Bright and early in the morning all three of my room mates went their separate ways, so I was left with a "super single," which was, as you would imagine, super. Not having to dash in and out of the shower let alone worry about using too much water? Excellent. Not that the world's smallest shower leaves a whole lot of room to luxuriate, but I'll take what I can get.
My room. Simple but comfortable.
So, by about 10 am, I was fresh and clean, dressed in non-sweat-drenched clothes, and had decided I was going to first find my way to Le Capitole which from what I had gathered was a short jaunt from my hostel. There I stumbled upon yet another holiday marché, which is apparently something all French cities do during the month of December. It's great - there are stands selling highly unhealthy food, mulled wine, and gifts ranging from scarves to figurines for miniature nativity scenes. I wandered through before continuing on my walk, figuring I would make my way back later for some snackage. Why I still have no pictures of Le Capitole is beyond me, but I'll make sure to take some tomorrow.
The walk across town was absolutely gorgeous; winter leaves, gray drizzly sky, and brick everywhere.
What a magnificent city.
I found my way easily to Le Jardin des Plantes, where I almost took a dive in some slick mud and have since learned to always, always pay attention to my footing on dirt pathways. But all worthwhile, because check this place out.
They even have a triceratops skull sculpture, which makes my Dino-lovin' little heart sing with joy.
And the reason for said Dino sculpture is because the garden is right next door to Toulouse's Natural History Museum.
Which was number one on my list of places to see. Because I am, quite honestly, a huge nerd and I love that kind of stuff.
So, I bought a ticket and made my way into the museum. Where, aside from a large group of screaming children on a school field trip that I tactfully avoided, I had the entire place to myself.
First, they take you through all the geologic stuff.
They even have a little earthquake exhibit featuring a completely unmarked shaking floor panel. Gotta love the French ("well, if you hurt yourself, tant pis.")
Eventually the pathway takes you past the wall of skeletons, where they have some rather interesting if macabre displays.
It's totally creepy and weird, but coming from the people who brought you the catacombs complete with human skeletons stacked in geometric designs it's pretty PG.
So, onward we go, and next up are thousands upon thousands of stuffed and preserved insects, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, you name it. It reminded me of the Academy of Sciences in SF before the remodel, only more expansive and no underlying eau de formaldehyde.
Then, we got to the good part.
Now, for those of you that don't know yet, the easiest way to turn me into a five year old is to present me with fossils, particularly dinosaurs. This is the part where I was very grateful that nobody was in the museum, because I literally started bouncing up and down, giggling, and saying ohmygoddinosaurs over and over. I actually heard myself squeak with sheer, childish delight. I don't know what it is about dinosaurs that gets me so pumped, but come on, tell me this isn't just awesome.
And of course there were lots of other pretty fossils which I appreciated with a bit more adult reserve.
Then we got into the extensive human history portion which was also totally fascinating.
They also had a whole exhibit about Polar Bears and the people of the Arctic, including this seriously impressive Polar Bear fur that was almost twice as tall as me. It made me sad, honestly.
From there I wandered out to the gardens outside and immediately met a couple resident peacocks, who were highly suspicious of me. Not that I was tempted to get particularly close to their impressive talons, either.
They're pretty, but gosh are they noisy birds.
I'm sure in the spring the gardens are gorgeous, but they're still nice even in winter.
After I went back inside the museum I wandered through a temporary exhibit they have featuring baby animals, but didn't take any pictures because at that point I'd had quite enough of dead critters, and baby ones are depressing.
All in all I had spent a couple hours there and after a brief jaunt through the gift shop I moseyed on back towards my part of town. Passing along the way this gorgeous garden:
Which also featured these dog vs wolf statues on opposite sides of the path:
And I walked down this pretty pathway towards the Monument aux Morts.
I eventually stopped for a break by a carousel I found, which gave my feet a moment to relax before I ambled onward.
It was fun watching all the people walk by, all bundled up even though, honestly, it's not that cold here. I've seen some really crazy outfits too; at one point I saw a young lady wearing, I kid you not, a feather coat with leggings and heels. Feathers. Also apparently the puffy coat thing of years past has re-emerged. In my unsolicited opinion I don't think there's any excuse aside from being in actual snow for wearing something that makes you look like a marshmallow, but I'm neither chic nor French, so what do I know.
After my pit stop I made my way to the Basilique Saint Sernin which is a quick walk from my hostel and quite pretty.
Who am I kidding, the whole town is gorgeous. It truly is the pink city, as they call it.
After a break at the hostel I went back to Le Capitole, where I bought myself a hot sandwich with sausage and caramelized onions (yum) and then my first vin chaud, which is mulled wine. I've never had mulled wine before, or at least I can't remember ever having it before, and it's strangely appealing. For a couple euros they give you a little plastic cup of the stuff and you can sit and people watch on one of the cement blocks circling the market. I also bought myself a bag of macarons and after a quick stop at the local grocery store I went in for an early night. By that time I had a new room mate, who speaks very good English and is staying through tomorrow night. I have since acquired a second room mate, who speaks more limited English but is very friendly and gave me an orange upon meeting me, which I find oddly charming.
Today I did a bunch of exploring but I'll write about it tomorrow, at the moment I think I've rambled enough already. I have a touch of a headache so it'll be another early night.
Signing off.
~Swan
Beautiful photos! You are the woman for this job!
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