The History of Toulouse

Today was full of history. I started with a short history of Toulouse, and ended with a full knowledge of the story of Toulouse from the days of Rome until today.

The day started with my orientation class with Madame Toux. We talked about the expectations of studying abroad in Toulouse with a family, etc. Then, myself and another student left and went to the political science university, Sciences-Po (Sciences Politique), for a short tour with a current student, Alice. She showed us the classrooms at the political science university, as well as the cafeteria and the library. The building is actually pretty old and run down, but the library is nice and the cafeteria had good food. Even though the food was good, it was difficult to navigate. You can get one "entrée," one "plat du jour," and one "dessert," but it is hard to tell which food qualifies as which type of dish. Turns out fruit is a dessert and pasta was a "plat du jour." Luckily, the food is very cheap in the cafeteria and it tasted pretty good.

After the tour of Sciences-Po we went on a walking tour of Toulouse with a history professor from the American university here. His name is Monsieur Créma and he is a character, to say the least.  We walked for almost two solid hours around Toulouse, looking at the old churches and the walls that used to surround the city. Toulouse dates back to the 1st century AD, and so some of the architecture is a couple thousand years old. It's pretty amazing that in the United States, we think it's amazing when something we see is 200 years old. Here, the French are constantly seeing things that are 800, 900, 1000 years old. This is a huge difference in culture.

After the historical walk, I went back to my apartment and rested, and then the Dickinson group went out to dinner to a restaurant that specialized in mussels. I had the garlic mussels and a nice red wine, and then a chocolate fudge cake for dessert. It was all very delicious and worth the 13.50 Euros. It is easy to find cheap food in Toulouse, but it is also easy to find expensive food. After the restaurant we talked over to a bar that specializes in beer, my favorite. The bar makes its own beer, so I had the house wheat beer and the house ginger ale (beer), as well as the blonde ale. Interestingly, the alcohol percentages of the beers here in Toulouse are significantly lower than they are in the U.S. I'm not sure why, but it is certainly noticeable.

Because I left the bar at a certain time, the buses had stopped running and I was forced to walk back to my host house. The walk took a while but, at night, Toulouse is very peaceful and I enjoyed the time alone. Now, it is time for bed and a nice rest, as well as sleeping in. Tomorrow I plan on going to the supermarket for some essentials and meeting a friend for coffee. A demain.