Toulouse is the fourth largest city in France. With the headquarters of Airbus located there, Toulouse is the center of the European aerospace industry. Elodie said it's known as "the pink city" because all of the buildings are made of redish-pink brick. I loved all of the narrow streets and alleys throughout downtown, and I especially loved all of the shutters on the windows. Cute shops, cafes, and restaurants everywhere.
Square downtown Toulouse.
Street in downtown Toulouse.
Another street downtown.
LOVE all the shutters!
Beautiful church downtown.
They also took us to the city of Carcassonne, which is an ancient castle town. Inhabited from ancient times, this site has over 2500 years of history. The fortified city has two outer walls with towers to prevent attack. The castle also has a drawbridge over a ditch leading to a the central area.
The Child Family.
Outer castle wall.Today, this city is a major tourist destination. There seems to be two main sections inside the complex. The first is filled with shops and restaurants, the other is the original part of the restored castle. It was really neat to see them both.
One of the courtyard areas inside the castle.
Joe and me inside the castle.
One of the streets inside.
Another street inside.
le Cassoulet de Castelnaudary
We ate at a really cute restaurant inside the castle. We tried the local dish, le Cassoulet de Castelnaudary - a stew made with meat and beans. It's a rich, slow-cooked casserole containing pork sausages, duck, and white haricot beans. It was very a hearty meal, and tasted fantastic!
Very fun trip! It was so nice to visit Elodie & her family and see where they live. Thank you Child family for having us - we had a wonderful time!!! We appreciate your generous hospitality. :) We miss you guys!
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