So this time we chose Toulouse as our little getaway for 2022💓.
A little of the history of Toulouse._
This is the beautiful city on the banks of the river Garonne. For me it's one of the most interesting French cities. It's the 4th biggest after Paris, Lyon and Marselha. Toulouse stands out because of it's gorgeous buildings and for being the head office for various organisations related to aerospace. It's also very strategically located , being only an hour from the Pirinéus and it's majestic mountains. It's also about an hour from the Mediterranean beaches. In other words it's a fantastic holiday destination for any season.
The university of Toulouse is one of the oldest in Europe and was founded in 1229, with more than 103 million students
The airspace between Toulouse-Blagnac and Paris-Orly is the busiest in Europe and transported about 2,4 million passengers in 2014.
It's also known as the Ville Rose because of it's buildings being mostly constructed from red terracotta bricks. Toulouse has two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Canal du Midi and the St. Sernin Basilica, the biggest romantic building in Europe, due to it's importance for the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage route.
This is the guide we followed any questions please send us a message.
We stayed at this beautiful flat centrally situated in case anyone is interested https://www.airbnb.pt/rooms/42887021?source_impression_id=p3_1664104072_ESPXcPqz6Aml5Vrc
Day 1 (9th Sept 2022)
We flew (like always) with https://www.ryanair.com/pt/ and as we took an afternoon flight just an 1h 30 we landed and took the bus to Jean Jaures because that's where our flat was. Later after dropping off our luggage we went for a walk and our first stop was at
- Jardin Pierre Goudoulin a very relaxing place to just sit and relax. In the middle there is a fountain of a famous poet from XVII, Pierre Goudoulin
- Place du Capitole is the main square situated in the heart of the city and keeps busy all year round. Both residents and tourists like to go to the square in great numbers to spend warm summer evenings. You'll find the star signs and legend has it that you must stand inside the circle of your sign and make I wish. Naturally I did! Because it was evening we did not go inside this time but we did go later.
Views from inside our apartment
Our first meal in Toulouse 😀
Day 2 (10th Sept 2022)
- Place du Capitole once again it was impossible to go inside because being Saturday there was a market happening so...
- Hotel Bernuy it was built at the beginning of the 16th century by the architect and sculptor Louis Privat, the Hôtel de Bernuy marks Toulouse's entry into Renaissance architecture. Since 1567, the Hôtel has housed schools and is currently home to the Pierre de Fermat college and high school. It can only be visited by arrangement with the tourist office. When we were there it was undergoing lots of reforms.
- Lafayette Galeries Went to the roof top and had drinks and just sat and took in the amazing views of Toulouse roofs.
- Vitor Hugo Market we had a lovely time looking at all the food and drinks available and bought some food which we took home (since home was so close) and had an amazing lunch.
- Chapelle des Carmélitas it was built in the 17th century as a part of a former Carmelite convent in Toulouse.
- Basilique St. Sernin what impressed me the most was it's size, it's enormous! It is the largest Romanesque church in Europe. Originally built through the 11th to 13th centuries, the church was once a part of a Benedictine abbey that used to house pilgrims. It is still an important pit stop en route the Camino de Santiago annual pilgrimage that culminates in Spain.
- Museé St. Raymond is an archeological museum which opened in 1892. It showcases preserved exhibits and archaeological collections from as far back as the 4th century, through protohistory to the early Middle Ages.
- Convent des Jacobins under the church altar, the body of Saint Thomas Aquinas is buried, who was a revered monk, philosopher, and one of the early heads of the Order. Once the Dominican Order was dissolved during the French Revolution, the site underwent major restoration to become a museum.
- Notre Dame-du-Taur Notre-Dame du Taur is a Roman Catholic church. According to legend, the edifice was built on the exact spot where the body of Saint Saturnin (Sernin), patron saint of Toulouse, became detached from the bull that dragged the martyr to his death.
- Ponte St. Pierre Since July 18, the Saint-Pierre bridge has been closed to the circulation of cars. Its access is reserved for pedestrians and cyclists. This will continue until September 18 . A reopening is scheduled for September 20. Intended to calm traffic and this initiative also makes access to Toulouse Plages (at Quai Viguerie) and to the Raymond VI garden, which welcome a large public during the summer season, safer and more pleasant. Cyclists can take a two-way cycle path marked on the ground. When we were there it was closed to traffic.
