toulouse

So, this weekend I went to Toulouse! It was kind of a complicated trip, because half of our group had gone to Carcassone the night before and we met them in Toulouse, but people were coming and going and only some of us ended up staying the night. But it was fun.

Toulouse is a big city, so we didn't see the majority of it. One of the draws in Saint Sernin, which is the largest romanesque basilica in Europe! I don't have a good picture of the outside (the outside wasn't very impressive, anyway).

(Me in front of Saint Sernin's big doors).

(Saint Sernin definitely has the prettiest stained glass I've seen since arriving. It's made of more patterns that that of the other churches I've been too...I like them because most of them don't contain images, so they really look like windows that one could put anywhere and they would still work).

(The detail from one of the many World War memorials in France).

(Valerie and I split up from the rest of the group, because had arrived at 8 AM that morning and had already seen Saint Sernin. We went to the park and found a rooster (France's mascot!). We tried to bring him back to our friends but he ran away.)

Something interesting about France: from approximately 12-2, every cultural site closes. Because of our trip to Lourdes, and now Toulouse, we've become VERY used to sitting around in cafes for two hour stretches, or planning our lunch schedule very carefully. Literally, anything that any tourist would want to see (i.e. churches, museums, cemeteries, castles, etc), shuts its doors. It's very weird.

Next time: my French visa experience.