Toulouse

This is our last motoring day and we are very grateful to our delightful friends, the Matersons, who so kindly took on the task of driving us through the southwest of France.

We drove into Toulouse in the morning and immediately returned to car to Avis at the train station. Sounds easy - not so. Toulouse is a big city and the traffic is exactly what you would expect. That combined with an almost total lack of sign-posting had us driving around and up and down for about half-an-hour before some kind person took pity and asked if we were looking for the car-hire area.  After that it all fell into place.

Gare de Toulouse

Toulouse, what can you say?  It lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 150 kilometers from the Mediterranean Sea and 300 from the Atlantic Ocean. It is the fourth-largest city in France and the centre of the European aerospace industry. Its world renowned university is one of the oldest in Europe (founded in 1229) and, with more than 119,000 students, is the third-largest university campus of France.

Here, too, is the Basilica of St. Sernin, a UNESCO heritage site on the Route to the shrine of Santiago de Compostela.

Basilica of St Sernin

Many of the buildings are of pink stone, accounting for it being called the "pink city."  It is a city with a great history, great shops and great buildings.  We hope to be back to explore it in greater depth.

The "pink city"