Toulouse 12 -17 June

The train strike continued but there were some trains running and we managed to get to to Toulouse by the time the heat of the day was making itself felt. The bike ride to Cornebarrieu, where we stay, is about 15km, and necessitated a stop for a beer after the Blagnac bridge. Nothing quite like it! The barman kindly refilled our already empty water bottles as well. The excellent cycle path takes us past the Blagnac airport, a hive of activity! Planes in and out all the time, seeming very large overhead! Once on the main road we fortunately recognised the street we were to turn into (from last year). Ann was waiting for us and had saved us some lunch!

We had timed our passage in Toulouse to coincide with the Bonrepos-Riquet fundraising weekend. We had intended to help on the Saturday but with the train strike making our arrival uncertain, someone else had taken over that particular job and we found ourselves with a free day - and Isabelle was able to drive down to spend the day and the night with us. Isabelle spent a couple of years in New Zealand about 20 years ago and we both like to keep in touch.

We had beautiful shade in the garden to do our catching up, before deciding to go into Toulouse - a Toulouse which has changed even since last year, where the buses no longer pass in front of the Virgin store, as neither the bus stop nor Virgin is there now. Highlight of our little promenade has to be the icecreams we had at a (shady little) cafe in a square - or triangle - full of cafés and people, this hot, hot afternoon. Philippe Faur is a 'name' in icecream and the creations were certainly special.

Sunday we said goodbye to Isabelle and went out to the Chateau Bonrepos -Riquet, which the fundraising is for (restoration). Not just the house (chateau) but also the extensive grounds and the testing grounds for the water supply to the future Canal du Midi. With an area of over 2 hectares, consisting of a reservoir of water and 300m of canal, the machine hydraulique allowed Riquet to experiment with the amounts of water he would need to feed his canal. He did this for 5-10 years before entering into the construction of it.

Interesting feature-of-the-day is the 'icebox' (glacière), which we had seen last year but not really got into the idea. In the seventeenth century, having things chilled so that they would keep was a real luxury, as was the making of icy desserts. Riquet had his built in 1652 and had ice brought down from the glaciers of the Pyrénées to fill it. The structure looks rather like an ancient tomb, sunk partly into the ground, 7 metres deep, 5 metres wide, with an elbow at the entry point to keep the cold in. It held an enormous quantity of ice!

Having promised the neighbours that we would dress in costume, we spent a very pleasant day, wandering, listening to talks, eating from time to time, watching dances from centuries past...and taking part in the parade of costumed people. 

And the whole five days we all talked and talked and talked! Thank you so much, our wonderful hosts! See you January at our place?!

Sète

Having sorted what to take on the bike and what to leave (the jackets we wore for the first two weeks and will need in September stay in Lyon, for example), we set off on a TER (regional) train for Sète. These trains are not TGVs (the fast trains) but go like the clappers when they can. They stop more often and for longer than a TGV and are very comfortable for people with bikes. 

We had a huge space to ourselves, bikes included. And access to five power points to charge our electronics, although we used only one, and that briefly.

It was great to see Armelle and co again and since there was a train strike we decided to stay an extra night. Their newly renovated apartment is spacious and light, close to the water with a view that just allows the blue of the sea to be seen. Sète has some photo exhibitions dotted around the town at present and we spent part of the day visiting some of these. One which doesn't seem like photos but was very interesting was comic-style [BD] documentaries, some of which involved immigrants' stories. We didn't see the whole exhibition, as we wanted to read all the extracts and it took a long time! 

It was market day in Armelle's street and we wandered along through a wide range of food, clothes, leather goods and more, stopping near the flower market for lunch under the shade of tall trees. 

The main cafe and kitchen were 3 steps up and over a wall and a street and the waiting staff were very skilled at negotiating the obstacle course with trayfuls of food, drink and empty dishes.

At the end of Armelle's day we drove out to one of the cafés on the long beach west of Sète. This is a marvellous spot to relax from a day's work and for Elie to have a bit of a splash in the sea. 

