Yes, More Flats

Important Fashion Tips from Toulouse

Flats -yes, Ladies, flats. Really pretty flats. On everyone, even on dressy occasions - some of these pictures were taken at a wedding. There were, bien sûr, some low heels, a few low wedges, but mostly flats. Even in the store windows - beautiful flats, with bows and buckles, in metallics and colors, with peep toes or ankle straps, sooooo beautiful.

The only heels I saw were on the obviously young or Spanish.

The French are a very practical people. They understand that flats are more comfortable, so they make really pretty ones. I was impressed by the number of really pretty comfort shoes. I was so sad that I really didn't need more shoes, because there were so many lovely comfortable looking flats.

Could it be the influence of First Lady Carla Bruni who, like Katie Holmes (though without Suri or Scientology, of course) wears flats to minimize her own height for her spouse's sake?

Also, short pants. Very few trousers with hems that hid the shoe - not capris and not cargo's, just simple jeans or pants that ended at the ankle, or just above.

Actual Roman Walls, People

Toulouse is Roman Gaul and these are Roman walls in the city. The last picture is mostly medieval, but it's built on a Roman wall at base. I love the modern road signs - it's the thing I particularly love about Toulouse that the past is so present there.

Sister Rose and I saw some incredible Roman walls and even a bit of Actual Roman Road - yes, the Actual Surface of an Actual Roman Road that Actual Romans (and Gauls) and their horses and their dogs had Actually Walked Upon. This was in the basement of the Palais de Justice which had very high security. So no pictures, alas.

Back Home - Fatigue

The picture is Cat of COG (Señor Gomez del Camino de la Angustia), escaping the heat in the backyard on my first day home.

Now, it's my fourth day home and the first day on which I feel like a human being of the sort who rises at a reasonable hour, goes to bed at a reasonable hour and is able to do productive things in the time between. Today it's jam making and bread making to go with it.

There is so much I didn't write about from France. My only excuse is that I was incredibly tired by the end of the day. There is something about spending 6 to 8 hours a day working hard on French that is completely exhausting. I'm not sure what it is exactly, but something about having to focus all the time and never have anything - even the simplest things like buying a pencil - be completely easy. Not complaining - it was a fantastic trip. In many ways the best ever. I do have the feeling that someday I might actually be pretty fluent in French.

That time, however, is in the future not the present. We (Sister Rose and I) bumped up to a different level this time, which means that we were (attempting) speaking at a much more complex level. When you reach a higher level of complexity, you also are (temporarily)(I hope) less skilled. Before I went, I had reached a certain level of competence. I knew I could make myself understood about anything practical - shopping, dining, and hotel reception desk kind of thing. This time we talked about politics and different customs of different countries, the environment, the World Cup, the devastating floods in the Var etc. Absolutely wonderful, but much more difficult. We had a fantastic class of bright, motivated people from all over the world. It was sad to say goodbye to them.

In addition to the 3.5 hour class each morning, Rose and I signed up for a twice-weekly supplemental course to work on our comprehension. This was good - but it was very tiring. After the supplementary class, and on afternoons when we didn't have class, we did guided tours (intended for the French, so no mercy shown) visited museums, churches, historical sites, went to fantastic concerts, shopped and visited. In French. Even Rose and I spoke French a lot of the time.

When I say 'Rose and I spoke French' you understand that no one was there to correct us, so probably not great French - but it kept our brains in French mode. Then, a couple of hours in the evening over dinner with our very gracious and kind hosts, who spoke very fast French with a Toulousian accent. Fortunately they served lots of wine and good food and it was a great experience.

So, that's enough for now. I think I will post some pictures of some of the things we did there in the next couple of weeks.

A moment of zen in Cordes sur ciel

Yesterday we went on a field trip with the school. The first place we visited was Cordes-sur-ciel (Cordes in the sky). So named because it is perched at the very top of a hill and when fog descends on the valley below, it seems to float above the clouds.

However, yesterday was perfectly sunny and warm, so we didn't see that. Cordes was a bit touristy, but lovely. This little film gives you some idea of the view. The field below us was filled with poppies and cornflowers, but that didn't show up so you'll have to imagine them.

Sublime Concert

Sister Rose have just returned from a concert - Vivaldi's Magnificat performed to perfection in St. Pierre la Cuisine. It was an an amazing, astonishing, splendid, sublime concert. Beautiful music, wonderfully performed in the most incredible setting.

St. Pierre la Cuisine is a ragbag of a building. There are bits from the 5th century when Toulouse was Roman, afterwards the Visigoths, whose royal palace was nearby, left some bits of walls. There's a Christian necropolis and then an 11th century church was rebuilt on the site and bits were added in the 13th, 16th, 17th centuries. More recently, they cleaned it up and stabilized it and put in an acoustical ceiling and very comfortable seating, in a kind of deluxe bleacher-type seating.

The video is disappointing, I filmed for much longer than this, but something obviously didn't work. But I've included it. Even 5 seconds is worth experiencing. And I've included a still picture so you can admire it even more.

OK, yes, I'm 8 years old.....

Sister Rose and I visited a really fascinating museum today - La Musée Saint-Raymond- which houses artifacts of Roman Toulouse. It was splendid and perhaps I (or Rose) will write more about it, but among the intellectually fascinating things was one little tiny thing that I must share. There was a bust of a Roman general named: Quintus Fufius Calenus.

I can't say Quintus Fufius without giggling.

And it doesn't help that he was (according to Wiki) 'instumental in helping Publius Clodius after he profaned the Bona Dea.'

If you are a mature, deeply intellectual and non-giggling sort of person, and you want to know more about him, you can read about him in Wiki by clicking here.

Note: This is not a picture of the real Quintus Fufius, who died 2000 years ago. This is simply a model dressed in some vaguely Roman military outfit.

Hey - I just thought -does the name 'Quintius' mean there were 4 other Fufius's before him - Unius, Dueis, Tertius, Quartius?

(falls on floor laughing).