After being in a tiny village for a few days these ladies were itching to hit the big smoke.
We decided to leave PP (our hire car) at home and take the train instead.
Getting on a train in regional France is a novelty for me, especially when it involves a treat at the other end (add a restaurant car on board and I'm in a spin). A treat can be anything from a lunch to a little shopping spree. Who am I kidding the two generally go hand in hand.
Today's destination...Toulouse.
Hanging out for our morning cafe creme we couldn't wait to disembark and hunt down somewhere for our first coffee of the day.
Marthe was a winner as the tables outside had our name all over them. The coffee was good and as we sipped away in the sunshine, few words were exchanged as we just enjoyed the moment.
Marthe was a winner as the tables outside had our name all over them. The coffee was good and as we sipped away in the sunshine, few words were exchanged as we just enjoyed the moment.
Fuelled up we were ready to explore.
The capital of the Midi-Pyrenees region, Toulouse had a really lovely energy - busy, but relaxed.
We spent the morning wandering the back streets, ducking in and out of stores, enjoying the sunshine, and admiring the architecture. Toulouse's nickname is la Ville Rose ("the Pink City") due to the pinkish terracotta bricks.
I absolutely fell in love with Rue Fermat. It was my favourite hands down.
"Fish & chips" for lunch at Chez Jacques washed down with a lovely drop of Rose over much discussion about what we'd buy that afternoon. There was a lot on the agenda.
What I really liked about this place was that is was full of locals and the waitress didn't speak a word of English. I loved listening to snippets of conversation at the next tables, picking up words here and there, and pretending that these two aussie chicks were just part of the crowd.
Not a dish either of us would normally choose, especially in France, but we got there a little late and our choices were limited. It was a large serving and the almonds in the coating on the fish was something I hadn't tried before. Would I order it again? Probably not, but the fries went down well.
Time for one more cafe creme before we call it a day. Let's be honest there's ALWAYS time for one more coffee.
As you can see from the line above Flowers Cafe is popular, and even though the service wasn't overly quick, the wait was worth it as the coffee was good. We'd ordered an apple tart to share, as we're watching our weight (cough splutter!), but got this berry crumble instead. We didn't let on that a mistake had been made as it was very tasty, and after all we had a train to catch in about 1/2 hour.
There's nothing better than ending the day with some goodie bags, hence the smile on Aggie's face.
Mission accomplished. We'd ticked all our boxes and it was time to board the train back to Figeac.
Toot toot! x
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