this city are all free to enter which is good as they usually have some cool architecture.
I left there and then went back to the souvenir store and found the magnet I wanted and then headed in the direction of the hostel as it was close enough that I could get to the room. I got there and just settled in for an hour or so before I headed back out.
I then went back to the river and had a look around that area. I went to the lock area there. The river here is called the Garonne and the little tributary was called the Garonnette. The little tributary had dried up after they closed it when the mills and factories were closed. The viewpoint was really good. There were warning signs about flooding so I am glad it wasn’t raining. I then jumped back on the tram to the end of the line. It provided a pretty good spot for plane spotting. I stayed here for a couple of hours and then headed back to the hostel for the night. I was super tired and I needed to get some decent sleep.
I booked a walking tour for tomorrow before I drifted off to sleep.
Total steps: 16,343
Total miles: 7.44
Below are some pics from today
Day 2

The plan was to get up early today to go out and see one of the churches I had seen from the bridge yesterday. The church was the Notre-Dame la Daurade. I had an upset stomach so I didn’t really have time to go there before the walking tour. I went to the meeting point for the tour and found the guide. I was the only one on the walking tour so it was almost like a private tour. It was pretty cool as I am usually in a huge group and miss a lot of what is said.
The route we took is in the map below

The guide did give a lot of info about the city. I had mentioned to him that I saw on the street signs that they had Spanish as well as French. It turns out this is a dialect of French called Occitane and he said it reads/sounds Spanish and people often confuse it as such.
We went to the main Capitole square and had a look around. In the square, there is the Occitane cross/star. It has 4 points with 3 round points on each.
We went to the Jacobian cathedral from the 1200s. It is the only cathedral in the city that has a pillar called the palm tree as it has branches off into the roof. No other pillars in that church – or others in the city had them.
We carried on to the Daurade cathedral but didn’t go in. The cathedral has columns on the front facade and it was weird to see these on a cathedral. We then went to Pont Neuf and the guide said when the air is clear you can usually see the Pyrenees. They are about 70 miles away. Sadly we couldn’t see them.
We went to the Notre-Dame de la Dalbarde but didn’t go in there either. The guide was telling me that the bell tower fell and killed 2 people. It was in a poor area of the city so it was beggars that were killed. They didn’t rebuild the bell tower.
He asked if I had noticed the street signs in that area. I had seen some but didn’t realise they were anything special. He said they were hexagonal and the streets parallel to the river were gold and the others were grey. He said this was to help the people who couldn’t read determine which way the river was. It’s quite common on other streets I have seen where they use colours of symbols to help those who weren’t able to read.
The guide then took us to a “secret spot” – it was the 7th floor of a car park where you had views over the rooftops of the city and could see the mountains (air quality permitting). We carried on the tour and went to St Etienne Cathedral. The building was in 2 different styles. They were trying to dismantle it back in the day but they didn’t. This is the reason for the 2 different styles. Inside was a bit strange too. The front part of the cathedral was offset from the main part of it and it wasn’t like normal churches/cathedrals where it’s in the shape of a cross.
We got back to the main square at the Capitole and I left the tour here as my stomach was hurting again. I went to get something to drink and went into the Capitole building. They do check your bags but it is free to enter and free to go inside the building itself. It’s pretty ornate and has some cool paintings and stuff.
I managed to find my way back to Notre Dame la Daurade so I could go in and have a look around. It was pretty cool inside. They do organ recitals but sadly only on a Sunday. Shame.
I left here and then jumped on the metro to travel the length of the line and found somewhere for some food.
I then left and headed to the tram to go to the end of the line and I sat there plane spotting again for an hour or so before heading back to Palais de Justice. I’m not sure why I did. I just looked around and then went to the hostel as I was feeling tired and my feet were hurting.
Total steps: 18,281
Total miles: 8.33
Below are some pics from today
Day 3

I got up late today as I was tired and feeling a little rubbish. I decided that I would just take it easy and jump on the bus to an area I wanted to look at and then I just had a slow walk down to the river and across the bridge. I managed to see the Pyrenees this time – the guide was right.
I headed to the Dalbade to see if it was open but it sadly wasn’t. I then went to the car park to get some pics of the mountains from up there. After here, I decided I would head to the area of Palais de Justice so I could get some food. I found the embassy, got some food and then headed up to Grand Rond. It was a garden in the middle of the roundabout and it was pretty cool. It had a fountain and a few statues. It is worth a visit. It has a couple of bridges across the road which is good as I didn’t want to have to wait ages to cross the road again.
I got into the Royal Gardens. There was a lake with a fountain and a bridge over the lake. It made for some good pictures. I then carried on towards the tram and went back to MEETT and had a walk around there before heading back to the hostel. I had to get an early night as I needed to be up to get the last tram and then the last bus to the airport. I had to stay there overnight as the public transport started too late to get there in time to pass through security and get to the gate.
Total steps: 14,536
Total miles: 6.66
Below are some pics from today

I got through security and to the gate and just sat and dozed until it was time to board. I got on the flight pretty quick and no longer had I sat down then I started to fall asleep. I don’t remember much of the flight as I was that tired.

I think I was awake for all of about 10 minutes of the flight.

I got across the border pretty quick and then got some grub and then went to wait for the train.

All in all, the trip here was good and very much needed to try and help me get out of the funk I was in. I think it helped.

Total steps: 49,160

Total miles: 22.43

You can view all of my Toulouse pics here

chris | Friday February 23rd 2024 | Travel| Europe, France, Toulouse, Travel | 0 Comments

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