Scènes de Toulouse II

Daily markets.
Les Jacobins in Toulouse. A Gothic church dating back to the 12th century.
Melyssa was one of many who took advantage of the coffee machine at the school.
Another street near the school. At the end is the the Basilica Saint-Sernin. The most famous and beautiful of the Romance architecture in the south of France.
Place du Capitole during the day.
Language partners at a local café: La Maison.
The metro stop closest to our school.
Our local bus company A. Faur!
View of the French countryside and sunflowers (tournesols) taken from the bus.
Everyone on the bus!

Kayaking in the Gorges d'Aveyron

Today was our last excursion before heading to our immersion week in Montpellier. We spent the afternoon kayaking in the Gorges d'Aveyron which is about 1.5 hours northwest of Toulouse towards Bordeaux. We started from the medieval town of St. Antonin Noble Val.
"Who wears short shorts?"











Swimming in the river at the end of the trip.

Dégustation du fromage et du vin

Friday was our last day of class and we celebrated with a cheese and wine tasting. We went to a park and enjoying a variety of some of France's finest. Everyone had a chance to taste a white, rosé and red wine and we paired each with with a couple of different cheeses and of course the delicious baguette! Not a bad way to end the week!

Musée des Abbatoirs

Thursday we went to the Toulouse contemporary art museum, known here as Le Musée des Abbatoirs. Believe it or not, abbatoir means slaughterhouse in French. The museum site was a slaughterhouse up until 1989. It was then closed and renovated as the current museum. We had a guided tour in French taking us through the temporary exhibits.

Carcassonne

Wednesday, we all went on an excursion to Carcassonne, a medieval walled city about an hour south of Toulouse. Named a world heritage site in 1997, Carcassonne’s ramparts and 52 towers are quite a sight to behold. The city was an important stronghold during the crusades and served as a defense post between Aragon and France until the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659. After a stroll through the winding streets mobbed with tourists we all took a tour of the ramparts and the chateau. It was nice to see the students enjoying their surroundings, newly acquired toy swords in hand and cameras ready for the next photo underneath a 1000 year old archway.

Joyeux Anniversaire

Tuesday night we celebrated the 4 birthdays during our trip: Lizzie (July 15), Paul (July 28), Elena (July 29) and Emma B (July 30). Since 3 of them are during the immersion week, we celebrated a little early. We went to a crêperie. La crêpe nutella was by far everyone's favorite.
Emma B and Sophie
William, Lizzie, Alexandra, Elena, Kate, Rebecca and Maddie

Julia, Melyssa et Paul