Toulouse, France

We finally made it to Toulouse!!!  

After leaving Spain, we had to get off on a city in France and then buy our next ticket into Toulouse.  When we got there the ticket station was closing but thankfully the guard took pity on us and eventually let us in to get our ticket.  Otherwise we would have been stuck in another city we did not plan on.  The next outgoing train was full so we bought tickets for the last train of the day.  We met a nice French man earlier who helped translate for us and told us to just jump on the early train anyway. Once we are on they won't kick us off.  We told them the ticket office said they the train was full but he was confident his plan would work.  We were hesitant but followed his lead.  We got on the train and yes it was PACKED!  The French man and  Steven couldn't find a seat. Ad stood in the hallway between cars so I could have the one remaining seat.  Such sweet guys :)

Our first night in Toulouse we went out to dinner and enjoyed the company of a sweet old man who sat next to us at the restaurant.  He was a agriculturist who specialized on hybrid seeds and traveled to the States many times for work before he retired.  He was very fascinating.  You could tell he was lonely because he talked our ears off the whole time.  Lol. But he was so cute we enjoyed ever bit of our time together.  It was nice to have someone to talk to in English our first night in France.  

The next morning we got to meet our new host family; Benjamin, Sylvie, Alex (3 years), and Nelly (9 months I think).  We hadn't gotten to meet them all the night before because they were out with their friends and left us a key.  They were a wonderful family, very relaxed, and we we enjoyed our time with them very much. Sylvie went out in the morning before we woke up and surprised us with three different croissant to enjoy.  It was amazing! Later they had some errands to do so we went with them.  Along the way, Sylvie gave us a tour of the town with a lot of historic information.  We went into an old catholic church by their house.  I lit a candle in honor of my Grandma and Aunt Shirley and then just sat and prayed for a while while I let Jesus hold my heart and ease the pain I still feel regarding their passing.  Then we headed back to the flat for a duck lunch which was a common meal in Toulouse. It was really good :). We all relaxed for a while and then we parted ways for the evening.  Steve and I headed to a crepe place for dinner and then walked around town and explored the night life.  It was a very pretty town by day and by night.  

La Basilque (the church by the house)

Lighting a candle for my loved ones.

Cool Picture

Alex enjoying the walk back to the flat.

Steven enjoying the walk back to the flat.

Yummz Duck lunch

The saying goes: if you are out of bread, you need more because you still have cheese and wine.  If you are out of cheese you need more because you still have bread and wine.  If you are out of wine, you need more wine because you still have bread and cheese.  :-). It is a wonderful but vicious circle.  Steve enjoyed himself very much ;-)

Fruit dipped In sweetened cream--who knew?

The Capital building with its pink bricks.

Beautiful skyline of Toulouse from the top of a mall.

 The top level of the mall is for tourists.  Here they have all sorts of local or French toddies one would want to buy to bring home.  Good thing we weren't heading home or I might have been I cliened to buy something yummy.

Fun sugar cubes

Here is a great example of one of the things I didn't buy but wanted to :)

Savory crape with a bechamel sauce

Sweet crepe with banana, Carmel and rummmmmmmmmm :). Can we have another?

Along the river at sundown

Stunning

On our way back to the flat, we heard music Tango music coming from a side street so we decided to she what it was.  In a quaint little courtyard there was an Argentinian tango party taking place.  Steve and I of course were excited and stayed to watch.  Had we known how to dance this type of tango we would have joined in, instead we just sat in awe.  Before we left, we decided to complement some of our favorite dancers on their skills.  We sat and chatted with them for a while before heading home and turning in for the night. We were so happy to have found that outside dance spot.  It really made our evening magical as we sat under a canopy of lights watching amazing dancers.  

The next day we all went to a outdoor marked and walked around for a while, then headed for their big indoor grocery market where each stand specialized in a different food.  Sylvie helped me order a rotisserie chicken in the market by coaching me on what to say in French.  Lol. It was very interesting and thankfully the poor lady I was talking with was able to figure out what I had mumbled. 



Jenn TRYING to order a chicken.



Nelly being cute


 



On our way back to the flat to eat lunch, we stopped in to take a
peak inside the justice hall building where people get married. 
 It was a beautiful building full if art and so much detail everywhere you look. 



This is where the ceremony takes place.



Steve enjoying his dessert: ice cream dipped in white chocolate
 and sprinkled with freeze dried raspberries. He was in heaven!

After we had lunch Ben and Sylvie thought us a new card game. This deck has all the same cards as ours except it also has 22 extra cards (1-21 and 1 joker).  It was with these cards that we played the new game.  I hope maybe we can find something similar back home so we can play it in the States. There are five deals to every round.  On the first deal you give everyone 5 cards and bid on how many tricks you will win. The accumulative bids can not be the number of cards in your hands so the dealer must under bid or over bid to allow there to be an odd number of bids. As the hand plays out you have to make your bid or you are penalized one point for each unfulfilled bid. The next hand you are dealt 4 cards and the bidding begins again.  This continues until there are no cards left and then the next person deals out the next round. Once everyone deals their round the game is over.  The person with the least penalty points wins.  I don't remember the name of this game but it was really fun!

Later that evening we all went down to the river for a picnic dinner and a concert. This was a nice experience.  Every year in Toulouse there is a a big concert weekend that highlights music from a certain country or region.  This year they focused on music from the Caribbean.  I think my brother would have really enjoyed these concerts and the environment (or at least he would have when I knew him better.  I am not sure what he likes now)  Everything I saw and experienced reminded me of him.  It was bitter sweet in that sence.  All in all we had a great evening with our new friends before we had to catch the night train and head to Paris.  



Steve had to take a picture of this.  LOL. This is the men's bathroom at the concert.
Over every urinal there was a woman watching from the wall.
Some of them were looking through binoculars, one had a tape measure/ruler,
and some just looked shocked.  So weird. 



Someone got their face painted ;-)



This is the all of us enjoying the concert. Such a nice family!



Steve climbing on another art exhibit. He is so cute!



Sweet couple.

We really enjoyed our time with Benjemin, Sylvie and their two little girls.  Be were blessed by their kindness and pray God blesses them in return.  

A little of our observations: Toulouse was a nice place to visit. It seemed very laid back. It was not a huge city or a small city.  It felt similar to San Jose in that way.  The architecture was beautiful. Apparently Toulouse is known for it's pink brick buildings with blue window shades.  Even the newer buildings are built with the pink bricks.  We were told we wouldn't find that in Paris.  I liked it because the streets were bright and happy with the light colored buildings.  Toulouse also has a large community of Nigerians who settled there.  It was fun to see the different clothing and stores and booths that contained Nigerian products.  I also noticed a big bohemian influence.  I didn't expect this in France.  I don't know why.  Maybe Paris will be different seeing as it is a big fashion hub.