Days 38-40 - Hot in Toulouse/Ville Rose

Place Capitole

The temperature had begun to make itself felt on our trip to Chateau Haut-Monplaisir. When we packed up the car to leave for Toulouse it was already very warm. Fortunately the car had air-conditioning making it pleasant in the car. As usual we took the non-tolled routes.

I had intended to stop in a small town called Montauban but I managed to miss the turnoff and before we knew it we were on the Autoroute preventing any U-turn. Instead we stopped at an Aire for a bite to eat and coffee. I took the opportunity to charge the car. It was quickly up to over 80% charged by the time we returned to it. Using that charger was one of the easier ones.

We easily found our accommodation. Bev was not that happy with it as it was rather tired and it was lacking the small touches that make it feel nice to stay in. We were also comparing it with our lovely unit in Cahors.

It was very hot and Bev was not keen on walking in the heat for half an hour or so to centre of Toulouse so instead we took an Uber. We were dropped near the Place du Capitole where we visited the Information Centre. After Cahors, Toulouse felt very busy. There were hordes young people moving in mobs around the place (we found out later that there are a number universities in Toulouse and that it has a very young population). Aerospatiale the designer and builder of Airbus aircraft is based at the local airport which is only a few kilometres from Toulouse. So the place feels prosperous.

We wandered around the Place du Capitole which is dominated by the Capitole which is the seat of municipal power and has been since the 12^th century. It is a very beautiful building that also has the Theatre. The Place du Capitole is a huge square. On one side there were a number of well used restaurant/bars.

We then followed a street toward what I was pretty sure from the map was the Garonne river. As is the feature of the old parts of French cities the streets are not in straight lines rather they meander around joining another street or alleyway or terminating at a nice little square.

Looking toward the Pont neuf

Enjoying a picnic in the park

Looking down river

My navigation was good and we reached the waters edge. Below us were people picnicking in the shade of the trees in a park by the rivers edge. The Pont Neuf (the oldest bridge in Toulouse) joined the both banks of the river nearby. We wandered back up the street to have a drink in the shade.

Then it was time to return to our apartment. We had been told it was only a 20 minute walk and so I persuaded Bev that we could do it without getting lost. Apple maps said 23 minutes. The temperature had dropped a little so walking was not so bad, although when you have not walked a before route it seems like it takes ages.

No one enjoying the evening sun

A weir of some sort

It was nice to see the neighbourhood which is relatively densely populated with low rise apartment buildings.

The next morning we went looking for a place to charge the car. It all looked straightforward. We quickly found a charge point close by but both chargers were being used. We found a couple that were unused but we could not park the car in the tiny space available. Finally, we found a couple of chargers that were free and while relatively slow chargers we could use them. For the first time we had to use the charging cables that came with the car. It took us a little while to figure out how to get it charging but with a bit of magic I managed to do it. Another car pulled up behind us just as I was getting the charger going. The driver came along and wanted to know if I was successful. At least that was what I think he wanted to know as he only spoke Spanish. It seems that he could not get his charger to work. I looked at what he was doing and he seemed to be doing it correctly but to no avail. Eventually, he gave up and we parted with smiles.

Let's play petanque

Various views in a massive park

We were near a rather nice park so we walked through it and kept wandering while the car charged. By chance we came across the Canal du Midi, It was one of the port areas where there were a significant number of canal boats tied up.

Port on the Canal du Midi

We were going to have a coffee there but there were no cafés nearby so we kept wandering and came upon a street which had lots of cafés. We found a café where we could be in the shade and enjoyed a cup of coffee while people watching. I calculated that in the time we had been away that the vehicle should be almost full. When we got back it was at 96% which was good enough for me as that would be mean we would be charged up to a level where the rental company would not charge us a horrendous price for them to charge up the vehicle.

After the returning the vehicle to our place we took an Uber to the Place du Capitole so that we could get on a sightseeing bus to see what the main attractions were in the city as seen by the operators.

We had time to kill and it was well past lunchtime so we went searching. I thought we might get something nice at the local branch of Galleries Lafayette like one can in Paris. That was not possible as there was no food hall like there. Instead we walking around the local streets and found a nice little Salon de Thé.

The bus tour took us to man of the places we had been on our various walks. We had inadvertently ticked most of the boxes. Toulouse is called the Ville Rose or Rose City due to its pink brick that many of the older buildings are made of. And it does look a little pink particularly when the sun is low in the sky.

After the bus we had a drink in the Place du Capitole and enjoyed watching people under the shade of an umbrella. It was around 30 degrees and one could see people mostly keeping in the shade of the buildings.

Afterwards we went looking for a restaurant away from the tourist hub of the Place du Capitole. One had been recommended but when we got there we were an hour too early. They did not start service until 7:30. We were a little hungry so we continued our search, walking down various little streets until we found another little street with several restaurants and chose one them. They were serving and we had a nice meal but not outstanding.

The next morning we were up fairly early to get to the Toulouse-Blagnac airport. It was a very quick journey as the motorway was empty and the airport is very close to the city centre. I was rather sad to hand in the C4 as driving an EV is really nice. Everything is smooth and it is quiet, just the hum of the electric motor penetrates the car. The nice smooth roads also means the road noise is very low. It makes for relatively stress free driving.

We had a bit of a wait to check in as the machines were not working but even if they had been we still wouldn’t have been able to go through security as there was no-one to take our bags.

I thought boarding was 30 minutes before take-off but it turned out it was 40 minutes. We had been taking our time when, suddenly, we saw it was boarding so we walked quickly to our gate to find that there was another check. This time to go through the border. It was very slow but eventually we got through and were not quite the last people on board.

Our French adventure ended. It was onto a London adventure.