Day 15, our last full day in France.

Some final shots from Arreau,

and now we're on to Toulouse, "Paris without the edge"

The tower of St. Sernin, the largest Romanesque building in Europe

The Apse of St. Sernin

La Place du Capitole was hosting a  3 on 3 basketball tourney.

I love the juxtaposition of the female basketball player taking a cigarette break in middle of this 16th century place in France's 4th largest city.

Couvent des Jacobins, houses the tomb of Thomas Aquinas

Site of our last meal in France, "4 Z'Arts"

Not a Hostess Cupcake, it's moelleux chocolat!

 La Garrone

Le Pont Neuf, started in 1544 and compete in 1632

What the heck is that red devil doing?

Day 15

This morning we said goodbye to the Pyrenees and all our friends at the Hotel d’Angleterre.  I don’t think I’ve stayed in a better hotel; the quality of the rooms, the food, and the staff could not be better suited to our taste!  It’s also nice to return to a hotel and recognize and be recognized by the staff, and to recognize and be recognized by your fellow guests.  Having breakfast and dinner in the hotel provides many opportunities to interact with other guests and that is certainly one of our highlights when traveling.  Whether it’s in a hotel in the Pyrenees, or a campground in Georgia, it’s so energizing to talk to others and discover that you have so much in common.

We left Arreau at 9:30 AM and we were in Toulouse by 11:15 AM.  We parked our car at a public lot under Place du Capitole, which is right in the center of the city.  Toulouse has a population of 437,00, and over 100,000 are students.  It’s a lively, thriving city with beautiful buildings, many museums, and expansive shopping.  Some say it's Paris without the Edge.

We walked about the city checking out some of the historic buildings & churches before having lunch at a funky and very highly rated café. “Les 4 Z’arts” on Place de la Daurade. The Place overlooks a park and the Garonne River.  This was to be our last meal in France, and it did not disappoint.  Joni enjoyed Basque style veal with rice, and I had beef tartare with fries and a salad.  We both had dessert and coffee, again, this was our last meal.

After lunch we walked along the river before touring the Foundation Bemberg museum, which is housed in one of the most beautiful buildings in Toulouse.  The foundation represents the private collection of Argentinian George Bember.   The collection includes the works of Rodin, Picasso, Monet, Renoir, Sisely, and Gaugin as well as many artists from the 15^ththrough the 20^thcentury.  

Leaving the museum we enjoyed our walk back to the car through the narrow, winding streets of Toulouse that were filled with high end shops that included clothes, jewelry, cycling, toys, and music.  There must be a lot of wealth in this city.

From the center of the city we drove to our hotel, the Radisson Blu, which is next to the airport. We dropped off our luggage in our hotel room, and then turned our car in to Avis.  Our total mileage for this trip was 2480 km=1550 miles.  Our Renault Captur performed perfectly.

Returning to our hotel room via the Radisson shuttle, we watched the last six riders complete the individual time trial in the final competitive stage of the Tour de France on TV.  We were pleased with the outcome, and overall we think it was an exciting and competitive Tour, and for us I think we had our best Tour viewing experience in the eleven years that we’ve been lucky enough to enjoy.

Our flight to Montreal leaves at 8:10 AM, so we’ll be up very early tomorrow.  Our plane lands at 10:00 AM.  We plan to stop for lunch in Quebec’s Eastern Township village Sutton, and hopefully be back in Sugar Hill by late afternoon.

C’est tout.

I room, the Fauve room, the impressionists...