A Walking Tour and Saucisse de Toulouse

 October 25, 2021

A Walking Tour and Saucisse de Toulouse

 Toulouse is the fourth largest city of France (after Paris, Lyon, and Marseille) and this morning we had a lecture on the history of the city and then a walking tour of the major sights.  A couple of things define the city, one, it is on the pilgrimage route towards Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain, and as such many religious pilgrims have come through and stayed here during their journeys.  Next, the region, Languedoc, has its own language, and is part of French Catalonia which was ceded to France by Spain in 1659.  It’s a long story, and part of the victory of France and the Catholic Church over the Cathars.  Toulouse is a major center of learning, with 80,000 university students here.  It is also an aerospace center, with Airbus centered here and the Ariane rockets being built here.

The feel here is distinctly different from the areas further west from where we’ve come.  The buildings are all of brick rather than stone, and we are clearly in a big city.  Many streets have been closed and turned into pedestrian malls.  The street signs are in both French and Languedoc, although we are told that the Languedoc language has really died and there are no more native speakers:

 


There were a few interesting things to see on our walking tour; there apparently was a palace competition, and this palace tower was part of a “mine’s bigger than yours” contest:


We were told that the top floors of the towers are empty.  The St. Sernin Basilica has a number of relics of saints, making the stop here even more attractive to pilgrims:

 


It was started in the 11th century, but was built in a transitional time between the Romanesque and the Gothic.  You can see this with the rounded Romanesque arches on the lower levels of the bell tower transitioning to pointed Gothic arches on the upper levels:

 


After the walking tour we had a highly anticipated lunch of Saucisse de Toulouse, a special local sausage:

 


I’m afraid it didn’t live up to the hype, but the freely poured wine made it better.  We had our COVID rapid tests this morning and we already have the negative results.  We spent the afternoon wandering the town and with some down time.  Our last day, tomorrow, will be in Carcassonne where we’ll learn more about the Cathars and try cassoulet.  More then.

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