This morning we got up a little bit earlier than “normal”, and had a light breakfast in the hotel. They had some interesting yogurt flavors that you don’t find in Japan (coconut, for example), so it wasn’t totally boring. We had some time before our flight to Toulouse, so we decided to do a recon of the local train station. It was actually quite close by, and we semi-figured out the system first before we checked out of our hotel. After checking out of the hotel we came back, bought tickets at the correct machine, and then caught a train to the airport. The train was a little bit closer to light rail than an actual train, but it was a very modern system. I’d guess the trains and station were less than five years old.
As we left the middle of Porto we could get a chance to see some of the outskirts. We saw a lot of smaller houses, some in good neighborhoods and some in bad. There was a lot of open space out here also, which was nice to see after the narrow old city. It took about half an hour to get to the airport, and we arrived with plenty of time to spare before our flight. We hit a café and bought some juice to kill time, and then dropped our luggage at the EasyJet counter. According to the board there was only one flight by EasyJet from Porto that day, so it was easy to find the right counter.
Going through security I managed to set off the security alarm, so I had to be searched. I’ve gone through the metal detectors enough times that I know what will make it go off and what won’t, but this time maybe they had it set to a very sensitive level. They never found what was causing it, but after the frisk I was OK to go on.
We found a little shop that sold tiny sandwiches along with glasses of sparkling wine, and that seemed right up our alley. We enjoyed our brunch and then did some shopping in the duty free shops for some omiyage – some for other people and some for us. They had some good shops at the Porto airport, actually. We had plenty of time to shop because our flight was also delayed about 30 minutes. But once we got boarded it was a very easy 90 minute flight to Toulouse. Kuniko’s suitcase was literally the last bag out on the baggage carousel, so we had some time to wait there, too.
We caught a taxi from the airport, and it took us to the center of Toulouse. We had picked this city for meeting my parents based on geography only – I wasn’t very familiar with the city at all. As it turned out it was quite nice, and it reminded me a little bit of parts of Paris. The taxi driver knew the hotel so it was a direct shot there, and as we were unloading our bags we met up with my parents who were in the lobby of the hotel.
Wow – it was really surreal to see my parents here in Europe. They had spent nearly two weeks with friends and their former interns in the southern part of France. We caught up with them over a bottle of rose in their hotel room, and it sounds like they had a great time during their stay. They told us all about the wedding they attended, about driving in a rental car to Toulouse and the adventures they had doing laundry and mailing packages in France. It was really good to see them out here trying new things.
We decided to walk around a little in the downtown area of Toulouse and do some exploring. There was a big shopping street nearby, so we walked down the street and breathed in the vibe of the neighborhood. I bought a muddler at a cooking tools shop (and I brought home a catalog – what a cool shop!), and we saw some street performers speaking and breakdancing and gathering big crowds. We kind of stumbled on a big square that was in front of the opera house. There were restaurants along two of the sides of the square, so we stopped at one for a glass of wine and to give everyone a chance to rest.
On our way back to the hotel we followed my parents who remembered that there was a Carrefour supermarket nearby. Eventually we found another supermarket that was closer, but it was a little strange inside. It was kind of like a wholesaler/seconds supermarket, and they sold their products out of boxes. Even here we found lots of interesting stuff. Kuniko scored some cans of foie gras pate, but we also got some supplies for our train trip the next day to Cognac.
Well-supplied, we went back to the hotel to drop stuff off, and then went back to the opera house square to have some dinner. We chose a restaurant based on the fact that they were displaying an English menu in out front, and it turned out to be a good choice. The staff was very friendly despite the fact that we only spoke English, and the food and wine was great. My mom and I had cassoulet, and Kuniko and my dad had foie gras. They served us bread right on the table, which I saw for the first time. So far in our travels in France we got our bread on plates, so there was a little mini-culture shock moment for me.
My dad was quickest to snatch the bill, and Kuniko was really bummed out. She had been spending most of the afternoon planning how to get the bill first, but unfortunately we lost out to age and experience. Next time we’ll get it! We took a short walk back to our hotel, had a nightcap of port that we brought over from Porto, and then went to bed. It was hard to set the alarm for 4:15 am, but we had an early train to catch the next day and we needed to drag our luggage a few blocks to make it to the train station on time.
