Travel: Toulouse

I hope you all had a lovely Easter break full of good company, good food and chocolate! Olivier and I went to Toulouse and Bordeaux for the long, four-day weekend to see some friends and it was b-e-a-u-tiful – the sun was out and we managed (it was hard, I know) to enjoy some lunches al fresco; we even came back with a couple of red noses! So here’s the first of my posts on the trip, focusing on the gorgeous city of Toulouse in the southwestern part of France.

The city gets its nickname la Ville Rose (“the Pink City”) from the pinkish terracotta-shaded brick buildings that line its streets. Perfect pastel-shaded shutters and beautifully peeling doorways add to its character – one of the best parts of the stay was simply walking the streets, soaking up the atmosphere, and mainly consisting of me taking LOTS of photos of door, after door, after window, after window. The small meandering alleyways are home to cute boutiques, boulangeries selling the most delectable pastries and wine bars to take the French apéro (a delightful interlude between the day’s activity and a pleasurable meal where you can enjoy some beers or a glass of wine over saucisson or cheese).

Toulouse’s food culture is greatly influenced by nearby Spain (about two or three hours away by car) so we tried a traditional, rustic restaurant, Le Point d’Ogre – partly housed in a cellar – that serves a great big basket of crudités and charcuterie followed by a choice of punchy meat dishes (I had a buttery gratin of confit de canard and potatoes) as well as a small, intimate tapas place that merges French and Spanish cultures with dishes such as pan con tomate, thin slivers of duck on garlicky toast, melting marrowbone and the most delicious, mouth-watering Serrano ham. I can’t recommend particularly touristy things to do, except walk around, do as the locals do and best of all, enjoy the food and drink – it really was superb. But for now, a little architectural photo tour…

A lovely boutique called La Manufacture where I bought a soy candle that the shop owner had made herself using vintage glass bowls and cups. It also had beautiful cushions, prints and bags – I could have bought the whole shop!

All images my own