Toulouse, tous les surprises!

Bonsoir! I just wrapped a five day stay in Toulouse, France, a city that made my short list based on many friends' recommendations. I'm glad I took their advice. What a surprising town!

It was a wonky start. I arrived Thursday evening after a 20 hour journey from Rio through Lisbon. I was exhausted and in language limbo; I couldn't complete a full sentence in any one language if you paid me. I should have recorded it; the PortuFranglais was quite entertaining. It took two full days to quiet the Portuguese in my brain and switch fully to French.

I'm in transit to my next destination (stay tuned!) so we'll go light on copy and heavy on pics this time. Enjoy!

Toulouse and the surrounding area are sprinkled with architecture and sculpture ranging as early as the 5th century but most of what we see today dates between the 9th and 13th. It was cool, temp-wise, and cool history-wise.

I downloaded the GPSmyCity app and after an early Friday AM workout, logged 17K steps and a lot of great sites:

Le Capitole. Who shut the heat off? From bikini to 2 shirts, a jacket and a scarf in less than 24 hours.

First stops were Pont Neuf (Nine Bridge) built 1561, spanning the Garonne River and still in use today. Across the bridge is La Grave Hospital. You'll notice all the pink brick in use throughout the city.

Three major sites were closed for construction, below is one; the Hotel d'Assezat and Bemberg Foundation. This L-shaped hotel was built by a wealthy merchant in 1561. I was able to see a portion of the courtyard, but the Art Gallery run by the Foundation was closed. All the more reason to return!

Cathédrale St. Étienne began construction in the late 13th century and was partially destroyed during the French Revolution when Napolean repurposed it as a scrap iron warehouse. After the war, ownership of the church was returned to the Catholic Church and the city of Toulouse. Sections of the church are intentionally distinct, mismatched architecturally to demonstrate the church's changes over the centuries.

I made it in time for organ rehearsal. It was magical.

Dinner with Victor Hugo: Saturday was an interesting day. After a great AM workout, I took an alternate path back to my apartment and stumbled upon the Victor Hugo market. The interior would remind my Metro NYC friends of a Reading Terminal in Philly or Chelsea Market: small stands of specialty cheese, meat, seafood vendors; wineries, pastries, charcuterrie...you name it. On Saturday local farmers set temporary stands with honey, soaps, fruits, vegetables. I picked up ingredients for dinner. When I arrived back at the apartment, I spent 3 hours translating the washing machine manual. As my friend Lorraine said, I can add "multi-lingual appliance repair" to my resume. The dinner that night was worth the hassle and lost afternoon.

Carcassone: I struck gold on a half day tour to UNESCO Heritage site and medieval citadel, La Cité at Carcassonne. The funny part was, as per my workout schedule, this was cardio day so I ran stairs for 45 minutes in the morning, only to see numerous signs at La Cité about the dozens of steep stairs and one-way paths. I earned every ounce of my wine that night.

It's hard to keep your jaw from dropping when you're seeing sculpture and architecture from the 5th and 6th century. Thus you're probably not surprised when I say I did buy the small Carcassone history book in the museum store and read it all on the train today. I geeked out; fascinating history, art, architecture.

The original chapel within the fort was destroyed. These are some of the recovered pieces.

View from one of the towers. Vineyards in the forefront, the Pyrenees in the distance.

St. Vincent Cathedral was stunning and moving.

The Inquisition. To kill time before the bus departure, I visited the small Inquisition Museum filled with wax figures, gory devices and disturbing historical records and stories. Each time someone braved reading a placard next to some torture devise, they groaned aloud. At points I felt more like I was in a Halloween Haunted House than a museum, but I guess in the best interest of documenting and sharing things that should never be repeated, "museum" is fair.

And yes, France continued using the guillotine for executions until 1977. It took until Pope John Paul II, over 700 years, for the Catholic Church to officially apologize for the brutal practices, and thousands of senseless deaths, brought on by Pope Gregory IX and his Inquisition squad.

Toulouse, the Green Way: on Monday I rented a bike to cover a wider area of the city. Quick sustainability note: Toulouse discontinued using chemical pesticides in it's city parks, offers public compost hauling, and has the most extensive and effective cycling system I've ever seen in a major city. From dedicated lanes, painted with directionals, road signs and the inexpensive bike lease program, it was a fun, safe ride. There were hundreds of cyclists on every major street and drivers gave way without fail. You can tell the city has this down to a science.

I rode a few miles of the canal, strolled Les Jardins outside the city museum, biked through Toulouse University campus and across the Garonne to St Cypien and Patte D'Oie neighborhoods.