Jul 16, 2008

A Tale Of Two Cities

Toulouse - la ville en rose
Gloomy weather on arrival at Toulouse Matabiau Train Station

Pink - Toulouse's red clay is something you cannot ignore, provided if you're color blind


Heck, even the floors of the metro is pink


No play play - industrialization means rapid, efficient and minimalist, all reflected on the architectural styles of common residencies


Chateau d'Eau - water tower of Toulouse


Capitol Building of Toulouse's main square. Reddish pink


It' s not called la ville en rose for no reason. Coincidentally, it is also Europe's foremost city with active gay and lesbian communities


A French affair - dining at the restaurant highly recommended by Lonely Planet


My fried duck drumstick with bleu sauce and frits (how the fat on the drumstick stands up to 30% of the entire portion is beyond my comprehension)


Hospice General - a hospice, Greek origin, literally translates to 'rest house on the journey to God'. It provides terminal patients (usually HIV/AIDS and cancer) with palliative care - medications used to alleviate pain of the disease but not curing the disease


Toulouse's old-time bourgeois residential area is now transformed into a modern arts museum

Hotel Dieu is used to quarantaine patients with cholera in Toulouse in old times


Marseille - capital de l'été
O-la-la, sun shines in Marseille


The Vieux Port - something out of a fairy tale?


Fishermen auctioning their catch of the day. Some of them still speaks the traditional Marseillais French - a tad different from contemporary Français


One of two fortress of Marseille guarding the city


Took the little choo-choo train...


To go up the Notre-Dam la Gard...


And we're there in 20 minutes


View from the top is breathtaking. Two islands behind me are Chateau d'If (front, little) and Chateau d'Frioul (behind, big) respectively


Magical isn't it? I wonder what it feels like to look down at Penang from Bukit Bendera?


And not forgetting the church with its gold-clad Mary and Jesus


The sign reads "on July 4 (year not indicated) Pope Jean-Paul prayed in this church blah-blah. Let us all pray in wish of yadda-yadda"


A short ferry ride took us to Chateau d'Frioul (Chateau d'If is fermée today, monseiur). An island used to quarantaine diseased sailors, again


The crystal clear Méditerranéen, despite my housemate's girlfriend telling me the Med is the most polluted sea in the world


A Spanish affair - had lunch on the island, something which name I can't recall. My housemate's Mum says this is a Spanish dish. I hope the yellow doesn't come from butter


La Major of Marseille. Tricky but I can smell something Arabic in the building



Melting pot of France - attracting many Africans here, Marseille is a city which blends well with other cultures. Unlike other French cities, it is not marred by the 2006 racial riots


The picture of sin - this Palais Longchamp caused me to miss my train, got delayed for more than 2 hours, and questioned by French police about my intentions in their Partiaire France (fatherland)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

wooo!! you're having such an adventure!
and that Palais Longchamp is so grand, i think it's worth the longer journey back :D
by the way, i think that spanish dish is called paella..

JYSim said...

eesh, spotted some spelling mistakes just now. Heh.
Tha Palace houses two additional museums which I have no time to visit. I practically jumped off from the metro, snapped this, and jumped back in again.
And the Spanish dish has butter as an ingredient?

Anonymous said...

hey, wonderful journey...
n beware of time, is lucky the french police returned u passport