Rainy Day in Toulouse

 

IMG_8761

Off to see some of the sights of Toulouse, we followed along an old friend. The Canal du Midi may not be navigable through Toulouse, but it runs right in in front of of our hotel. The only boat on this section was a permanently moored restaurant, but that still brought back many pleasant memories of canal boat trip of a few years ago.

 

IMG_8840

I have a fondness for stained glass windows, and they are certainly easy to find. Just walk into one of the many churches and look up.

 

IMG_3252

I have to hand it to Linda, she has her own things she is fond of, such as this mounted Koala Bear in the Natural History Museum. Will not bore you with the dozens of other photos she took, but I will say that this museum puts most of the ones we have seen in the States to shame. Plus most of the exhibits were in both French and English.

IMG_8885

Why is this woman smiling? Because after a walk in the rain (we did have our umbrellas) we literally stumbled upon a little restaurant that had baked chicken and mashed potatoes as their plat de jour. Talk about the perfect meal, this was almost it.

 

IMG_8886

And this was what made it a perfect meal, a dessert to die for. A hot crepe filled with real whipped cream and topped with thick rich chocolate. It had to be Sara N. Dippity who brought us here because you can’t just stumble onto places like this,

 

IMG_8892

And to think, we could have stopped in here and had a pizza. Nothing like a little touch of home to help you appreciate just how lucky we are are to able to travel.

 

IMG_8904

This plaque is located about 75 feet from the entrance to our hotel. Our friends, John and Judy know what it means in more ways than one. For everyone else, it is for the Bayard lock on the canal and gives the distances in both directions to the next lock. A rainy day at a lock on the Canal du Midi - it was one of those, you had to have been there – some three years ago to appreciate it things. (Like rain coming down so hard it literally filled your shoes to overflowing.)

To those who say they could never drive a boat on a canal in Europe, you’re right. To those who think they could do it, Do It!. It it will be something you will remember for a lifetime. I’m glad there are so many people who say they could never do things, because it makes it less crowded for those of us who do those same things.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Around the World in 128 Days - Arrival at Ft. Lauderdale and back home again

Image
  The Cruise is Over - May 11, 2024 - 5,904 Steps It was over months ago we walked out to this same spot shortly after we boarded the ship. Then it was a glorious and joyous afternoon, today it was a glorious but sad morning.  Instead of watching to see if could recognize our luggage being loaded aboard the Zuiderdam, it was watching to see if we could spot it being off loaded. The lineup of trucks bringing provisions for the next sailing that would be leaving a few hours. Trucks were lined up in the far distance awaiting their turn to unload. Port Everglades is a very busy cruise ship terminal. There was a staggering amount of food to be loaded onto the ship. A pallet of apples. A last look at the old home place that served us so well for the past mounts. Literally shutting the door on one of the most awesome adventures we have ever been on. But the fall of next year we will be opening the door on an another one. We patiently waited for our group, Gray 1, to be called. The luggage for
Read more

Around the world in 128 Days - San Juan, Puerto Rico

Image
  Travel Day 126 - May 8, 2024 - 7,666 Steps Joe and Patrick our room stewards who have gone way beyond and above to not only keep our room in perfect conditions, but also have a great sense of humor. If it looks familiar it's because it the same one I recently read. I mentioned to Linda I thought she would enjoy reading it, and she did. You never know how things like this are going to turn out. It proved to be great from original songs, standup comedians, dancing, musical instruments. There's talent hidden amongst the ship's passengers. It took a while after Jose And Grace were transferred  from the Lido, but in the opposite corner of the Lido we found Lisna, who was every bit as awesome as they were. David's history presentation, proving once again that only a tiny bit of history is about names and dates like we were taught in high school. A cartoon from several centuries ago portraying the effects of consuming too much sugar on the King of England. And it is a slight
Read more

Around the World in 128 Days - A Big Celebration on the Last Day at Sea

Image
  Travel Day 128 - May 10, 2024 - 6,604 Steps Today is luggage day, so the elevators were busy all day. A good many boxes were also going back. After 127 days it was time to say goodbye and celebrate the end of the around the world adventure. It was also a day for the last presentations. Ted used his to talk about the woman who discovered the method used to determine the age and size of the universe. Of the 9 brightest stars in the sky, 7 of them are further away from us than Sirius, the brightest one. To answer the question, it's no different than Russia has been for centuries. The communists are no different than the Czars of the past. Only the most ruthless get the top job. Ivan the Terrible would say, Well done Vlad. Our last Happy Hour in the Crow's Nest Life is more than good, it is fantastic. Going out in style tonight. I wonder how many dozen macadamia nut cookies I devoured during the cruise? It's one of those mysteries of the universe that will never be answered.
Read more