Cuq En Terrasses Cuq Toulza

We were up at 9 am and showered and ready to go by 10 am. We said goodbye to our host and made our way out of town. We were preparing ourselves for a day full of driving. We stopped and purchased some breakfast items and items for lunch on the road. We stopped in Montelimar for some nougat. That is what this town is famous for. Conrad spent about 30 minutes there b/c they had wi-fi, so he mapped where we were going. We were on the road again (just ...

... on the trip that has a reason behind the visit - about five years ago when I tried to re-learn French before going to Paris for the first time, I enrolled in a French class. One of the chapters in the text book had a fake tourism ad for Toulouse, and it seemed interesting, so here I am!

At the hotel, the attendant Gonzalo, was actually Chilean, and a really great guy. Another opportunity to practice Spanish! I asked him for a ...

... The building itself is fantastic. It is a14th-century monastery with an amazing cloister sculptures, magnificent carvings and some great early Christian sarcophagi. Within the building are sections of painting including by Toulouse-Lautrec, Gérard, Delacroix. One room is built out like a church with religious statues and paintings displayed in context. This is one of the best presented museums I have ever visited.

The narrow streets are full ...

... now very familiar tuna pasta in 6 minutes flat, only to find the replacement alcohol I'd purchased the day before didn't seem to last beyond a couple of minutes. Not long enough to soften the pasta.... argh! I still had a mobile phone signal, so Jean was trying his best to locate my position. Honestly, I could do with a GPS tag implant in my leg, it would be far easier.

As I was giving up on the stove, I saw a chap and a dog walking down ...

Distance (14 miles)

Hungover we found ourselves in a poor part of Toulouse where people were selling random items (like a single roller blade!?) on tarpauling. People kept trying to sell us cigerettes on the street. Then a load of Police came running round the corner and busted one of them by stealing the offenders cigarettes and stamping all 200 of them into the ground ...

... winds so fearce it was like a MASSIVE fan. Then the rain came. Confused we accidently ended up on a busy motorway. Then drivers started beeping us. With no hearing, no sight, and no control over the bikes we argued like a married couple/trio . . .

Finally arriving in Toulouse we managed to get 10 Euros off a room (because it smelt like someone had hidden KFC somewhere in the ceiling). We had a few drinks and headed out. We ...

... Feed myself in France? That was not a difficult task….

I don’t know if we would have ever made it to Toulouse had it not been for Mike’s work opportunity. I heard it was nice, but in the grander scheme of things it was never on our "must-do" list for France. There are hundreds of amazing destinations in France alone, not to mention the rest of Europe we are here to see! So, it was a nice surprise to ...

Merci aux colocs de caussade pour nous avoir accueilli, a Dad et Tiphaine pour etre presents a cette soiree. La route nationale pour y arriver etait agreable, surtout l etape au bord du lac avec le casanism hehe. Bon petit repas prepare par Alice en arrivant...et recherche du Guillaume le lendemain...il etait avec Dad..

... make me gape and look like a hungry baby bird.
Again, phenomenal food - the homemade chocolate mousse at lunch was to die for, a modern city with a university and home to the aeronautics industry in France, but with history under every step and with a unique, laid back feel. I enjoyed every sumptuous minute of traveling in this region.

This is a beautiful village, I can imagine when the Tour isn't rolling into town that not much happens but for the couple of days we were there it was full of life. The day of the cycling time trial was the hottest day of the decade which meant I was a miserable git for the whole day. Cycling was good through, Jan Jan takes the stage from Lance Armstrong.