Day 17 – Toulouse, France

Last night, the loud neighbors out my windows in Toulouse, France, kept me up late. I got up around 1am to get some water, and I talked to Mamafer, who was on the couch with Evan, and she told me to crawl into bed with Mom and Kate. So I did. Kate was taking up over half the bed, sprawled out like a starfish, so I shoved her aside the best I could. I was relieved to wake up at 8am and find out our pet gecko had escaped out the bathroom window overnight.

We spent the day touring Toulouse, the fourth-largest city in France. It is known as the “Pink City” because of the number of terracotta brick buildings. We walked to the old town and spotted a carousel, so Mamafer bought us tickets, and we climbed on! I felt super-nauseous at first until I broke the law and switched vehicles.

After we got off the ride, we found the nearest Starbucks, and we all got cold drinks. We were so excited because they had lids – most places we’ve been to don’t. This Starbucks used paper cups, lids, and straws for iced drinks.

While Evan and Kate rode the bubble gum machine, Mom and I went shopping at Zara. I found a dress, a shirt, and a button-down, and I stood in line for 30 minutes just to try them on. I decided on just getting the button-down, and we stood in line for 15 minutes just to realize we were in the exchange line, not the checkout line. So we went to self-checkout, which only took two seconds, so we should have been there the whole time.

Both my moms were throwing a fit by then because they were hangry, so we went to get food. It wasn’t my fault it took so long, it was the holy gods, and I didn’t invent time. We had lunch near the Place du Capitole. I ordered a salad but disliked the olive oil – it burned my throat. But my sister shared her pasta with me (that she put way too much salt on!). It was okay because I put some good olive oil on it and “slurp, slurp!”

After lunch, we took a tourist train because Evan has been wanting to ride in one every city we visit. It was scorching, but it was cool to see the sights of the city, and when I walked with my Mamafer later, it was cool to see the places we’d driven by earlier in the day.

When we got off the train, everyone but Mamafer and I was tired, hot, and needed a nap, so they returned to the Airbnb while we explored. We visited tons of chapels – look at the pictures below (and roll over them to see the name of each place) because I am too tired to explain them.

We crossed the Pont Neuf (the new bridge), which didn’t have shade, but talking to Mamafer made the walk go faster.

On the other side, we went to a photography gallery, Galerie Le Château d’Eau, inside an old water tower. I thought the photos were really cool. The photographer, Mous Lamrabat, is Morrocan-Belgian, and his photos combine his cultures. I thought the photos were very powerful, and they were so detailed. One of them really reminded me of Lizzo’s look at the Grammys.

After the gallery, we walked back over the bridge, found a grocery store, and bought food for tonight’s dinner and tomorrow’s breakfast and lunch. Mamafer plans to make her famous sandwiches to take on the train – “yum! yum!”

Tonight we are eating dinner and packing for tomorrow’s long train ride from Toulouse to the north of France!

– Addison out!