Most of the tables are set up on the sand though sheltered from the strong sun. A sea breeze cools. yes, I think this short excursion will be a lasting memory.


Merci à tous.

Lyon, Grenoble

Lyon

Lovely to be reunited with friends - and bikes - in Lyon. The temperature is noticeably warmer and we can no longer wear our heavier polar fleeces, in fact we are not wearing any jackets. Even at the late evening picnic. 

There are new roads, which were still roadworks when we were here last year. We've done some basic bike maintenance, visited the local shopping centre at Part-Dieu which continues to please us with its water feature, a fountain which has laser-lighting and water displays every so often. 

We've biked across town to spend the evening with a friend and his friends. We've been to a local park with music, dancers, stalls, games - an opportunity to  let locals meet people that live in the area, and to provide entertainment from local groups who can always use new members - Indian dancing, Bollywood style - for example. Also a group from the Capoeira centre - a Brazilian mix of dancing to music and clapping + martial arts movements. The 3 month old baby loved it and moved his limbs in time to the music. 

We've shared a picnic in the park in the cool of the evening ( still no jackets) and talked with a Frenchman who extoles the virtues of St Clair Sauvgnan Blanc, which he tasted in London and managed to buy on line in France. Not easy to find though.

Grenoble

A quick trip to see Alice during which we crammed much into 26 hours. An Italian 'brunch' of small helpings of wonderful dishes - a set menu with some choices.

A walk through some of the older streets of Grenoble, through the parks, to the funicular up to La Bastille fortress, a journey of about 260m, height-wise.










After the obligatory photographs and some educational reading of panels on the roof, we felt obliged to descend to the slightly cooler restaurant for some fridge-cold Perrier water, followed by more water! Something over 31 will not throw Australians or those in Abu Dhabi but it was pretty hot for the locals, and us!









The walk down was pleasant, though quite steep, and includes a few sets of stairs where we passed people carrying their bicycles up. There are several ways down and one is well-known in the cycling world.


Once down, more streets to explore - we noted the apartment of Stendhal's grandfather, the house where Rousseau spent a month once, and the hotel where Napoleon spent, was it, just one night, and so it is called the Hotel Napoleon.

The tram system is ultra-useful, with 4, nearly 5, lines, and even on a Sunday running every quarter of an hour. We were home in 10 minutes.

With the longest day not far away we ate fairly late in the evening brightness, backdrop of mountains, and delicious specialities of Grenoble whipped up by our cool host, Alice.

The longest street in Europe (seen from the fortress)



















Next morning, Pentecost, was a holiday, so after breakfasting with the same ultra-calm outlook we drove to a Spa town, Uriage-les-Bains, which has similarities with the spa section of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains near Chamonix but smaller. Large green parks with shady trees - perfect for a picnic. 

Train back to Lyon in less than an hour and a half - who could wish for more?

Orléans

25 May-4 June


Our time in Orléans was with family and we didn't do much to write about, however, Orléans has remodelled the town centre in the last few years and that is worth writing about. 

The cathedral has been cleaned, the tramways completed, the new railway station has come into use.

Finally the square with the statue of Joan of Arc has been completed and you don’t have to walk around the ever-changing detours. It’s very open and welcoming. 

Four photos of the new Place du Martroi.

The newly-cleaned cathedral viewed from the tramlines on the Rue Jeanne d'Arc. Tramlines going both north-south and east-west were finally finished in 2012. 

Tramways are often planted with grass, which looks great. The photo shows the tramway just near the railway station.

The new railway station, inaugurated in 2008, is very light and airy and escalators go from there to the shopping centre. Very handy.

And the médiathèque, dating from the mid-nineties and just along from the station is currently celebrating the 300th year of existence of a library in Orléans with a special exhibition of manuscripts, early books, maps and letters.

And for something completely different, there is always Memphis, specialising in burgers, mostly. And real American cheesecake, imported from the USA...

Oh, and you can get TimTams in the local supermarket...