Toulouse

TOULOUSE AND ALBI - We tarried in Toulouse on the banks of the Garronne, tippled with Toulouse- Lautrec in Albi and trod on the banks of the Tarn.

Toulouse is a large, working city with a sizeable student population and a cosmopilitan feel due to the aeronautical industry which is based close to the city. It is a no nonsense sort of city, grimy but laid back and lively at night time. The city is spread along the banks of the Garronne with beautiful old pink buildings and some wonderful churches. The river in the long summer evenings is a place to relax and stroll and generally has a gathering of young people enjoying the slow sunsets on the terraces, making music, conversation and playing petanque.
The churches are amazing when you consider the time they were built, 11th and 12th centuries. Built to impress, convert and subdue, the size, architecture, stained glass windows and impression of power and wealth must have had a powerful effect on a population that was largely living in mud and stone houses- they are impressive to us today. A visit to the town and the cathedral on market day would have had most of the population quaking in their shoes and prepared to toe the line for the rest of the week at least.