To loose....

Alrighty, here's a multiple choice question for you:

Which option best describes Toulouse?

a. Filthy
b. Hot
c. Looks like it was hit by a bomb
d. Full of really cool people
e. Full of really annoying people
f. Strangely appealing
g. Can't wait to get out
h. All of the above

Well those of you who chose anything other than option H are WRONG! Toulouse is by far the most bizarre town I've been in, but I seem to have gotten a little stuck here for some reason. I showed up Sunday afternoon and walked out of the train station to brown brick buildings everywhere. Now I know that doesn't sound that odd to us Canadian, but when you're used to granite and flint in Normandie or plaster and terra cotta in Bordeaux, walking into a city that looks like Calgary is just plain weird! But the thing that really got me was how broken this city is. Paris, Rouen, Flers, Bordeaux, they all had their messy bits, but for the most part they were well-swept, clean, and taken care of. Here you see bricks falling out of buildings, dirt everywhere, the parks are all either closed or overgrown, roads are all torn up and not being fixed, graffiti absolutely everywhere you look....but for some reason it's one of the most happening towns I've been in! That could be due to the two major universities in town and Toulouse being the air/space command of France. But to give you an idea of what it looks like,

So you sort of get the idea. Now that I've told you the horror story, I have to tell you why this town is so amazing. When I finally got to the hostel I booked, the staff was incredibly friendly and accommodating. The rooms are very clean, have a bathroom, two shower rooms, and a kitchen each, and WiFi is pretty reliable. After looking through the net to find something to do that night I found something called Rio Loco, a music festival celebrating African and South American music. I bought the ticket online but had no way to print it out, and when I asked the guy at reception he says "Oh just email it to me and I'll do it." Bet hostel dude ever, and the music was amazing that night! Five euros for some of the best live performances I've seen, I'd say that was a good deal.
Anyhow, the next morning I went to explore the city a bit and found that it was pretty much the same everywhere, just old and ratty. Even the churches compared to others were in bad shape, but they were some of the weirdest I've seen yet! Forget gothic architecture here, its all romanesque.

This statue has an interesting story. Back, and I mean way back, some roman official in charge of Toulouse decided to drain a lake that was along the river Garonne for some reason I can't remember, and at the bottom they found this black statue at the bottom. Taking it to be a sign from the gods, this roman fella erected a temple on the site of the old lake. Years later, after the fall of the Roman Empire, it was decided that it wasn't a roman god, it was in fact a statue of Mary. Now the people of Toulouse took quite a liking to this Black Madonna as it was named. It was said that if a woman wore a belt from the statue (because she had quite a few wardrobes that circulated) around her belly during childbirth, it would ensure a quick and painless delivery. To this day, you can still get a belt from the statue, consecrated by a priest at the church, as a souvenir or for some pregnant family member. Usually a daughter or granddaughter. However, it wasn't just expecting mothers that were touched. Back in the 16 or 1700's (I'm getting so much history these days I'm mixing the days up) a great fire threatened the city of Toulouse, and try as they might the people couldn't put it out. Similar to the great fire of London from what I hear actually. Now the Bishop of Toulouse took it upon himself to attack the threat. He armed himself with the Eucharist and stood in front of the fire and prayed for God to put it out, but to no avail as the fire raged on. As a last resort, he ordered the Black Madonna to be brought to the fire and as soon as the statue arrived a wind sprang up blowing the fire in the opposite direction and eventually died. This caused a bit of stress among theologians who began to think that Mary might be more powerful than Jesus himself, but it sure makes for an interesting story! Anyhow, I headed over to a market to buy some food as my hostel FINALLY had a working kitchenette, got back to my room and started chatting with a Brazillian fella who was staying in the bunk above me, and that started a snowball rolling. We headed to the store to get a couple things, ended up making dinner and eating it downstairs, and by the end of the night there was a TON of people all hanging out and talking. Hands down the best hostel experience yet! There was a Swiss guy, a couple American guys who were biking, an Italian, and a few I cant remember. The next night was the same thing but with different people. During the day I found out that there is actually nice parts of Toulouse, if not small parts. There was another interesting church dedicated to Saint Sernin, who was the first bishop of Toulouse. He was dragged through the streets of town by a sacrificial bull. Now he's a pretty popular guy around here!

The coolest thing about this church, though, is that I walked in during a pipe organ recital! I recorded it on my phone and as soon as I figure out how to get it online I'll post it. Actually, a couple churches I visited had pipe organs playing, apparently this town is kinda famous for it.
So I got home, attempted to find some semblance of a plan for the next bit, and decided to go out again. On the stairs I met a Canadian fella! He says "Where ya goin," I says "I think to see a cool church" and he says "mind if I tag along?" And the rest is history. Turns out we got drenched within ten minutes or so by a freak rainstorm, but we got a couple beers and met some more people in the common area. This time an Irish guy, three Ozzies, and a couple others. We made plans to make dinner for the next day and that got wild! During today though, I decided to rent a bike and cruise the Canal du Midi that runs through town. That proved to be pretty disappointing to be honest, but it was nice to get out.

I did find a park that was open though!

Weirdest goose I ever seed. There was all these weird little houses all over the park that looked like little gnome or hobbit shacks, and I stared putting the pieces together that it was probably a zoo at one time! That would explain the amounts of wild chickens everywhere...
I also found another Cathedral that was just downright weird, it was never really finished at any given time so the whole thing was a little lopsided, but the carving and decoration was unlike anything I've seen yet.

There was also a guy playing pipe organ here too which was cool. Until I realized he was playing the same piece over and over, probably 8 times within the 30 minutes I was there. After that I headed back to finish some laundry and start some dinner, and that turned into a wild party! Add three more Auzzies, another Canadian, another Irishman, and a Brit and you have a good time! It was just so awesome to meet so many people doing the same thing from so many places. Out of the 10 or 12 people there, only two were travelling together. I got contacts for some of them as they're heading back to England to do the same thing as me! When the hostel police came to break up the party at midnight I headed back to my room to find two more people have arrived and speak perfect English. Turns out Ronnie and her husband Jann are from Portland (Jann is from Brittany originally) and Ronnie used to holiday in Penticton every year with her family! Such a small world.

So thats the story for now, tomorrow I'm heading to the nearest train station to try my hand at car sharing. I'll be riding with a lady named Cathrine to Montpellier for three days in order to catch the nation-wide Fete de la Music that takes over France on Friday! I gotta say, this trip is really getting awesome now, and I think it's just gonna get better from here on in! Till next time, keep fit and have fun!