Stepping off the train platform, the relaxed air of a city connected with its nature and history is almost tangible. Nothing says “come on in, take a load off” like a cool breeze off the Canal du Midi that meanders through the loose groups of locals enjoying another perfect summer day on the lawn of Jardins de la Ligne, tousling your hair as if welcoming you as one of its own. A 30-foot mechanical minotaur greets you, and you know you’ve just landed in Toulouse, one of France’s gems waiting to be explored. Originally, my trip was to be short, just a week, but after a couple of days, I extended it to just under a month. Here, during a time in my life of turmoil, strife, but also wonder, I found a little moment of peace. It was exactly what I needed. My jaunts to the grocery store or to one of Toulouse’s many, many parks were, almost exclusively, through other parks or along meandering tree-shaded pedestrian paths. It was exquisite to touch just about every point in the city without ever seeing a car, train, or bus. My own personal superhighway, the stretch of serene water that brackets Toulouse with its sister, the river Garonne, a place where you can’t help but feel your soul being cleansed with each humid breath: Canal du Midi. It is not surprising in the slightest that so many choose to make the canal their home, floating their abode across its body, letting it take them wherever it sees fit. A path is paired with it up and down its great distance, so you can enjoy its grace whether you choose to go north or south. I had grown accustomed to thinking of Toulouse as “The Green City.” It is, without a shadow of a doubt, a city of parks—no matter where you are, deep in its suburbs or standing in the city center, you are just steps away from a publicly funded sanctuary of kids playing, dogs chasing frisbees, elderly feeding pigeons, and flowers, flowers, flowers. Grand Rond quickly became my go-to, sit-in-the-shade, and watch-time-tick-by place whenever I chose to wander downtown. With four separate parks attached to Grand Rond, each extending deep into the city like the roots of a tree, you could spend hours just walking around the park. Jardins des Plantes and Jardin Royal can be accessed via one of these roots, each complementing the other, complete with water features like all good French parks. Better than most botanical gardens around the world, Grand Rond outshines just about every other park you could think of with the sheer number of statues, sculptures, foliage, happy families, and, of course, flowers, flowers, flowers. If you consider yourself to be of a somewhat theological mind, then your attention should turn to Saint Stephen’s Cathedral. You’ve probably never seen a cathedral like this one—the facade is extraordinary, the west entrance a mashup of two different churches. Available to the God-fearing Toulousians of 1078, the Cathedral was constructed with the blessing of Bishop Isarn, at least, that’s how the story goes. It has undergone some dramatic renovations since its inception, making it, to some, Frankenstein’s monster. I, however, find it wonderful that the decision was made to meld two different churches together rather than destroy one over the other. It is an edifice to endurance and confluence, as a place of faith should be. You can be a foodie here, you can check out the many museums, you can take a ride down the river, you can get lost in the art scene. All great and wondrous things can be found here, like in every wonderful and great French city. But Toulouse, to me, was the place to let life flow around me like the Canal du Midi. It is here I surrendered, and it is here I was free. Follow Bored Panda on Google News! Follow us on Flipboard.com/@boredpanda! Please use high-res photos without watermarks Ooops! Your image is too large, maximum file size is 8 MB.