After all this galavanting we went home for dinner and then out for drinks. Now enjoy the photos from our 2nd day in Toulouse!
Day 3 (11th Sept)
Being Sunday we put this day aside to go to Lourdes. We'd been there before but I was so impressed by the colours in Autumn and by the peace I found here that I'd promised to return whenever possible and so today was the day. We booked our tickets with blabla bus at 8.00 and arrived in Lourdes at 11:00. After a little walk we decided to have lunch at a Spanish Restaurant and we had paella and sangria (both delicious). From here we went to the Sanctuary and prayed for our family and friends. We sat and watched the people come and go and obviously went shopping for souvenirs. It was extremely hot on this day and we sort of went from shade to shade 😂 We left Lourdes at 17:00, again with blabla bus and with the same motorist (who was very professional) and arrived back in Toulouse at 20:00. We had dinner at the flat and decided to call it a day.
Day 4 (12th Sept.)
Today was one crazy day and we had to change our plans. Firstly we'd planned on going to visit Cité de l'espace but we found out it wasn't open on a Monday so without checking we went to the Museum of Natural History which wad also closed 😡 so we did the following on this day:-
- Jardin des Plantes it's public park and botanical garden built 200 years ago and spreading over 7 hectares. The entrance door of the garden is a reconstruction of one of the doors of the old Capitole, and dates back to 1886. This is the oldest public park in Toulouse. It houses a variety of plants with a collection of 1,300 species overall and nearly 100 species of deciduous trees and conifers.
- Notre-Dame de la Daurade The ancient building was constructed in 410 after Emperor Honorius instructed the conversion of the Pagan temple, which was dedicated to Apollo, into Christianity. The church’s name refers to the golden reflection given off by the mosaics of a gold leaf background that was decorated when the place became a church dedicated to the Virgin.
- Hotel d'Assézat it is a mansion and palace once owned by Pierre d'Assézat. The place is now home to Fondation Bemberg, a major private art gallery of the city where an exceptional collection of paintings can be found.
- École des Beaux Arts à Toulouse
- Pont Neuf the Pont Neuf or the New Bridge was built in the 16th century. Look for L'Enfant au bonnet d'âre or child with a dunce cap) We found him he's a red little chap 😈
- Museé Paul Dupuy it is dedicated to applied arts from medieval times and houses a collection of graphic art spanning from the Middle Ages to 1939.
After this we had lunch in Carnes and once again it was very hot and stuffy but in the afternoon we were lucky to get a little breeze
Day 5 (13th Sept.)
Today we caught the metro and went to see...
- Toulouse Museum it is a museum of natural history which houses a collection of more than 2.5 million items and features 8,000 exhibits over a floor area of 3,000 square meters. It focuses on showcasing the amazing diversity of life adaptations in different environments and educating people about our planet’s history along with its present biodiversity. From here we went home for lunch and in the afternoon went back to...
- Place du Capitole this time we got to go inside and we were absolutely amazed at it's beauty and all this at no charge at least the part we were allowed to see
- Les Abattoirs opened in 2000, it is located in a former slaughterhouse from 1823, which is from where it derives its name. Outside there is a lovely bar where you can sit down and have a drink looking at the beautiful River Garrone.
- The Garonne River runs for 357 miles through southwestern France and northern Spain. From its headwaters in the Pyrenees, it follows the Aran Valley northward into France, flowing through Toulouse on its way to Bordeaux, where it meets the Gironde estuary—which flows into the Atlantic Ocean at the Bay of Biscay.
The evening we stayed at home because we were too tired to move 😎
Day 6 (14th Sept.)
Today is our last day in beautiful Toulouse so we've decided to just roam around until it's time to take the metro to the airport. When we did finally take the metro half way to the airport there was an accident and one of the cars involved in the accident decided to come onto the tram line and so we couldn't move. We were all told to get off the tram and in no time the driver had called for a bus to come and take the passengers on the tram to the airport. All this took 10 minutes and we were on our way and in more than enough time for our flight back home. Cannot imagine this happening in Portugal, we'd probably still be walking to the airport aha.
So enjoy our last photos and I truly recommend Toulouse to anyone. It's a very short flight (for those that have a fear of flying like me) and there is loads to see and the public transport is excellent.
Once you have tasted flight you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward
for there you have been and there you'll always long to return!
