The rain and wind stopped today so we were out of the hotel room by 9.30. We always bring cereal and stuff with us when staying in a hotel as it makes it a bit easier.

Todays 19 k walk in this beautiful city included Basilique Saint Sernin ( stunning) Couvent Des Jacobins ( beautiful) La Grave
Eglise St Nicholas (ok) and Cathedral St Etienne( beautiful).
After a coffee and cake stop we wandered down the streets around the Cathedral and ended up at walking through Jardine Des Plantes.
There were lots of police around especially at Jean Jures. We counted 20 police vans and were at loss to understand why. There is a football match tonight so maybe that may be relevant.

After a short rest back in our room we went out to see the Christmas decorations. They are really beautiful, and look so much prettier in a cool climate. There were so many people in town, and it is so safe. No drunks or aggressive behaviour, just families having a good time.

We are loving Toulouse, as the Rose/ Red colours of the bricks with the sun shining on them is really beautiful. It is also a very clean city. The cost of a cup of coffee is more expensive at €4.50 and the cups are much smaller than elsewhere. We had a light lunch today of a shared plate with Bellinis, some sort of fish dip, and salad and the price was €23. After yesterday’s big meal we only wanted something light.

We are staying at the Hotel Mermoz and it is a lovely hotel with a great shower, kettle and bar fridge ( must have) and the total is €526 for five nights. On every floor there are bowls of beautiful apples that guests can have. As we haven’t eaten since lunch we are happy to have an apple only. We are not very hungry. In fact we have forgotten what being hungry feels like.

I've never been in the southwest and after this thread & StCirq's hints I just may need to make a point of it.

A late start today. When arriving in Toulouse an engine light came on in the hire car. My husband looked it up in the manual and it was something to do with the emission control system. We went to Hertz at the train station explained the situation, and as they had no cars available suggested we take it out to the airport. Apparently it was safe enough to do this.

Finding a petrol station was easy enough, but they did not accept any of our five credit cards. There was not a manned petrol station anywhere. So we will be charged Hertz prices. Not anything we can do about that. They gave us another car without any hassles.


We then went Cite de l ‘ Espace. it was very easy to get too as you catch the Metro to Jollimont, and then a bus (37). cost of entry was €43 for two and you can get discount with seniors card. Would be a great day out if you had older children. I learnt a couple of things about myself as well. 1. Hope I never have to be at the helm of a ship as I crashed. 2. I would really be claustrophobic on the space station Mir ( replica here). 3. I wouldn’t be the person to count on if I was the pilot on one of the space missions. It was a fabulous visit. We even sat through an animated film about the solar system. Designed for kids and all in French. Oh well was only for 30 minutes

We then returned to town and there were people everywhere. I love to see cities being used. We had an late lunch, early dinner of fish and chips for me, and chicken curry for OH. With a half litre of wine, and dessert total was€44. Ok food considering it was on the main square. A lesson in patience as one waiter to serve the outside area. Poor guy was run of his feet.

We were tired from the day before, and had an early night. A very windy day here today, so shopping and Museum visits are on the agenda today.

Trust me, as much as I've been grousing about the lousy weather here lately, the SW of France is enchanting! Provence is so 20 minutes ago.

Perfect!

I am with you, St Cirq. We are finding ourselves gravitating to the south west more and more. We are heading to the Gironde and the Lot again next spring for five weeks in total. Could the Correze be counted? We will be there for two weeks before the Gironde.

Cheska, I wish you could send some of that rain back to Australia. I have never seen our yard so dry. We drove from Toowoomba to Canberra last Tuesday and it was heart - breakingly dry the whole way. And there are fires every where. We are in Canberra for six weeks dog sitting our son's family pet while they are in Europe and the UK. Canberra is blanketed in heavy smoke this morning and hot weather is on the way - 37 on Wednesday and for several days after.

Keep up the lovely reports.

Adelaidean our daughter has said it is awful in Canberra at the moment. I really feel for all Aussies.

Yesterday was really windy in Toulouse and despite all museums being closed we walked to Les Abbatoris and had a look around the outside. There is a nice park nearby, although I wasn’t that keen on the art sculpture. Looked like an intestine.

