Once we got back to Toulouse we went out to Carcassonne, which is the largest walled city left in Europe.  Frankly after spending 3 days in Aigues Morte,Carcassonne was a bit of a letdown, so we only spent a couple of hours there. We spent the rest of the day taking a boat tour of the Canal du Midi. Which is a canal built in the 1600s to connect the Mediterranean to the Atlantic. It is considered he greatest construction feat of the 17 century. We got to go through one of the locks twice, once in each direction. Going through the lock was very interesting and the trip down the canal was a relaxing way to end the day.

The next day we went to Albi and visited the cathedral there, which is the largest brick cathedral in existence and took almost two hundred years to build from 1287 to 1485. This cathedral is still painted throughout the inside as they all used to be. Tristan found the Albi cathedral to be even more impressive than Notre Dame in Paris and it is certainly worth seeing if you are in the area. When you see it the thought that they built it 500 odd years ago is pretty mind blowing.

After Albi we went to a nearby town and went to a coal mine museum which takes you down into a recreation of a coal mind. The ride down in the elevator scared all of us as it was very noisy and bouncy and they don’t tell you it was a recreation until the end. It is a very realistic tour.

We ended the day by touring an old village. France has a listing of the most picturesque villages of France and we have visited several this trip and they have all been worth going too.

We spent today going back to Toulouse and seeing stuff we missed the first time through. I think we are all starting to get pooped out and looking forward to coming home on Wednesday.

We took the overnight train to Toulouse in the south of France where Brenda’s has some friends we were going to stay with. We arrived around 7 am and spent most of the day getting our car and getting setup at our new place.  We did spend some time running around Toulouse and attended a choir concert in a old church that one of our hosts was singing in. It was classical music which both boys enjoyed.

The next day we went to the Gouffe de Padirac which is a cave you go down into that has a river running though it that you take a boat ride down. This was a lot of fun and the boys really like taking a boat ride in the cave.

The day after we went to another cave where we got to see 14,000 year old cave paintings up close. This involved a 30 minute hike back  into the cave with only flashlights to light our way.  The paintings were actually quite detailed and we were all impressed seeing something so old.

 

Gavin and I woke up early and got in line for the catacombs about an hour and a half before it opened. By the time we got to go I the line was back around the block so I’m glad we got there so early. Gavin enjoyed the tour though he complained at the beginning about the long walk before we got to he bones.

After the catacombs we had to check out and then headed over to he Musee d’ la Armée. Which is the French military museum and where Napoleon’s tomb is located. We toured the medieval rooms and the world war 1 and 2 exhibits. While we were leaving the tomb of Napoleon, Tristan and Gavin got into it a bit and Tristan did a face plant into a wall and we got to take a trip to a French pharmacy. In France you go to the pharmacy instead of the doctor for small things.

After this adventure we headed to our last dinner in Paris. We couldn’t eat in our normal cafe as the had put up a large screen to watch the match between France and Germany in the world cup and the cafe was packed. We were able to eat next door at a place that didn’t have a tv. It was pretty amusing as we could tell how the game was going by cheers and groans coming from all around the square we were eating in.

After dinner we retrieved our luggage from our hotel, we’re it had Solent he day, and made our way to the train station to catch our overnight train to Toulouse. On the way to the station we were serenaded by drunk Frenchmen singing sad songs about losing the world cup match.

 

To start he day we headed to the catacombs, Gavin was really interested in seeing them.  When we got there we split up.  Brenda and Tristan went to a cafe to hang out- Tristan thought the sight of all the bones would freak him out. Gavin and I went to get in line but found the line went around the entire block and they only allow 200 people in at a time so someone has to leav before someone enters. After looking at he line we decided to come back tomorrow and get in line before it opens. So we rejoined Brenda and Tristan and decided to have lunch, which was very nice.

After lunch we set out for Musee d’Orsay which is in an old train station and has a large collection of impressionist painters – Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, Renoir.  The kids wanted to go here because they have both been having art masters at their schools were they learn about great artists so they had learned about some of the artists there. They had also watch an episode of Doctor Who where he went back in time and met Van Gogh and because of that they really wanted to see his paintings.

The museum was very nice but like most places in Paris all the exhibits where only in French. Now I don’t think France has to cater to people from the US but they could have a little corner on the plaques with a bit of English explaining what you are looking at. We did pay for the audio guides in English but they only cover one or two things per room.

After he museum we headed over to the Arc d’ Trimuph which was closed when we got there. We did not know it but they close the Arc every day at 6:30 for a ceremony where they relight the eternal flame on he tomb of he unknown soldier when is at the base of the Arc. Hey do reopen it after but we couldnt find anywhere that said when and after waiting an hour we gave up and headed back to our hotel for dinner.

 

Now is the day Gavin has been looking forward to. We are going to take the Eurostar from London to Paris. It’s a high speed train that goes through the channel tunnel and makes the trip in about 2 1/2 hours. Gavin has been looking forward to this greatly.

We started off the day by touring the HMS Belfast, a world war 2 cruiser that is docked by our hotel in the Thames river. This tour was interesting because they let you explore most of the ship.We got to see everything from the engine room in the bottom to the fire control center at the very top. They had a lot of interactive displays which he boys always love but we had to skip a lot of them due to time. We made it back to our hotel just in time to check out.

Then we took our last tube ride to the train station. Gavin was sad as he really liked the tube.

The train station was huge and very busy. It was a long way from the Amtrak trains and stations that we were used to. The train ride went by pretty quick though Tristan started to feel a little sick. I don’t think going 186 miles an hour agreed with him.

We arrived in Paris in the middle of rush hour which made our Metro ride to our hotel a bit interesting. Our hotel was surprisingly nice and the room is a lot bigger than we expected from a Paris hotel. First thing we did was run around the corner and have some dinner crepes which were to die for they were so good.

After dinner we headed over to the Eiffel Tower hoping it would be less busy in the evening but we didn’t get that lucky. We did eventually get all the way to the top but it took quiet a while. It was worth it though as we were on top for sunset (10pm here) and we got to see all the city lights come on and the monuments light up. Going down was still very busy so we took the stairs down from he second floor which was interesting in itself.

Our trip back was a bit of an adventure–the metro line from the Eiffel Tower to our hotel was closed. But after a walk, a bus ride, and finally a taxi we got back a little after midnight. It was a good day but very exhausting.

 

 

 

Today we headed off to tour Westminster Abbey which was on Brenda’s list of must see things. The Abbey had a long line to get in but it was worth the wait. We got to see the graves of the old kings and queens of England including Elizabeth and her sister Mary. Tristan was very excited to see the graves of Charles Darwin and Sir Issac Newton.

The church itself was very impressive with monuments and graves going back to the 1500s (that we saw the abbey is older than that.). We also got to see the chair that all the monarchs of England sit in when they are crowned.

They didn’t allow pictures so all I have are a couple I sneaked in against the rules.

After we finished at the Abbey we went over to the Bristish museum, which Tristan had really been wanting to go to. We spent most of our time at the Saxon and Roman England exhibits. We barely touched on what the museum had, it was huge and we only had a couple of hours to spend there.

Thats Tristan, Gavin, and me in the center of the British Museum picture