Saturday 28th July

Had a better sleep last night, so after a late breakfast, I decided to hit the streets. I totally gave in to not looking like a tourist. So with my camera around my neck and map in my hand, I made my way around some of the more popular sites within walking distance from my hotel.

I first headed down to the church that I had stumbled across when I got lost on my run. This time it was surrounded by a Market. Basilique St Serin.








From there I made my way down to the one the more iconic sites in Toulouse - the Capitole. This is a big square dominated by the Capitole building. There was another bigger market happening in the square. On my way I was overtaken by a bride with her Dad on her way to get married.




There was a man playing a wind up wind instrument.





I continued to backtrack on the run I did the other day which takes me over the river La Garonne on the Point St Pierre bridge. Just like London at Westminster, there is a big Ferris Wheel on the other side of the river (not quite as big as the London Eye, but not a bad effort).






An A380 fresh from the factory coming into land in the back ground with Dome de la Grave in the foreground.

I explored the narrow streets, coming across fountains and churches hidden amongst them.







All of a sudden, I began to recognize where I was even though I had never been there before in my life. Back in NZ, I had gone onto street view in Google Maps, and I was now there! A bit surreal! So as I did on Google Maps, I crossed the Neuf Bridge back over the La Garonne, making my way to a park - Jardin des Plantes. To get there it was through yet more narrow streets with hidden churches.




The park reminded me of Hagley Park except for the bubble of people speaking French. I stopped for a quick breather and watched the world go by. I continued up and over a foot bridges that landed me in the middle of a round about, which was huge and it had a lovely fountain in it.



From here I slowly made my way back to the Hotel.

For the rest of the day I decided that it was time to get back into the car and go for a drive. I drove to the school the kids will be going to.




I had a bit of a drive around the area, and decided that it was not that nice a place to live, with lots of apartment blocks and very industrial. Further up the road, it was a different story, the little village of Cornebarrieu is very quaint, and I can see why a lot of ex-pats live here.

The person I took over from, lived in Mondoville which is also a lovely little village. So it was good to see that there were some nice places to live.





My Customer manager at Airbus, Cathie, lives in Pibrac. It is quite close to the school and yes it is quite nice as well.



Made my way back to the hotel with out too much trouble.

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Location:Allée Jean Jaurès,Toulouse,France