Toulouse, France!!!!!!!!! (+a little Madrid)

Birds surrounding me for my crackers in Madrid

Palacio Real (Madrid)

The streets of Toulouse

Down by the river with Thomas and Fanny

Beautiful Toulouse!!

MmMmMmmmmmm Fondue!!! 

Beautiful drive

A DUCK FARM!!!! OH MY GOSH!!!!!! EATING FROM A TROUGH!!!

Crazy trees next to our picnic spot

Thomas and Me

Making crepes with Fanny!

Oh my gosh CHEESE!

Flipping my crepe!

I make crepes like the sun!

I began my journey to France by taking a bus to Madrid on Thursday, February 17th.  Upon arrival in Madrid, I took the metro to meet up with a woman, Ana, that I was going to couchsurf with.  For those of you not familiar with couchsurfing, it is a network of people from around the world that offer up their couch for free for people traveling.  It is a great way to meet people, save money, and to help people out.  This was my second time couchsurfing (I have never hosted before) and as it is going to stay with someone you don't know it is a little nerve racking at first.  I of course only stay with people with plenty of good references.  Anyway, this woman, Ana, was so nice.  When I arrived she had already made me dinner! She had an entire extra bedroom for couchsurfers, which was great! She spoke fluent Spanish, English, French, and German! So impressive!  She sure did love to talk.  Anyway, the next day after she made me breakfast, she showed me how to navigate around the metros and I headed out to the Palacio Real (Royal Palace).  It didn't open until 10 so I had some time to sit in the Oriental Park and read my book.  I fed some birds my crackers, and it was actually really cute how they flocked around me and 'begged' for little bits of crackers.  The Royal Palace was actually a lot more interesting than I thought.  There were some rooms in there that I wouldn't expect to find in a royal palace.  They didn't allow me to take pictures inside, but there was an oriental room, and some bohemian gaudy type rooms, which I found very interesting, but out of place.  After the Royal Palace I went to the airport to go to Toulouse!  Thomas and Fanny picked me up at the airport and we went to their apartment to have lunch.  We went to walk around Toulouse which is a really beautiful city.  It is unique by having a lot of the buildings made of brick.  I really enjoyed walking around, and then we went to a bar to have a drink.  Just like I remembered from the last time I was in Toulouse, they put flavored syrups in their beer.  You can choose anything from lavender, to cherry, to lemon, to pear… But, sweet beer isn't my thing, so I just ordered a normal beer.  After our beers we went to a fondue restaurant.  Oh, my, gosh! It was so good!!! We reeked like cheese, but the food was amazing. Oh cheesy, meaty goodness! The next day we left relatively early to go on our day trip to the Lot area.  The first city we stopped in was breathtaking, not even counting the drive to get there.  In the city we climbed up to the lookout and walked through the tiny streets of the small village.  It was so peaceful and beautiful! Just driving around the area was worth it! We stopped for a picnic in another little village and then headed back to Toulouse.  We had dinner before heading out to a concert.  Thomas & Fanny were friends with some people in the band.  I was really impressed! The whole band really seemed to be enjoying themselves and therefore were great performers and I liked the music as well.  I didn't understand a word of the music, but I really liked it.  The next day we went to the market so I could buy some French cheese! Oh my gosh, French cheese is so amazing.  I love the market too because there are so many different kinds of fruits and vegetables! It was a great people watching stroll.  When we got back to the apartment we made some brunch and then I made crepes for the first time ever! I had so so so much fun visiting my friends and LOVE the Toulouse area! Now… to learn some French...