It's Better Toulouse Than To Never Have Loved At All

Har. But yeah, two weeks ago me, German Dan, Thomas and Angat all pile into a rental car and head out of Barcelona bound for Toulouse, France, a little under four hours east and north from here. Such a great time. Man, I'd forgotten how much I enjoy France. Even if they refuse to sell beer on the highway.

We crank up the music, put down some road sodas on the way, pass around the jamon-flavored Pringles, and by nightfall we're in Toulouse and having dinner with the other dozen or so ESADE students who'd all driven there in three other cars and a van. Decent dinner. Some good stories.

Coming out of there we end up witnessing the end of a fight that produces one guy lying on the ground with blood pouring out the back of his head from having a wine bottle smashed over it, and the other running off into the night. Police and ambulance are called, a doctor steps in, the guy seems okay, and we head back to our hotel room. Which far more resembles a closet onboard ship. It even sports a porthole.

Saturday morning we go tour Airbus's headquarters there. Checked out the facility where they're building the new A800's, then walked through the old Concorde that De Gaulle used to fly around in. Funny how anything not used since the late 60's still have has its own unique late-60's smell. Afterward Dan and I head back to town for some damn fine pizza and a walking tour of the city while the others attend a rugby match.

 
That night was... odd.

We were supposed to go have dinner with some local Toulousian MBAs, but it ends up being just three hours of drinking at a bar featuring very little food, after which we have to drive an hour and a half south to the hotel room that had been reserved for us in the small town of Carcasonne.

So we head south on the highway, Thomas driving and me in shotgun, listening to Duck Soup's version of "Barbara Streisand" on the radio easily fifteen times on various French stations, then later end up going to out to various clubs in Carcasonne until 5am. Good times. Love that in France you can buy a full bottle of whiskey for 60€ and get a bottle of Coke and glasses with it.

Sunday we tour Carcasonne castle and the village inside it, which is just insane. I've never imagined a castle so hugenormous, as Cate put it. It makes ASOIAF's Harrenhall seem tiny in comparison.

On seeing it for the first time the night before I'd joked about why any army would bother attacking it instead of just moving left and going around it, and on the tour it turned out that most armies did precisely that. The place has never been successfully invaded. Thinking about possibly getting credit for being the first I give it a shot as well. And fail like all the others.

Comments

[briscola online]

Ho appena eseguito attraverso il vostro giornale on-line e sono state sfogliando in Pensavo di poter lasciare la mia prima osservazione. Io non riconoscere ciò che a dichiarare senza contare che io ho voluto sfogliando. Grande web giornale, io continuerò visitando questo eJournal particolarmente frequente.