Toulouse, Part 2.

This is a continuation of my last post. Obviously.

The day after we went to Carcassonne, I needed to exchange some train tickets in the city. Instead of taking the public transport (and thus having to spend money), Remy suggested we cycle. One of his housemates had two bicycles - one was a mountain  bike, while the other was a racing bike - so we could each take one.

I had honestly not ridden a bicycle in years; not since our bikes at home got busted and no one found the time to get them fixed. I remember trying out a friend's Fixi in Manipal a few years ago (and failing miserably), and, now that I think about it, I may have also tried out a housemate's bike once during my freshman year, but that was pretty much it. Furthermore, we were going to cycle on roads and into the city center, which was something I'd never done before - my cycling prior to this had only ever been limited to just going about my own neighborhood. I decided to see it as an opportunity to try something new.

My cycling was not smooth, particularly when going through small gaps and making sharpish turns. I also had no idea how hand signals worked, and mostly just copied what Remy did. Heck, I even had trouble getting on the bike at first, and the problem just kept on happening throughout the day. The added pressure of cycling out in public didn't help, as I couldn't help but feel like my poor cycling skills were being judged by the drivers on the road as well as the pedestrians. Other than that, though, I actually enjoyed myself.

Remy took me through the university he was studying in before we went to the city. It was pretty deserted as it was the summer holidays (Remy himself was on holiday as well), except for some students who had to resit papers from their recent exams. It wasn't the biggest or most scenic campus I'd ever seen, but it was still interesting to see. I've visited quite a number of colleges and universities in the past, and this was another to add to my collection.

After that, we set off along the path to the city, which lay along the Canal du Midi, a canal stretching over 200 km long through Southern France. The canal was lined with plenty of trees, so there was an ample amount of shade. There were boats in the water (including ones that looked as if people lived in them), and the path we cycled along was shared by pedestrians, joggers and other cyclists coming from both directions.

We eventually reached the Toulouse Matabiau station, the same one I had gotten off at when I'd first arrived. I don't remember how long we cycled for, but it must have been about 20 minutes at the very least. We were allowed to bring our bikes in (you're even allowed to bring your bike on board at least some of the trains too, in fact), and so we did. After I was done with my tickets, we got back on our bikes and went into the city.

We didn't cycle the whole way, of course, as there were a lot of people and I was concerned about my lack of control. The Wales-Russia game was going to be on later that evening, so we saw a large number of Welsh and Russian fans walking about. There were a number of military guys about as well, which was understandable given the trouble that some Russian fans had gotten involved with in Marseille earlier in the tournament.

Remy had a dentist appointment later that afternoon, so we didn't stay for too long. We planned to come back the next day, however, as there was going to be something called the Fete de la Musique, which is an annual nationwide celebration of music, held on the longest day of summer. We'd seen a stage being set up in the Toulouse Capitol, and Remy said there were going to people playing music on the streets everywhere, so the next day promised to be pretty 'lit', as the kids these days would say.

So we went back to the city the next day, in the mid-afternoon, by metro this time. The place was packed with people, but it turned out that we'd come too early. Street musicians had set up their stuff here and there, and there was also the occasional DJ set, but overall we had the impression that things hadn't really kicked off yet. The big stage in the Capitol had been walled up and only people who were wearing special wristbands were permitted to get near it. We could see people performing there, but only as a rehearsal. Remy said the actual concert would only be starting in the evening and, sure enough, we managed to catch some of it on TV later that night.

It was a hot day and we were fasting, so naturally it didn't take us too long to get tired. Our final stop for the day was a park, in which we could see plenty of people relaxing in the shade and lying on the grass. The place also contained a Japanese garden, which I visited alone as Remy elected to take a nap on the grass instead. The garden wasn't that big, so I didn't stay for too long. We went home after that.

We didn't really do anything for the last few days of my stay, so I spent them just going on the internet and editing my vlog. The day for me to leave for my next destination eventually came, and Remy came with me to the train station to send me off. I had a long train ride ahead; about seven hours of total travel time.

I'd enjoyed my time in Toulouse, which was mostly due to Remy and his housemates being wonderful hosts. It would have been nice to stay longer, but I had to move on to my next stop: Saint Nazaire.