A bad start in Toulouse

May 13th 2003

You must all be wondering what were doing back on here after updating only yesterday... Well, after our short (2 hour) train trip from the well loved Montpellier, we arrived at the Toulouse-Matibeau train station. We firslt went on a hunt down of our hotel 'La Chautrese'. On arrivial, this cheap (€14 each/per night) hotel was soul-less and a bit drab, but pleased that we were at least not met with another nightmare-Piemont hotel scenario, we dumped our bags. I guess you cant expect much for that price can you!! So, quickly removing ourselves from this concrete-haven, we headed bound to explore the city. As you may (or may not) have heard, today there is a HUGE strike in France (something to do with Gov. Pensions). When we first heard (on the dramatic CNN TV) at 8pm last night we bustled out to the train station to see if our train this AM had been cancelled. Fortunatly, ours was one of the few trains which hadn't been cancelled, just moved back to 8:55am. So, feeling unaffected by the strike we continued with our original plans. Arriving in Toulouse however was a different kettle of fish. The Streets, crammed with protesters are blocking all main streets throughout the city; yelling repetative chants, banging dustbin lids together (??!) and putting the many surrounding policemen on edge! Both headached and fighting for a space to breathe within the bustle, we were bundled through until we reached a cafe which we lept into for some air, coffee and lunch!! After our recovery, we did for brief moments, manage to escape the 1000's of protesters. Thier banners masked our views of any of the city, and we havnt to this moment found a nice site or square! Maybe this town is a pleasent one without the protesters tainting our views, but it felt cold to both of us - especially after the homly-ness and warmth of Montpellier and Avignon that we had encountered. Upon finding this internet cafe we fell inside relived to be out of the cold (yes the weather is appauling today too)! Ah well, not the best of days, or places...but i guess there are bound to be a few rotten apples in the chain :) Maybe its just the protest which have put us off, maybe we will get to enjoy the city another day - who knows! Love you all, Katie xx

Listed by : Katie

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