A long weekend in Toulouse – Saturday | alison richards

I'd covered so much ground on my first day in Toulouse that there weren't too many places on my list that I hadn't already been to. So if you looked at my map of what I did on Saturday, it's basically one big, meandering walk around the Rose City.

I started out on the main shopping street, which was deserted even though it was about 9am (the French start the day much later than I do!). Since it was early, I thought I'd head down to the Canal de Brienne and walk along there for a bit, which was beautiful with its autumn colours. This canal joins another that rings the city but then goes off in all directions! I got off the path before I could get too lost and went back to the Place du Capitole, via Saint Sernin. I'd been to this church on Thursday, but when I went on Saturday in the morning, there were no people inside and some brilliant morning light.

At 10am on the dot, I was outside the Couvent des Jacobins to have a look inside this church. It was a huge brick building and very spacious inside. This is where the theologian and philosopher Thomas Aquinas is buried.

It was time for morning tea, so I popped into a cafe called Dip's Tea for a pot of Assam and a piece of cake. Warmed by the tea, I then walked in a huge loop to the Allees Forain-Francois Verdier, where there was a brocante happening! Oh the things you can buy in a French brocante - I could have bought so much but can never get it home! It was nice just looking at all the old chairs and chandeliers and paintings. It started raining a bit while I was walking through there, but I kept on to the Square Boulingrin then head down to other Allee towards the Garonne. It was getting a little bit miserable, but I determinedly kept going to the Raymond IV garden, where there was supposed to be a beautiful old carousel, but it was shut for the winter. With that, I decided I'd had enough and went to find some lunch and a seat. I went to a place called Pikonik and had a very tasty baguette. With the weather closing in, I thought it was time for a little bit of shopping and had a look in some of the shops I'd seen on my first day - Toulouse had a surprising amount of pretty little designy shops. It was a lovely way to spend a cold and rainy afternoon.

Saw this lovely shop and customers on the way to Allées Forain-François Verdier

Those trees to the side are the Allées Forain-François Verdier where the brocante was. This building was too gorgeous not to photograph though!

This person was just standing on the bridge in the rain!

The weather cleared up for a lovely evening at the Capitole. No wonder Toulouse is the Rose City!

I eventually walked back to my hotel to get ready to go out for dinner. I'd seen a little bar/restaurant on my walk called Le Dahu and decided that's where I was going for dinner. It was such a fun night - being solo, dinners can be a bit of a quiet affair, but I sat at the bar laughing and drinking with the bar staff while I tucked into yet another cassoulet, duck this time. The French are so friendly; even if I can't speak much French and they can't speak much English, we always get by. As my last dinner in Toulouse, it couldn't have been a better one.

I had an early flight back to London on Sunday, taking off at about 10am. For a £26 return flight, I think I did really well and thoroughly enjoyed my time in Toulouse and beautiful Albi.