Bridges, parks, and springtime sunlight - Garonne, Toulouse, France.

The Pont Neuf (literally - "New Bridge") area houses a green meadow that stretches along the banks of the Garonne river. Right in the middle of the city, it is one of the few places where some peace and quiet can be found away from the busy shopping areas and traffic. I rather enjoyed sitting on the grass with a book, although I was soon distracted by the many activities going on about the meadow and spent the next half hour or so people-watching. It was a lovely spring day, one of the first warm days this year, and the meadow was full of couples, families and young people, the latter of whom had clearly escaped school to enjoy the sunlight. 

The meadow also offers a pleasant view of the bridge itself, which was built in 1659 (so it's not really that new at all!). Note that the bridge is lit up at night - which makes for a stunning sight too. You can also see the older part of Toulouse from the meadow, with its old pink brick buildings, domes roofs and the other bridges dotting the Garonne. The boats passing by also make for interesting watching - and in the summer there are, of course, many, many more of them.

Tea salons in Toulouse, France

I found this adorable place hidden away in a strange, empty little street. It was raining, and I needed to get inside and drink something hot - and this tea salon sort of popped up at the most opportune moment. The view from the window is actually rather nice - old brick buildings and cobbled streets. The fact that it was raining also gave a certain French charm to the entire experience - people rushing by, droplets of rain on the glass, the smell of coffee inside, and a good book I happened to have with me.

The decor is rather quirky; one wall is entirely covered by multicolored paper labels with different words in French/English/etc. The café viennois I had was pretty much perfect - real whipped cream, as opposed to the aerosol kind - and a good, strong espresso base.

The place also does light food, and appears to be favored by the bohemian, theatrical types of the area; judging both the patrons I saw and the assortment of posters for plays, musicals, operas (and so forth) all about the tea salon itself.


Salon de the "ô 3 C"

54 rue Peyrolières
31000 Toulouse
France

Telephone: 05 61 12 47 04



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This is an absolute must in Toulouse. The selection of teas is amongst the biggest I've seen anywhere so far - and the Japanese cherry blossom tea I had was brewed to perfection. Served in pretty antique-looking teapots, with matching cups and saucers, in a room lavishly decorated with chandeliers, it's an experience no tea lover should miss.

As a (sweet) bonus, there are the cakes. The "meli melo" option gives you a selection of 3; you can choose the cakes yourself or ask the waiter to select the ones s/he recommends. The banoffee cake is apparently legendary; but the pavlova, peanut and chocolate slice and apple-and-raspberry crumble we had were all just sublime. It's not just good baking; it's fantastic! The cakes are made in their own kitchens, and may not be quite as pretty as manufactured cakes, but their deliciousness more than compensates for this. Truth be told, I found myself remembering the taste of the cakes hours later.


"L'autre salon de the"

45, Rue des Tourneurs 31000
Toulouse
France


Telephone: 05 61 22 11 63