Hotel Palladia Toulouse

... again where the bus was, and explained to the 2 spanish bus drivers i didnt have a ticket as the office was closed. one of them spoke english and said if i had the money i could get on and buy the ticket in Nantes, the next stop.

And so after 17 hours of sleep, wake, sleep wake, eat, sleep a bit more, eat, and stay awake to see the mountainous landscape of Barcelona come into view.

4 weeks in France and my autopsy is that the french need to lighted up a little. Sure ...

... discovered girls share universal qualities and passtimes. I played the game with them but had to have someone translate everything for me because they spoke only french and used lots of slang. It was fun though.

The next day I met up with Matthieu the french guy and we walked up into the mountains. The walk up had two paths one flat and steep the other with stairs both required a lot of energy, which I realized I had not much of. Either way each level provided ...

Visiter quelques musées gratuit, (à cause du festival ''printemps à Toulouse'') c'est toujours rentable !

Nous avons fait le musée des augustins. Il y a plein de statues et de vieilles pieces murales des églises de Toulouse.

Ensuite la Basilique St-Sernin, très jolie puisque son cloché est illuminé le soir.

Et finalement les Abattoirs, avec un tat d'art dont du ne comprend jamais vraiment la signification (l'art modern...).

... t wait to be on the road again….). At about 5 pm or so, both of us were getting stir crazy from being stuck in the car. I was bored. I would have liked to drive, but we only registered Conrad for the car. I tried to work on a puzzle book, but after about 45 minutes of this, I began to get car sick. I just can’t read in the car anymore.

We finally arrived in Toulouse around 5:30 or so. Conrad called Claude and he came to meet us ...

... people (not begging) but living under some bridges along the canal. As I passed by them, I began to wonder about how life can take a turn this way. Here were people without a set address living their lives out in the open (like us). They had meager belongings (all we have fits in a few bags), but they were taking care of everything. Newly washed clothes (although worn) were hanging ...

... to make conversation. This is a nice change as no other cyclists have done this before. So we try to ask about the upcoming town (which is where he lives) and if there is any camping (yes!). But instead of moving on, he kept cycling with us. So we kept attempting conversation with little snippets and broken fragments with the few words I can string together.

We ended up cycling together the full 5 km or so ...

... would lower itself out of the way upon keycard command, allowing access by vehicles with permission. The light rail system whisked load after load of people off to work and to school, with trains less than 5 minutes apart. UNESCO, the United Nations group in charge of education, science and culture, has named Bordeaux an outstanding urban and architectural ensemble, and we agreed. As a tourist "hot spot" there may be more to see in other ...

Bonjour la France, Bonjour le Québec! (accent francais) C'est sur une note beaucoup plus positive que Toulouse nous a acceuilli.Entre autre pcq c'est la plus ****in nice auberge de jeunesse de la terre... LA TERRE! Ultra propre, tout est neuf, douche et toilette dans la chambre, bien insonorisé, on est seulement 2 dans la chambre, ya une cuisinnette, un centre d'acces à l'emploi et au logement, c'est tout pret du centre-ville... et j'en ...

... a dog in bright orange coat, I say Nathalie, and it is her. I had asked 4 others preceding this and was starting to feel a little foolish. She is such a loverly woman and we hit it off immeadiately I think a lot has to do with the emails we had exchanged prior to me arriving. We walk back to her apartment which is in the centre of town and I view my first couch (it really is a bed!). What a great way to start my couchsurfing ...

Out of Milan and in to France, where we can communicate and live much more easily! We decided to fast-track our plans after the last net café update of the blog, ending up exploring Milan a little more and visiting the Musical Instruments Museum (which was in the large castle near the hotel) on the same day (first full day in Milan). The museum was good, although it offered little for Charles, I think we counted 3 brass instruments in total. There were many ...