Sep 15, 2009 - Toulouse, France

We decided to enter France through Toulouse on a cheap EasyJet ticket, stay a couple of nights and then move on to southern France. ... So we bought the air tickets and, voila!, found there were no hotels rooms available in Toulouse for the two nights we planned to stay there. ... just simple bad travel karma: we would not have imagined that we would have a problem finding a room in Toulouse! We did find one for the night we arrived, so we had a bed and internet access to organise the next stop, which turned out to be Bordeaux, rather than southern France. ... We left Toulouse 16 hours after arriving, without seeing any sights or taking a single photo. ...

Jul 15, 2009 - Avis Ambush

At the Avis Depot The manager had managed to find someone in Avis Paris who could speak English to inform me that teh Police were looking for me since I was seen driving away from the accident and my tags were taken -- I informed her that i did drive away but only after looking for the vehicle owner and putting my details under the wiper -- this was standard practise in US and UK.At the Avis Depot The manager had managed to find someone in Avis Paris who could speak English to inform me that teh Police were looking for me since I was seen driving away from the accident and my tags were taken -- I informed her that i did drive away but only after looking for the vehicle owner and putting my details under the wiper -- this was standard practise in US and UK....

Jul 14, 2009 - Last day of vacation & Police Chase

We had an early start to get Jim to Pau for his flight back -- I had been so tired for teh last few days that I couldn't decide where to go after dropping Jim off -- I was in a part of teh Country that I knew and had seen and I knew the van had to be returned the next morning to Toulouse -- So I began driving aimlessly around looking for inspiration -- I decided to go to Oloron St Marie I place I used to go to regularly with a woman I thought I knew -- I even found the house which we rented and could see Christian working in the Garden -- I decided to just keep driving since to start a conversation would just bring more questions than answers I kept pulling over to find a place to catch a few zzzz but although i was tired I couldn't sleep. ... So I drove slowly up the Autoroute to a Aire that I knew and arrived there mid afternoon -- Although I had not accomplished much that day I was bushed -- I knew this rest stop was 20 mins from teh depot and it had all teh cleaning / toilet dumping / quiet overnight aspects that I needed.We had an early start to get Jim to Pau for his flight back -- I had been so tired for teh last few days that I couldn't decide where to go after dropping Jim off -- I was in a part of teh Country that I knew and had seen and I knew the van had to be returned the next morning to Toulouse -- So I began driving aimlessly around looking for inspiration -- I decided to go to Oloron St Marie I place I used to go to regularly with a woman I thought I knew -- I even found the house which we rented and could see Christian working in the Garden -- I decided to just keep driving since to start a conversation would just bring more questions than answers I kept pulling over to find a place to catch a few zzzz but although i was tired I couldn't sleep. ... So I drove slowly up the Autoroute to a Aire that I knew and arrived there mid afternoon -- Although I had not accomplished much that day I was bushed -- I knew this rest stop was 20 mins from teh depot and it had all teh cleaning / toilet dumping / quiet overnight aspects that I needed....

Mar 15, 2009 - Toulouse

took a train to Toulouse. ... Toulouse is nicknamed Villa de la Rosa because the buildings are a pinkish (or light orange) color. ... My host was a very generous Turkish student of philosophy named Dogu (pronounced Doh).took a train to Toulouse. ... Toulouse is nicknamed Villa de la Rosa because the buildings are a pinkish (or light orange) color. ... My host was a very generous Turkish student of philosophy named Dogu (pronounced Doh)....

Aug 1, 2008 - Toulouse, France

Our first stop in France is the beautiful city of Toulouse. ... What a fantastic opener for our trip - a shame we only had the one night there! We met a nice Aussie gal on the plane who has been living in Toulouse for six years so she was able to help us sort our way from the airport to our hotel. ... Thankfully the weather was kind to us on the first day, cloudy and mild temps, but all that walking still made us thirsty enough to stop off at cool little Irish pub called ‘The George and Dragon’ - this drink was for you Dad!! The next day we met up with Selena for brekky as she is living and working not too far from Toulouse. ...

