France: Trio around Toulouse

We arrived in Toulouse with one main goal. Relaxation AKA chilled out sightseeing. After arming ourselves with the right map from the Tourist Office - which I have say are always really well equipped - we could pick and choose what we wanted to see.

Now when I think of Toulouse I think brick, and lots of it. With clay being Toulouse's natural resource it was used throughout the city. It was quite refreshing to see after lots of cities of stone, after stone after stone. Cathedrals and Churches dominated the map and of course the river Garonne an old friend from Bordeaux.

The heart of the city would have to be the Capitolium. A large square made up of symmetrical buildings where market day is held every Wednesday. The main building houses the history of Toulouse through illustrations painted directly onto the walls and ceilings. Everything of any interest spans from this square.

Musée des Augustins was of some interest because of the building itself. Once a Monastery from the 14th and 15th Centuries it has now been converted to a museum, which created a prefect atmosphere for the work. A good half of the exhibitions were made up of sculptures rescued from old building sites which needed a home. It took a pinch of imagination to see them in their original home like the large Gargoyles which don't usually look so large on monstrous spires or the sculpture of The Virgin and child looking so colourful without the catholic decor touch around her. The building was in a square formation with a garden courtyard in the centre and doors leading off to different subjects, one can not help but marvel at the building as art too.

Another building which stood out for us was the Eglise des Jacobins with its boring exterior hiding a breathtaking spider web of patterns and arches on the inside. What photos can't capture is the shear size of the place which makes you feel microscopic in the scheme of things. Basilica Saint Sernin was the polar opposite with the beauty in plain view on the outside and not much to say about the interior.

The weather was quite fresh requiring our jackets but sunny most days with not a cloud in sight. Perfect weather for walking and Toulouse had no shortage of beautiful jardins and river or canal walkways. On one of our expeditions we discovered jardin rugby art and the Silver Fern even featured. Tom also got to show off his rugby skills with an over sized ball (beginner you know).

After Toulouse had shown us all it had to offer (I'm sure we missed lots though) we took a short train ride to Albi for only two reasons, Cathedral and Musée. So with these in mind we dumped our bags in a very cute George V hotel and walked the town until we found the Cathedral which was a ten minute walk at best, small town and all. The Cathedral was a stunner and you begin to realise the importance of all these Cathedrals in their hay day. This is where it all happened. It was the heart of 14th Century society's daily life whether it was for the food market outside, business affairs inside or prayer.

The Musée Toulouse-Lautrec was also worth the visit. I hadn't heard of him before but recognised one of his well known graphic posters for the Moulin Rouge from my graphic history book. What I liked most about his work was how it showed the one off art piece in its painted form and then how he used it to create graphical posters for the multiple everyday use. His posters were quite the new thing with his artist stroke mixed in.

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Castles! I like castles. Which is why our next step on our tour of the south of France was to Carcassonne. Contained within the borders of Carcassonne is yet another Medieval City. The Cité Médiévale was settled in 3500 BC, fortified around 100 BC and slowly built up during the first to thirteenth centuries. It was spared being demolished and instead restored during the 19th century - to what it is today.

And what is it today? The Lonely Planet Guide describes it best:

"From afar, Carcassonne looks like some fairy-tale medieval city. Bathed in late afternoon sunshine and highlighted by dark clouds, La Cité, as the old walled city is known, is truly breathtaking. But once you're inside, La Cité loses its magic and mystery. Luring an estimated 3.5 million visitors annually, it can be a tourist hell in high summer."

We weren't there in high summer, but inside those fortified walls it was still tourist central - and the locals, not wanting to waste the opportunity of the money carrying foot traffic, had turned the Medieval City into a shopping mall. It was difficult to picture how it may have been many centuries before. It was still an impressive location - awe inspiring for us from a country with so little history.

We managed a very scrumptious meal at one of the many restaurants touting the local dish "cassoulet" - a stew of duck confit, sausage, pork and beans - and yes, I even ate - and enjoyed - the beans! But the crowds were giving us a headache so we retreated outside the city walls, across the empty moat, along Pont Vieux (old bridge) and back into the calmer, less historic section of the city.

We managed to slip into a Cathedral for the final moments of a organ playing service - and looked up to see breathtaking sunlight streaming through the rose windows. What we didn't realise was that the service was in aid of "All Saints Day" - it was a national holiday! Unfortunately for us tourists, a holiday, like every Sunday, is actually taken seriously in France - which means that pretty much everything is closed. Our plans of visiting the bird park and doing a little shopping were out, so we wandered some more and retreated to our hotel room to relax over a bottle of rouge.

The following day, after a brisk morning run around the castle, we packed up our things and caught the next train to Arles.

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