The Tourist

           This past week I took an intensive French course.  It was nice to be back in the classroom after my ten week break from school and do a quick review of some French grammar.  On the last day of class, we did a debate in French.  It was kind of challenging, but nice to be able to practice speaking. 

I have felt like such a tourist this past weekend.  Friday, we were finished with French class so the welcome team organized a walking tour of Toulouse for all of the new exchange students.  I really enjoyed it! We went to several different locations in the city center – La Capitole, La Rue du Taur, La Basilique Saint Sernin, and Les Jacobins.  I had seen all of those places before but didn’t really know much about their history or purpose. 

La Capitole

(the main administration building and theater)

  

Rue du Taur

(the street of the bull)

 Les Jacobins

(Dominican monastery with an interesting history) 

La Basilique Saint Sernin

(a Romanesque church famous for its pilgrimage history)

Saturday morning, I got up very early and took a train to Carcassonne with some friends.  It’s a very charming city about an hour train ride away from Toulouse famous for its enormous fortified medieval city and castle.  We had an amazing day! When we arrived, we started to walk toward the castle.  We stopped in the city square to explore an open air market and bought fresh pastries for breakfast.  A little while later we arrived at the castle.  It was fantastic! We explored the town all morning, stopped at a little café for coffee and hot chocolate, and then toured the castle and ramparts.

In the afternoon, we went back to town to an Irish pub to watch the Ireland vs. Italy rugby match and have lunch.  I had never watched rugby before.  Some of the Irish exchange students were with us so they had to teach most of us how it worked.  By the end of the match we were all getting excited and cheering for Ireland.  It was a lot of fun!

I love that I am getting opportunities to sight-see and travel.  I am making plans to go to Paris next week! I can’t wait!