Arriving

After a couple of late flights that necessitated airline changes, we arrived in Toulouse last night and found the place that we are staying pretty easily.  We were a bit tired so found a place to grab a glass of wine and a bite to eat and after that, got some sleep.

We are staying in a nice chambre d'hote that is centrally located in downtown Toulouse.  Even though we are on a fairly big street, the walls are double-thick and there was no noise at all from the cars or people wandering around.  And there looks to be a fun craft beer joint just a few doors down.  Tomorrow.

Our place has a nice courtyard that I put to good use for assembling the bike.  It came together in no time at all -- everything fit and I didn't lose any parts.  Well, I did lose my 2 CO2 cartridges as the TSA must have taken them out of my tools box when they inspected the big bike box in Redmond.  I checked FAA regulations and they said that I could carry up to 4 cartridges but I guess that the TSA doesn't talk to the FAA.  I guess that if we get a flat, I'll just have to use the pump that we have on the bike...

I remember how to do this....

After a great breakfast at the guest house (tons of bread, granola, home made yogurt, fruit, eggs (from the hens that live in the courtyard, above)) and plenty of much-needed coffee, we decided to make a list of stuff we need and wander around the old part of town to find it.

Toulouse is a pretty town and it appears to have some large universities.  The Garrone river and the Canal du Midi flow right through the center of town with the Garonne dividing the city into two halves.

Pont du Neuf over the Garrone, in the evening

Pont du Neuf

The old part of the city has lots of small streets that run sinuously between old buildings that house a variety of shops, tea houses, bars, etc.  You could find just about anything that you needed.  There are also many parks and open spaces where locals hang out on the weekends.

The Canal du Midi

The Opera House -- the city bikes are free for the first 1/2 hour

Our spot for a glass of wine

A monument to something or other

One of the city's parks

St. Etienne

Old town Toulouse

Old town

The Garrone

One of Toulouse's nicknames is the Pink City.  I'm not sure, but in the setting sun there was a pink(ish) glo

We had more things on our list than we'd expected.  I guess that another way of saying it would be that we forgot a lot more than we should have.  But we ticked everything off the list.  We even got a bike ride on the path that follows the Canal du Midi.  Just a short ride, but nice to check out the bike to be sure that I put the thing together correctly.  And it felt good to ride a bit.

Tomorrow we'll head out after another good breakfast.  We ride toward the Pyrenees.