Salam
This is the continuation of yesterday's entry Unplanned "honeymoon" in London. As I've mentioned before, I had to be in London and Toulouse for the purpose of academic visit to universities & institutions with another guy lecturer from my department. Thus, hubby was 'forced' to accompany me for the one week trip.
Toulouse lies on the south-western side of France, within the region known as the Midi-Pyrénées.
The regional capital and known for its large resident population of student and it is also known as "pink city" (La Ville Rose) because of the reflections from the small bricks made from local clay used in many of its older buildings. Their colour varies from red to dark pink, according to the metal content, and gives the city a rosy complexion all of its own, especially in gentle sunlight.
+- pink reflections from the small bricks -+
Toulouse and its region are home to many high-tech aeronautics and aerospace industries. Prestigious schools specializing in this sector are one of the attractive features of this major university cluster which also includes prestigious engineering schools and scientific institutes. More than 35,000 of the innercity's 400,000 citizens work in the civil aviation or space industries; Airbus / EADS is the largest employer in the region.
+- aerospace city -+
So here are some of the places that we've visited during the 3 days 2 nights stay in Toulouse :-
(1) Toulouse-Matabiau
The main railway station, with regional and national services which is situated right in front of our hotel. We stayed at ibis style hotel which is just 15 minutes walking distance to the center of Toulouse i.e. Capitole.
+- located exactly in front of the Ibis Style hotel -+
+- Ibis Style Hotel, Toulouse -+
(2) Canal du Midi
The Canal du Midi meaning canal of the two seas is a 241 km long canal in Southern France. The canal runs from the city of Toulouse down to the Étang de Thau near the Mediterranean.
+- breathtaking view of Canal du Midi -+
(3) Capitole
The Capitole is the heart of the municipal administration of Toulouse. It houses the city hall, as well as the Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse opera company and a symphony orchestra. The Salle des Illustres contains 19th century works of art.
+- Capitole station -+
+- one of the landmark building in Toulouse *I forgot the name* -+
+- inside the city hall -+
+- orang suruh menghayati lukisan, bukan menghayati kerusi :p -+
+- orang suruh menghayati lukisan, bukan suruh posing :p -+
+- at the heart of Capitole -+
+- cookies, anyone? -+
(4) Musée des Augustins
The Musée des Augustins de Toulouse is a fine arts museum in Toulouse, France which conserves a collection of sculpture and paintings from the Middle Ages to the early 20th century. The paintings are from throughout France, the sculptures representing Occitan culture of the region with a particularly rich assemblage of Romanesque sculpture. Tapi kitorang tak masuk pon, posing kat luar je eheh.
+- posing depan pintu je -+
(5) Cathedrale St-Etienne
Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Toulouse is a Roman Catholic cathedral, and a national monument of France, located in the city of Toulouse. Only hubby & my colleague enter the cathedral while I waited outside and thinking on whether I should buy myself a LV handbag as the boutique is located nearby to the cathedral. Last2 tak beli pun, sebab errr sebab tak dapat restu dari incik hubby ngeeee.
+- senyum tak ikhlas sebab kepala duk terbayang2 henbeg LV kat butik depan mata -+
(6) Pont Neuf
The Pont Neuf, French for "New Bridge" is a 16th-century bridge in Toulouse. The bridge is not symmetrical; the longest arch is the third from the right-hand bank. It is 220m long, and has 7 arches.
+- gambar tak terang sangat, guna kamera ipong je -+
Thankfully although it was in the Autumn season, the weather was not as cold as in London during the day. Dapatlah jalan2 tak payah pakai jaket tebal sangat.
+- dua orang ni siap pakai short sleeve t-shirt lagi -+
+- jaket pegang kat tangan je -+
To me, there's not much to explore in Toulouse and it is not really a tourism city like London or Paris. Also, the souvenirs sold here is not as cheap as the one sold in London or Paris. But the view of the Canal du Midi is breathtaking thus Toulouse is a city suitable for those who wanted to enjoy the nature.
Pssstt : Johor tak cuti pun hari ni, eh tapi takpe sebab mulai 1 Januari 2014 hari bekerja ialah Isnin-Khamis yahooooooooooooooooooooooooo.
#info gathers from TripAdvisor
~ Thanks for reading this (^-*) ~