Day 44: Toulouse

The things I do to attempt to post this bloody blog!!
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Toulouse, France today is warm, about 28oC and sunny. With our map we walk to the Saint Serin Basilica. The lanes and avenues twist and curl through the city, and we got glimpses of the spire, and then…whoa…it was right in front of us. Billy now knows to shhh in churches and cathedrals. He is also learning the sliding scale of his age depending on the entry age for exhibits and not to talk as he sure doesn’t sound like a four year old! Billy hunts out the organ pipes which usually dominate the back wall. We have very spiritual conversations with Bill about saints, crucifixes and Jesus. We will wait and see what sense he makes of all of this.

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Our hotel is right in the centre of town so after a rest we go back to the old sector of lanes, cafes and alleys for some shopping. The centre Plaza with the magnificent Capitol Building on one side had a market, and all the streets leading out had shopping. We walked passed many fountains, parks and beautiful old buildings leading to Les Jacobins, a cathedral which was built in the 14^th century and is where Saint Thomas Aquinas buried .It was huge but quite austere compared to some of the other cathedrals. They use this as avenue for concerts.

He is also learning the sliding scale of his age depending on the entry age for exhibits

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Yes, we visited the shops, staying together this time, had ice-creams making sure Billy’s doesn’t have any “bits” in it. Ha ha..this kid doesn’t like chunks of chocolate, or strawberry so we get his ice-cream. Eating ice-cream in the European summer is an art in itself to avoid wearing it!

Back to our hotel to have a coffee break and to post internet blogs and touch base with you lot. We love your messages; the kids back home are doing an hourly countdown until we get back!! Billy spreads his cars across the foyer and sits on the computer playing cartoon network...they speak English! We eat out tonight at the Hip-potamus across the road. Now this restaurant was great. They settled Billy with a coloring book, hippo pencils, wrist band and a smile. The Asian French waiter spoke English and gave us an English menu, which is cheating in my books. It even had photos!! Will and I settled on the menu with 3 courses and a bottle of rose to share. Entrée was poached eggs (ouffes) chives and sour cream, and tuna and tomatoes, bread and olive oil. Our main was chicken and steak, followed by supposedly apple pie, which was chopped fresh apple with a scoop of ice-cream. Billy took us safely across the road home to bed.