Last Friday I was really lucky to join English speaking tour guide Elyse Rivin on a 'Money and Markets: Toulouse the Trading City' tour. For 15 Euros I (and about 17 others) had a really interesting guided tour around the city of Toulouse. We went to:
- the covered fresh produce market at Carmes. It's a crying shame because the building is a 1960s monstrosity (concrete and so ugly compared to the beauty around it), but inside it is full of little stalls selling crisply fresh produce and still twitching fish. We then wandered through the wobbly, wonky streets, passing an enormous map of the old district of Toulouse attached high on a wall to:
- rue de la Bourse which is where the first stock exchange was established in Toulouse in the 1500s. We popped ourselves into the neo-baroque Tribune of Commerce and were suitably impressed by the light and openness of the upstairs mezzanine walkway (a Roman inspired design). I think I am right in saying that the market building that used to be at the Place de la Bourse was disassembled, moved and reassembled in Lourdes. From there we made our way past the doggy-do-dos to:
- the Victor Hugo covered markets, another fine example of the catastrophy that is 1960s architecture in the city. This is the largest food market in Toulouse and honestly I don't know how you get to choose your favourite place to shop. It just all looks so darned good. And fresh. And tasty. But the most important part of our walking tour visit that day was:
- a cheese-tasting accompanied by a glass of wine at Betty's, the most important cheese purveyor in the city which has been there for over five generations. It does seems a rather odd name for a cheese shop (une fromagerie) but it is exceptional. They have a stall in the Victor Hugo market and a shop directly over the road. 21, place Victor-Hugo, 31000, Toulouse 05.61.22.17.81. We enjoyed a sample of rocamadour, roquefort and another softer cheese but I forget which. There are so many varieties of cheeses it is hard to explain. Lovely husband and I went to the shop once and we started to help ourselves to what we wanted and were gently advised that we were to be served. So we waited, and then staff dealt one by one with the customers, enquiring as to the purpose, timing, other food at the meal at which the cheese was to be consumed, etc, in order to make the best recommendation. They can also recommend the most suitable wine to go with the cheese selection. There are English speaking staff who work there so you can make yourself understood if you are salivating too much to speak French adequately.
If you want to get in touch with Elyse Rivin, she can arrange special tours on request and she comes highly recommended by me and many others. Her website is: www.toulouseguidedwalks.com.
And even better, I met a lovely woman on the tour whose daughter lives in New Zealand with her husband and their three boys. Yes, I knew Wellington - we lived in that city in New Zealand. Yes, I knew the suburb that she lives in - just down the road from where we used to live. ‘I wonder if I know her,’ I asked. ‘What is your daughter’s name?’ Yes, I knew her. But of course!
Next month we are going to have a tour called Romans, Power, Portraits and Women, around St Sernin and St Raymond. More later. I'll take some photos!
