Ups and downs in southern France
It's been a busy few months since my last post. Mostly due to my hectic school schedule, with back-to-back lectures and labs sometimes lasting from 8am to 8pm, but I've also tried to make the most of my time in Toulouse by visiting the city and the surrounding region on weekends. Here are some worthnoty things that've happened since my last post.
Bike trouble
Starting off with a bummer: my bike got stolen in mid-October. This was a major downer, after all I'd toured Korea and Japan in 2023 as well as central Europe just a month before with it. I suppose I should've been more skeptical of my lock's ability to deter thieves, especially on campus. I woke up one Friday morning, ready to make my way to the gym, only to find an empty parking space where by bike used to be. Luckily I had insurance and after making a police report (an adventure in its own right) the insurance company agreed to reimburse 80% of the bike's value.
I just picked up my new Pelago Stavanger yesterday. It's missing the fancy carbon fork from my previous Stavanger, and the color is a bit different, but I'm happy to be able to pedal again 🚴
Bordeaux
Incidentally, on the same day my bike was stolen, a small group of us students left for a weekend trip to Bordeaux to visit my Kiruna flatmate Emeline.
The weather was... atlantic, meaning drizzle, fog and general wetness. Nevertheless it was nice to see Emeline again and to explore Bordeaux and the Atlantic coast nearby. I also had oysters for the 2nd time in my life, the first time being in Vietnam where I got the worst stomach flu from them. This time I was hoping to avoid a similar fate since the oysters were collected from the Arcachon Bay right next to the restaurant, and indeed I had no issues.
We even went to a rugby game! It was difficult to follow not knowning the rules, but the energy of the crowd was crazy. They kept doing waves around the grandstands throughout the game.
Montpellier
In November our school schedule lined up nicely with the 1st World War Remembrance Day, granting us a four-day weekend. We seized the opportunity to go on a trip "somewhere by the sea", eventually settling on Montpellier a few hours' bus ride east from Toulouse. I really liked the Montpellier city center with its small squares and majestic buildings, and found it really walkable and compact, even more so than in Toulouse.
Even though this was in November, and the weather was a bit rainy throughout the weekend, on Sunday we got temperatures similar to a Finnish July which lined up perfectly with a trip to the beach. We rented bikes from the city center and cycled 15 km to Palavas-des-Flots on the coast, where we enjoyed a day on the beach and swam in the still-relatively-warm Mediterranean.
On Monday we did an excursion to Avignon, the seat of 13th century Popes, before going back home to Toulouse. The weather, while still sunny, turned much cooler, which honestly matched well with the spirit of Remembrance Day. We happened to chance upon the city's Remembrance Day celebration, with officials giving speeches and different military units standing in attention.
This was a deja-vu-esque day for me since I'd just visited Avignon on our bike trip with Oskar some weeks prior. This time I made sure we checked out the famous Popes' Palace, which we didn't have time to visit in September.
Carcassonne
Another city that we speeded through on our bike trip without actually exploring is Carcassonne. I still wanted to go see the famous Carcassonne castle, well-known for its namesake boardgame, and luckily Edward and his friend were going there just before Christmas so I got to tag along. Only after walking through the castle gate did I realize that it's actually a whole city inside the walls, with a dozen restaurants, countless boutiques and a huge cathedral as well (of course, this being France).
Crossing off some items from the French food bucket list, we had a meal with snails for entrees and French toast for dessert (the main dish was squid, not expected but good!)
As a cherry on top, I got the cheapest haircut of my life for 12 euros there. Probably have to start going there every month!
Toulouse
Finally, there've been lots of opportunities to explore my home city of Toulouse. Living on the outskirts of the city presents its own challenges, as it takes 20 minutes of cycling and some willpower to actually get out of the apartment, but once in the city there's still always something new to see.
