Exiting Toulouse

So my phone was stolen. I wrote about that. I also lost some luggage. Shit happens. I got a new phone, and my trip to Toulouse really began. I had booked the rental for 28 days in total, and much of the first week was spent replacing my phone and other things I had lost, but that still left me with a lot of time to explore the city.

I actually ended up win Toulouse by accident. I had originally planned on going to Montpellier, France, which is near the Mediterranean coast, but the Airbnb I had booked canceled at the last minute for no discernible reason. I told the guy off. It was too late to find something else that I liked there at that point, so Toulouse became my destination.

Because I hadn't planned on going to Toulouse, I didn't know much about the city. I tried to cram in some research right before I left the States, but I didn't really get a solid impression of where I was going. I just knew it was France's fourth-largest city, it was known for its pinkish brick buildings, there was a large river running through it and there was a strong restaurant scene.

I stayed in the Saint Aubin district of Toulouse, which is just at the edge of the center of the city. It's filled with bars, little restaurants and lots of interchangeable convenience stores. There are about a million patios to occupy. There's also a fantastic thrift store called Emmaüs, which helped me replace some clothes I had lost at a very low cost.

Once I had my phone up and running and felt comfortable going out and exploring the city for real, I studied the map. I was going to attack this thing like a military general. Each district would be conquered—one by one. I started in the north of the city, and then I was in the center near the Capitole and then I was on the riverbank. Each day was a taste of a different piece of what Toulouse had to offer.

My first few days in Toulouse, the phone was out a lot. It's a gorgeous city, and I'd find myself stopping to take a picture of an alleyway, because that particular alleyway was just romantic-looking to me. The architecture, the bricks, the cast iron, the windows, how the sun hit it. I'm sure the locals were rolling their eyes, but I didn't really give a damn.

I'm pretty sure I ended up visiting every single cathedral in Toulouse during my stay, and let me tell you, that's an accomplishment. There are a lot of cathedrals. I'm not religious—in fact, I'm a known atheist—but how can you not visit those colossal, ancient, exquisite buildings when you're in a European city? We don't have that at home, so pictures of them started filling up my Instagram page.

I liked my neighborhood and spent a lot of time in it, but I often found myself getting on the subway and going to the river. There are lots of nice restaurants and bars there, and I just found myself drawn to it like a moth to the flame. I've always enjoyed being near bodies of water, which I think is common, but I especially found myself drawn to the river in this city.

I don't know if it was the picturesque bridges, the neon Ferris wheel across the river, the people hanging out on the riverbank or what, but I just had to get back to the river regularly during my stay in Toulouse. Luckily, the subway comes often, and though it's typically packed, I only had to stay on it for two stops to get there.

Speaking of transportation, something I didn't expect about Toulouse was that it almost feels like Thailand in terms of the mortal danger you sometimes sense when trying to cross a street. There are Vespas, electric bikes, electric scooters and those weird Onewheel things everywhere, and people are not casually making their way to their destination. They're racing there. Look both ways.

Anyway, after about two weeks I had seen pretty much every part of Toulouse that I could have possibly wanted to see. I enjoyed many different parts of the city for many different reasons. Some areas feel hip and young, some feel chic, some feel a little neglected and some feel overly crowded.

It's a big city, and it feels like a big city—in terms of how much it has to offer. It does not feel like a big city in terms of the buildings. You're not going to see a lot of skyscrapers. You're pretty much going to be looking at modest buildings that have been around for a long time.

My last week in Toulouse, I had done what I came to do, so I just kind of let myself relax. I let myself live like a local, which is why I had booked such a long stay at the beginning of my trip to Europe in the first place. I wanted to know what it would feel like to be a local in a foreign country, and I got that. It felt good. I don't think I would move to Toulouse specifically, because it doesn't feel like it's my city, but I could certainly see myself living in Europe quite comfortably.

I'm in the French countryside right now visiting a friend, but I'll report back when I have another story to tell. I'm enjoying a little break from city life. In the meantime, I'll have a non-travel-related article out soon.