We knew we were pressed for time in between all of the Halloween shenanigans and an upcoming trip to Paris, but we still wanted to do a quick weekend getaway and we settled on Toulouse. We had 48 hours to soak in as much Toulouse as we could.
We drove down in late afternoon and checked into our AirBnB rental right in the middle of town. We actually had the sweetest host who brought his English-speaking dad to check us in. They were too cute. We set out on foot to explore the town and try to find the playground we’d spotted on the way in. Unfortunately, the rain started shortly after we found it and we were “forced” to take cover under the umbrellas of a nearly by cafe. Which meant we were also “forced” to order wine and play cards while we waited it out.
The next morning Nora and I set out again to make it to the playground. This little playground is super cute and right in the heart of town at Place St. George and is next to great shopping and dining.
| It took me way too long to realize this is a dragon. |
Nora was being a little shy though with the kids (y’all, this stresses me out so much. I worry she is losing her ability to socialize with kids her age because we’ve taken her away from kids here age. Mom guilt is so real), so after a few minutes of play she turned to me and said, “How about we take a break and I get a lemonade and you get a wine?” I mean, obviously I had to say yes to that. So we sat at the neighboring cafe and had some drinks and played a few rounds of UNO. Side note – traveling parents: never leave home without a deck of cards. It will save your life.
| As you can see, it wasn’t a far walk from the playground to the lemonade and wine. |
We met Paul for lunch in Le Capitole (the Toulouse town square). It wasn’t a very impressive lunch, complete with a sewer situation right next to our table (gross!).
| My feelings exactly, Nora. |
After lunch there was some sort of kids play festival going on (the downside of not reading French – I have no idea what this festival was really!) and we decided to visit some booths and play games. It’s always nice when we find things that are aimed specifically for kids. We drag Nora around to so many restaurants and bars and museums and tourist attractions and she is generally (definitely not always) a pretty good sport, so I’m always happy to find things that are for her.
That night was our last night in Toulouse so we went for a long walk down by the river (insert Chris Farley here) before dinner. It was a beautiful evening in Toulouse.
| Y’all, how creepy is this sculpture?! Turns out it’s by a well-known street artist (more in a future blog). |
| Paul ordered cassoulet, a Toulouse specialty. Good order! |
| A new beginning… every moment a new beauty. |
The next day was our last in Toulouse and after packing up and checking out we headed to grab lunch at Nora’s favorite spot.
| Y’all, she loves it. Not sure what that says of my parenting. |
We stopped over at Cite de l’Espace, a space museum, which for a kid who grew up in the heart of NASA was kind of a geeky dream. We toured old space stations and watched an IMAX about asteroids and there was even a cute kids movie in the planetarium. Definitely worth the visit!
Our last hour in Toulouse was spent at, and I’m know this will be shocking, a playground. Just outside the space museum was a pretty great little playground. Complete with a sweets shop. We all got some sugary treats (hot chocolate, Nutella waffles, and cookies) for the road.
48 hours and we managed to fall in love with the little town of Toulouse. We tried to pack in as much as we could, but we left wanting more. But, we were headed back to Bordeaux to make a very special pick up at the airport. Our friend Maria was on her way to visit and we were all excited to get to see her.
Toulouse still weighs on our minds. Even as I write this, we are in discussions about where we wanted to “settle” for a bit and Toulouse has taken a seat as a front runner. Stay tuned. And wish us luck.
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