We then went to an Italian place back in the city for lunch. I had really good auborgine parmegana, and my husband had spinach ravioli. The serves were not huge and we shared. Dessert was a creme caramel a little warm, and my husband had a huge waffle filled with cream and ice cream. He really enjoyed it total cost with alcohol was €52.

The hotel Mermoz was a great base to stay. A walk into the main area of the city was about 1k, the room was a good size and clean, and the staff were very helpful. With parking the bill was €605 for five nights

We left Toulouse at 5.30 am as the receptionist advised that the Periphique ( main road to the highway) could be blocked from 6.00 an due to the general strike today. There was a large amount of traffic on both sides of the highway, however it kept moving. When we got to Montpellier the traffic on the highway towards Montpellier was banked up for a couple of ks.

We had a very easy run back to Nimes and the cost of the toll from Toulouse to Nimes was €27.50.

We really hope the Aussies on here manage to stay cool and safe.

Watching absolutely heartrending footage of the Australian fires here on TV. Stay safe, Aussie Fodorites.

rhon, I have only a minimal aquaintance with the Corrèze, and not a good one. We went to Ussel many years ago for a Grande Pique-Nique celebration (of what? I can't remember). The whole town was like something out of a horror movie, with dark, shady characters everywhere, glum architecture, poor signage, and not a bakery or alimentaire anywhere to be found - when you can't spot food in a French town, something has gone horribly wrong. The pique-nique was held in a huge muddy field outside of town pocked with cow patties - hard to find a place to sit down without getting coated in dung. We snarfed down our sandwiches, bought a plastic tablecloth, and headed home. That was the extent of our trip to the Corrèze. Isn't it the birthplace of Hollande? At any rate, I hope you find it more pleasant than we did. I'm sure there's lots there to be enjoyed - we obviously did it all wrong.

StCirq I do love hearing about other travellers experiences. Funny how one place someone can love and others dislike it intensely. I was like that with Lucca Italy. Could not see what everyone loved about the place and felt claustrophobic the whole time. We spent seven days there and that was six days to long in my view.

Cheska, considering your lengthy stay in France, you might want to consider getting one of those prepaid payment cards available in a tabac and other places (compte Nickel is one of the names). Then you would not have any problem paying for petrol or other items at automatic machines.

kerouac thanks for this information we will do the research.

Ditto thanks for great info, kerouac!

LOL, Lucca didn't grab me either but DH and I weren't there very long.

Keep em coming!

Irice thanks for the positive comments. While we have seen some beautiful places it is hard to say what has been my favourite. Places will be very different in summer. We do enjoy going to Montpellier as there is always something happening. I do like big cities or towns though. I did love St Remy De Provence and that area. I think if I ever came back I would spend three months in Provence. The landscape is stunning.

We have quite a few places to visit in Feb/March further South.
We are going to Barcelona and Zaragoza in early January. We have been to Barcelona last year and that is a crazy wonderful place.

We spent a week in Barcelona in 2017 and loved it! We roamed the charming Gothic Quarter for hours. We loved Barcelonetta; discovered it on our last day and wished we had found it sooner. Missed Parc Guell that trip which has resulted in me being an "over-researcher" and "over-planner" HAHA!

We are staying for a month in Aix-en-Provence next fall and cannot wait!

I rice I too over research. I would rather know everything good and bad as I don’t like surprises.

I did mention the issue of ot being able to fill the car up with petrol before returning it to Hertz because of a malfunction. Well today we returned the hire car and received the bill. We drove from Nimes through small towns ( not the highway) to Carssaconne, and then to Toulouse. Cost of filling up the car was€37. We were pleasantly surprised as you hear so many horror stories.

One thing I notice n France is that people are more than happy to queue. Found this at ATMs, restaurants, post office etc. However, elderly people seem to be exempt, and it is widely accepted that no matter how long you have been in the queue, if someone elderly comes up they will push in and nobody makes a comment. This could be out of respect or as someone younger pointed out frightened of getting cursed. That did make me laugh.

When we were at La Poste last week the queue was out the door. An elderly lady went right up to the counter requesting a box to send stuff in. One of the employees went in search of a box, couldn’t find it, then another employee joined her, and after sometime they both returned. Meanwhile the queue is getting longer, he woman writes out a check, shakes hands with the employees who assisted her and left. Nobody complained or threw a tantrum. Amazing to see.
By the way the parcel was delivered in Australia 8 days later. Well done Le Poste