Gratuit Is My New Favorite Word

This weekend all across France was the "Journées Patrimoine" where different cultural venues in every city were open and free (gratuit) to the public to celebrate European culture. Some of these institutions are open year round, like the big museums, but others are closed or cost money during the year. Even if you did have to pay to get in somewhere this weekend it was at a reduced price.

On Saturday, I woke up somewhat early to get myself ready for a day of museum-ing and church-ing. I got to our meeting place at 10am only to discover that the time had been changed to 11. No biggie. I got some coffee and went to the Musée des Augustins. It's an old church/abbey that was converted in to a museum, so the grounds include a massive church and a cloister. The weather was absolutely perfect in the morning and I really didn't want to leave. The museum also has an impressive sculpture and painting collection. My inner art history nerd was once again satisfied. I met Sarah, Kathleen, and Caroline at 11 and we started off on our journey for the day. The first place we visited was the church along the Garonne, Notre-Dame de la Daurade. It was a MASSIVE building and my eyes couldn't find a place to rest. When we walked in, the sun was shining through the stained glass windows at just the right angle to cast a beautiful light on a central figure in one of the paintings. It was incredible. A lovely old gentlemen who I think worked at the church, though that was never confirmed, guided us around the basilica and gave us a quick history lesson. I find that French people love sharing their history. When our necks were strained from looking up at the ceiling we headed off to find a café for lunch. It's harder than it may sound. We settled on a place next to the Garonne which was great. After eating some sandwiches we went to the Musée de Vieux Toulouse. The museum is housed in another "hôtel" like those we visited last week. It was really beautiful. The collection inside was interesting too, showcasing the history of Toulouse. Our next stop was an acapella concert inside the Jacobins. The acoustics inside the church were the best I have ever experienced and the concert was probably the closest I'll ever come to having a religious experience. Something about the music and the architecture clicked in my mind. We then headed to Palais Niel, stopping along the way for an orangina to fuel our museum-ing. This palace isn't open to the public regularly so it was especially cool to go inside. It's now used as military offices. Our final stop on Saturday was a presentation on traditional dancing. It was a film paired with a demonstration and it was really interesting. We found dinner after that, which is challenging because you want to eat good food but you don't want to spend a lot of money, and finally relaxed after our long day. Crepes really do fix every problem.

Musée des Augustins

Musée des Augustins

Musée des Augustins

Musée des Augustins

Pont Neuf

Notre Dame de la Daurade

Notre Dame de la Daurade

Notre Dame de la Daurade

Musée de Vieux Toulouse

Musée de Vieux Toulouse

Concert aux Jacobins

Palais Niel

Palais Niel

Today, I met Kathleen and Sarah at a "peniche" along the Canal du Midi. A peniche is essentially a houseboat. This one has been transformed into a boutique selling all things violet. The smell inside was incredible as were the snacks they had to sample, gratuit of course. After that I explored some more on my own near Pont Neuf. I went to an old hospital and a modern art museum. Those two things are related, right? The hospital was slightly creepy, as all former hospitals are, but the building was really cool. It's literally right on the river. Les Abattoirs, the museum, was great too. It's a former slaughterhouse that was turned in to a museum so the architecture is fascinating. After that I stopped at an outdoor market to buy some stuff to cook for dinner and I headed home, stopping along the way at a grocery store for more supplies. Last Sunday I was in the country with my host family so this was my first in the city and man does Toulouse shut down on Sundays. I came back to the house and tried to pick out some classes that I want to take at the Mirail which proved rather difficult. It's so hard to find classes that are interesting to me, fit in my schedule, and aren't at 8:30am. I made dinner for myself, pasta and broccoli with garlic and oil, and crossed some more stuff off my to do list. I sat with the family while they ate dinner and Catherine explained to me why Toulouse was so quiet today. It's illegal in France for certain types of businesses to be open on Sundays. Talk about a difference between France and the US. After dinner somehow we got on to the topic of musicals and I ended up singing songs from Mary Poppins with Catherine and Camille in the kitchen. It was hilarious because I'm singing in English while they're singing in French and yet somehow we all know what's going on. Ah the magic of Disney, bringing us all together.

Hôtel Dieu Saint Jacques - An old hospital

Hôtel Dieu Saint Jacques - An old hospital

Les Abattoirs

Les Abattoirs

I realize that my posts have been getting a little lengthy with all of the photos but I think they're necessary, right? Anybody? Bueller?