This weekend was our first free weekend. No excursions, no meetings, no pique-niques… the schedule even said “libre.” So, being the bold and brave travelers that we are, Lauren and I decided that “we should go somewhere this weekend. Where? I dunno, but somewhere besides the cinema!”
A quick look at the map and Toulouse was chosen. Add a general invite to everyone standing around us, and a group was formed. Our first official adventure! (Although in French it is une excursion, because avoir une aventure, literally translated as “to have an adventure”, actually means to have an affair. I was given this little lesson on Monday morning when my teacher asked me what I did this weekend and I said “Je suis allée au Toulouse pour avoir une aventure!” She looked slightly horrified before correcting me.)
8am train to Bordeaux for the 8:25 train to Toulouse… ran through the Bordeaux station in search of Quai 6, in the process almost getting on the TGV to Paris. After the man in the official hat instructed us to “montez-la!” we promptly hopped on the train only to see the doors close swiftly behind us and the train exit the station. I get the feeling that I will find it unfortunate that the trains leave on time here in the near future.
Two hours later, we arrived! In the rain! After a quick stop for some baguette and café and a look at a very undescriptive map with lots of symbols, we set out for the Office du Tourisme, in hopes of a) directions to the hostel and b) a real map.
Thankfully, both were accomplished (due most likely to the fact that the girl at the counter spoke broken English and I speak broken French), and we set out for our next destination: the Cité de l’Espace. Toulouse is the hub/plant/place of creation of Airbus, Concorde, and the Ariane 5 rocket, and they have an entire “city” dedicated to this. It has a moonbounce chair, a planetarium, and an IMAX, among other attractions. We decided to walk there, to counteract the copious amounts of pain au chocolat and bread that we’ve all been eating.
Alas, the path was abound with distractions. After a stop at the Église des Jacobins and the Musée des Augustins (free with student card!) we looked at the map and calculated how far we had walked and how much further we had to go. The result? Not very far and VERY far. Thus, we wandered through centre-ville and located a café, where we consumed more café and proceeded to be “French.” Two hours later, we headed out for the nearest metro station, successfully navigating ticket buying and metro-mounting. Then, we proceeded to walk down a very long street and discovered that we should have gotten off the metro one stop earlier… the story has a happy ending though, because after our long trek uphill, we arrived at the hostel!
After this, we learned two very important things: first, the hostel was full, and second, there is only one hostel in all of Toulouse.
Our plan of attack after this mild moment of panic was to head to Champion, the nearby grocery store, in hopes of finding a tour book or pamphlet with cheap lodging. Fate smiled on us, however, and we asked the security guard if he knew of any cheap hotels. After he switched positions with his colleague, he took us back to the hostel (slight communication barrier), then to the metro stop, helped us buy tickets, gave us directions, wrote down his phone number, and instructed us to call him after he got off work at 8 if we couldn’t find anywhere to stay. He and his jolie femme (beautiful wife) had three rooms and we were welcome to stay there. Ah, the French.
Returning to our point of entry, the train station, we inquired about switching tickets to that night, instead of the following morning. The last train out was at 9:30, and the window closed at 7:30, giving us an hour and a half to find someplace to sleep.
Wandering through the streets of Toulouse (okay, so we went 200 feet away from the train station), we came across a hotel promising a room for four for only 64 euros. This was equivalent to the price of a night at the hostel, so we decided it was a possibility. As luck would have it, room 105 was available, with two double beds, a full size bath, and a balcony! We handed over the cash and the concierge handed over the TV remote.
After a short trip to the store across the street, we returned to our luxury accommodations with food and wine, turned on the France-Austria football game, and proceeded to enjoy ourselves. Basically, we had no idea where we were in Toulouse (aside from “near the train station”) and were in the presence of a functioning television, something that none of us had seen for the better part of two weeks, so we were quite content to stay at the hotel and stare at the TV screen.
The next morning, Lauren, Jaime and I headed out to the corner café and consumed some cappuccinos, returning to the hotel for check out at 11. We then headed to centre-ville, stopping at a fresh meat and fish (and pasta and pastry and bread) market… quite a sight, to say the least.
Then we headed to the Sunday morning flea market, somewhat of a tourist and local attraction for the Toulousians… you could literally buy anything. Comic books? Sure! Purses? Why not? Olives? But of course! A zipper? Definitely!
After stopping to admire the basilica nearby, we headed to yet another café, where we indulged in crepes and salads. The food here is beginning to be a problem… there is far too much of it and it is far too good.
After that, it was off to the train station, where for a measly 3.10 euros we traded our tickets in for an earlier train ride, which turned out to be a wonderful idea, because the train we were on was a TGV headed to Paris after it stopped in Bordeaux. This means that the seats were huge, comfy, and had lights. We arrived in Bordeaux slightly delayed and missed our train to Pessac; instead, we hopped on the tram, along with everyone else at the train station. Finally, around 8, we made it back to the dorms (our train left at 4 and is only supposed to be a 2-2 ½ hour ride).
Post-drop off of all our stuff, Lauren and I headed to Chez Mario, where we proceeded to order and consume an entire large pizza in about 15 minutes. Lauren and I are approximately the same size, so this was a feat to behold.
Following our speed-eating session, we returned to the dorms to unpack, admire our souvenirs, and prepare for our second test of the season, another lovely placement test au DEFLE. One successful weekend for the books… and since we didn’t make it to the Cité de l’Espace, perhaps a day trip is in order later in the season…
1 comment:
PURPLE TOILET PAPER!!!!!????? did you snatch some???? your weekend adventure sounds amazingly awesome!!! miss ya!!
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