Destination: Toulouse, France (2018 Edition– Part 1)

If my time in Paris after New Years had been the “apéritif” of my month-long travels in January, then Toulouse was my “appetizer.” If anything, the two French cities were just starters as I would discover afterwards, but I’m getting ahead of myself…any case, I spent four nights in Toulouse with a friend, and from there I visited the city proper and made day trips to explore more of what the southwest region of France had to offer.

Paris had been quite chilly, and so trading it for *slightly* warmer and sunnier weather in Toulouse was a great change. After saying goodbye to my amazing Couchsurfing hosts in Paris, I hopped on the direct Flixbus to Toulouse and spent the next eight or so hours in transit– the bus was fully-packed, but otherwise it was an uneventful trip.

Rain and dark, slick streets greeted me upon arrival to Toulouse. My friend’s house was about a 15-minute walk from the stop, so I braved the weather and walked over, getting in close to 20:00. I’d visited Toulouse almost two years ago during my first year as an assistante, and my friend whom I would be staying with actually had been my Couchsurfing host then. We’d really hit it off, and since then had kept in touch; he’d told me that I would be welcomed back any time, so I decided to take up his offer whilst traveling all over in January.

Upon reaching his house, I dropped my belongings off in the spare bedroom he offered me, met his new flatmate, and had a late dinner as we caught up on life. I was feeling tired, and eventually, I turned in around 23:30. I would re-visit Toulouse the following morning, seeing and remembering the details of the architecture, streets, and sights as I’d done nearly two years prior.

I headed out the next day and made my way to the heart of the city, about a half-hour walk away. Strolling down the massive Allée Jean Jaurès (the “Las Ramblas” of Toulouse), I ended up in the historic center where I revisited the Capitole, the city hall and square where Saint Saturnin was presumably martyred. It’s the real heart of Toulouse where everything comes together, as people shop, eat, and otherwise lounge around soaking up the sun, even in winter!

Right before reaching the Capitole, I came across a couple of souvenir stores that sold les violettes, which are crystallized violet candies. They’re a Toulousain specialty, as the city itself is nicknamed la ville rose (“the Pink City”), and I bought a couple for my friends and colleagues back in the Lyon region. They weren’t exactly cheap, but I believe the splurge was worth it!

The Capitole itself is accessible to the public, as one can visit the lavish rooms– salle Gervais and salle des Illustres–inside for free. I hadn’t gone inside the last time I visited Toulouse, so I decided to check it out. The verdict? Definitely worth it. Having come from the blindingly-opulent interior of the Palais Garnier in Paris just a few days prior, the rooms inside the Capitole couldn’t quite compare to it, but it exceeded my expectations of what a city hall was to look like. Such rooms also served as part of Toulousain history, especially as I walked through one of the rooms that displayed the post-Impressionist paintings of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, a local artist of the 19th century.

Exiting the building, I wandered in the direction of the Basilique Saint-Sernin, perhaps one of the greatest icons of Toulouse. In fact, it’s considered one of the largest remaining Romanesque buildings in Europe, having been constructed all the way back in the 11th century. Its spire, rugged but refined, towers over the entire building, and it makes for a very distinctive church to admire. Personally, I find the interior to look just about the same as any other church in France, but otherwise, the Basilique Saint-Sernin continues to be a worthwhile place to revisit each time in Toulouse.

It was nearing lunchtime, and I was beginning to get hungry, so I headed to a restaurant near the Couvent des Jacobins to have homemade cassoulet. The dish consists of white beans, duck confit, sausages, and other meats cooked into a stew and served in a large casserole dish; it’s a southwestern France specialty and, while I’ve had in as a TV dinner-ready meal, I had yet to try the real deal. The restaurant itself was an intimate tavern and service was excellent. Over a glass of red wine, I indulged in the massive cassoulet that I’d ordered and unfortunately couldn’t finish the entire thing, to my embarrassment. Should’ve asked to doggy-bag it (how very American!), but all the same, I was glad to have *finally* tried a homemade cassoulet.

Full and satisfied, I headed out and went north of the city to the jardin japonais near the Compans Caffarelli. I’d visited the garden last time I was in Toulouse and found it lovely, so I decided to go back. On my way over, I passed by the university and several streets which had names both in French and Occitan, the latter a distinctive language commonly spoken in southwest France, the Catalonia region of Spain, and southern Italy. It was fascinating discovering culture within a culture, and it reminded me to a similar concept with the Alsatian language in northeast France (such as in Strasbourg, where I also saw street signs in both French and Alsatian). Arriving at the garden, I got to enjoy the place to myself, as there was virtually no one there that day (well, except for the homeless man in the quasi-shrine, but he was sleeping…).

I went all the way back to the historic center, where I decided to visit the musée des Augustins, a convent-turned-fine arts museum which houses some of the works from the French school between the 15th and 18th centuries. Admission was free, and I got to visit the salon rouge which was covered all over with paintings–big and small– from some of the greats, including the local Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. There was also a neat temporary exhibition of fragmented edifice carvings perched on colorful, illuminated pillars, which I found different and interesting from the rest of the museum. I strolled through the former cloister and visited a few rooms with sculptures and tombs from the Medieval ages before leaving the museum to head towards the Capitole in the late afternoon.

More to come on my visit to Toulouse this January. Until later!

 

— Rebecca