Feb 29, 2008 - Continuing through France to Toulouse

Internet problems prevented me from uploading the photos and publishing this entry, so it is not exactly in "real time". We left Nice reluctantly and in my case, with a touch of the French equivalent of Bali belly which didn't improve the journey to Toulouse. ... Just getting to both destinations made space travel look easy given our marvellous command of French, and involved an experience of the Toulouse metro which is fully automated - no driver, no ticket seller, no humans. ... Airbus understandably was security conscious - a full passport check in advance and another when we got there, no cameras etc.Internet problems prevented me from uploading the photos and publishing this entry, so it is not exactly in "real time". We left Nice reluctantly and in my case, with a touch of the French equivalent of Bali belly which didn't improve the journey to Toulouse. ... Just getting to both destinations made space travel look easy given our marvellous command of French, and involved an experience of the Toulouse metro which is fully automated - no driver, no ticket seller, no humans. ... Airbus understandably was security conscious - a full passport check in advance and another when we got there, no cameras etc....

Oct 22, 2007 - Toulouse

We get an early start Monday, 9am - beautiful day, 18 degrees but end up spending 2 hours driving around Toulouse trying to find information about the Airbus factory, accommodation, laundry and internet. ... We were spoilt in Norway.We get an early start Monday, 9am - beautiful day, 18 degrees but end up spending 2 hours driving around Toulouse trying to find information about the Airbus factory, accommodation, laundry and internet. ... We were spoilt in Norway....

Aug 12, 2007 - Ce qu'on a aimé, et ce qu'on n'a pas aimé....

Ca y est, on est rentré après un long voyage.Ca y est, on est rentré après un long voyage....

Jun 4, 2007 - Toulouse

Thursday 31 May So we arrived in Toulouse after a two hour trip on the TGV. ... Toulouse is famous for being the "pink city" - we think it is actually red but we don't want any arguments. ... Back in Toulouse, we went to a student hang out for dinner ("Plat du Jour 8. ... So, again another lazy day but this time we took advantage of the European "the first sunday of the month is free at museums" convention and went to Les Abbatoirs, Toulouse's large contemporary art museum. ...

Sep 4, 2006 - Lamastre, France

We caught a train to Valence, then a bus to Lamastre.We caught a train to Valence, then a bus to Lamastre....

Aug 12, 2006 - Toulouse, France

We eventually arrived at Toulouse around 11am to find Mum waiting for us. ... Our late arrival had somewhat scuppered our original plans to go up into the Pyrenees for the day, so instead we went on a canal boat tour around Toulouse. ... We spent most of the rest of the afternoon looking about Toulouse - Korina found a kitchen / glassware shop that she was able to drool over for a while and I enjoyed multiple cups of strong French coffee. ... Other than being a rugby playing heartland, Toulouse was also (in)famous for a number of race riots late last year. ... We initially walked across Toulouse to the botanical gardens before wandering back towards our hotel. ...

Aug 10, 2006 - Toot-toot, we`re in Toulouse

Today Bella and I became Thelma and Louise, left little Joshy in the hands of his father and hit the highway bound for Toulouse. ... Another hour and a half or so down the highway - where the speed limit of 130 kph seems to be interpreted as 150 kph by most drivers and 170 kph by Irene - and we were in Toulouse, the home of Airbus Industrie, and the new 800-seat giant 'Airbus 380' jet which is currently going through the motions of becoming airborne. ... She and Irene became friends when Irene lived in Toulouse, and Hugette has become something of a spiritual advisor to her. ... He was continuing the family sailing tradition and had retired 3 years ago (although he was only 39 - one year and eight days older than me to be precise) and now spent his days mooching around in Toulouse or sailing around the Med on his yacht which was moored in Perpignon (where we'd watched the Jimmy Cliff concert last week). ...