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
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Chateau d'Eau - water tower of Toulouse
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Capitol Building of Toulouse's main square. Reddish pink
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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
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A French affair - dining at the restaurant highly recommended by Lonely Planet
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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)
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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
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Toulouse's old-time bourgeois residential area is now transformed into a modern arts museum
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Hotel Dieu is used to quarantaine patients with cholera in Toulouse in old times
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Marseille - capital de l'été
O-la-la, sun shines in Marseille
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The Vieux Port - something out of a fairy tale?
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Fishermen auctioning their catch of the day. Some of them still speaks the traditional Marseillais French - a tad different from contemporary Français
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One of two fortress of Marseille guarding the city
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Took the little choo-choo train...
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To go up the Notre-Dam la Gard...
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And we're there in 20 minutes
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View from the top is breathtaking. Two islands behind me are Chateau d'If (front, little) and Chateau d'Frioul (behind, big) respectively
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Magical isn't it? I wonder what it feels like to look down at Penang from Bukit Bendera?
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And not forgetting the church with its gold-clad Mary and Jesus
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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"
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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
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The crystal clear Méditerranéen, despite my housemate's girlfriend telling me the Med is the most polluted sea in the world
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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
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La Major of Marseille. Tricky but I can smell something Arabic in the building
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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
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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)
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3 comments:
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..
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?
hey, wonderful journey...
n beware of time, is lucky the french police returned u passport
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