Ever since I moved away from home, my dad has come to visit just about every year. Normally, we spend part of that time exploring a different city for a few days. On his last visit, we went to Bordeaux so this time, we chose the next closest city, Toulouse. None of us had much of an idea about what to expect so we did a bit of research before we left and discovered that Toulouse is the 4th largest metro area in France and one of its largest university towns too.
It took us around 4 hours to get there, mainly because of an extended stop on the motorway to top up Lola’s oil. I know that you’re meant to service the car before a long trip but since we didn’t, we paid a small price for a valuable lesson. Not too far from home, the oil level light came on for a minute so we checked it when we stopped only to discover that it was below the minimum level. Thankfully, they sold the kind of oil that Lola needs but at a price of €21 for a litre! It was only then that I realised that she is long overdue for an oil change so we’ll be doing that this week.
We arrived at our hotel located right in the centre of the city only 2 minutes walk from the main square. After parking Lola in a nearby garage, we strolled around town and then went to the nearby antiquities museum, located next to an ornate basilica. They did some excavating about 15 year ago and discovered the remnants of a mortar making workshop and a number of crypts located in the basement, which is very convenient for a museum. It was around 34C (93F) that day so we tried to stay out of the sun and stopped for a beer before returning to the hotel to rest up for the evening. We had dinner at a restaurant located right on the main square, making it great for people watching. We each had a few courses which were all very good and Dad and I split a dessert, peach melba, that would have been a meal unto itself.
Will and I left Dad back at the hotel and went out to explore Toulouse’s gay scene. Despite its size, the city only has a few gay venues so we chose the largest one and headed there. We arrived around 10:30 and were among the first people there. It did get busy around midnight and we stayed till 2:30, drinking not-terribly-expensive vodkas and checking out the talent. The place itself reminded us of a suburban venue, with three or four separate areas including a pool table, sitting section and small dance floor. People were friendly and we chatted with a local or two before heading home.
On Sunday, we awoke with mildly sore heads but managed to check out and collect Lola before heading to the natural history museum and botanical gardens, located in the southern end of town. We probably could have walked there since nothing in the centre of town is that far apart but we were heading home afterwards so decided to drive and save our legs. The botanical gardens are nice, more of an urban park with play areas for the kiddies and loads of joggers taking advantage of the carless paths. The plants themselves weren’t arranged and labeled like they were in Limoges but there were many interesting ones there too, including a veggie plot. We stopped that the museum cafe for a coffee before checking out the museum, an extremely interesting and well laid out place. Dad found gifts for the grandkids in the gift shop afterwards so that was one less task for the to do list.
We headed home after that, stopping for sandwiches en route. It was hot again that day so we had gazpacho and salad that evening for dinner, with most of the produce coming from the garden. The next day, we headed into Angouleme to do a bit of sight-seeing and have lunch before Dad’s train that afternoon. It was cool and drizzling that morning so quite a change from the heat of the previous few days. We stopped at the big supermarket so Dad could buy some confit de canard, which he and Marilyn discovered on their first trip here a few years ago. Then we headed into town and strolled around a bit before having pizza for lunch. There wasn’t much else to see after that so we dropped Dad at the train station early and then did some chores of our own on the way out of town.
We bought a halogen floor lamp a few months ago and were disappointed that it broke after 4 months. We were able to return that one for a refund and we were happy to find a replacement in a different shop, also a floor lamp, but one that appears much better built and uses energy efficient bulbs. We also found an inexpensive frame for a poster we got a few years ago, something that’s been on the list for quite some time. I had work the next day so we had a quiet evening at home that night.
And it’s on that subject that I’ve had some unexpected news. My six month contract was due to end last week so I was ready for the conversation with my boss regarding the future. Based on the work I’ve done and the conversation we had before I started, I was expecting to be offered a full time contract. I was planning to take the job as long as they were willing to up my salary, also based on what I was told in the original interview. On Thursday, I went into the office as usual and had the talk with my boss and his boss, the owner of the company. Indeed, they are very happy with the work I’ve done but unfortunately, there isn’t any work for me to do right now. At the time I was hired, they had a backlog of web sites that needed to be built and I’ve since finished all of those. For now, there isn’t any other web work so she can’t commit to taking me on full time.
This isn’t quite as bad as it sounds since there are a number of positives too. First of all, they plan to use me on a contract basis as soon as they have some more web work. They think this will be in the next few weeks and when it comes, I will work from home on a fixed-price basis, meaning I will be at liberty to work the hours of my choosing. Also, since I was on a full time contract, I received severance pay of nearly one month’s salary and am now eligible to sign on at the job centre (i.e. collect unemployment) which should amount to 70-80% of my salary for up to two years. This is all TBC and will find out more when I go there next week. The biggest irony is that when I had the interview back in March, I really didn’t want a full time job and suggested that they use me as a freelancer whenever they had the work. She said that wouldn’t work for them, considering that they had all this work. So in the end, I got what I was looking for, assuming that there actually is some work forthcoming.
Things have picked up a bit for Will on the work front. Jenny from our local centre equestre finally came back to him with some photos and text so he’s in the process of building her site. We also picked up a Port 80 Services customer, an English couple who do building renovations in the area. She has an existing site that she wants translating as well as updating so we’re in the process of transferring it from the people who built it. It turns out they are friends of Nat and Jill, a guy named Steve who is gay and used to live in the area with his partner. We’ve not met them and perhaps now, they won’t be so keen to meet us anyway.
In other news, the garden is finally under control and we’re finally over the glut of tomatoes and courgette since it has been so hot and dry lately. Our special plants are enjoying the heat and are flourishing in their new home in the veggie plot, safe from the desperate deer. We harvested the corn this week, a bounty of two big ears. I wanted to plan a special meal around them and ended up making oven-fried chicken which ended up stealing the show. The corn looked nice but was a bit dry and not terribly sweet. One of these years I’ll get it right. The figs are ripening all at once right now so Mauricette has been hard at work making jam. They have loads of peaches this year so in addition to the two dozen fresh ones they brought us, she made us a peach cake which we will be serving for dessert this evening.
On that front, we are entertaining some new friends this evening, a couple called Lisa and Dave who live near Brantome. We met them at Sally’s birthday party a few weeks ago and hit it off. They moved here not too long ago so don’t know many people around here and were pleased to be invited over. We went out for pizza on Friday with Bryan and Carol, who has returned from the UK and is very happy to be back. We wanted to go our local place in St. Pardoux but they close for their “conge annuelle” this time of year so instead, we went to our former local in Brantome. It was our first time eating in the restaurant and we all enjoyed our pizzas.
Lastly, a few home improvements to report. In addition to the floor lamp, we bought a few bed-side reading lamps, mostly for their aesthetic value. We chased up our wood burner and it turns out that the order had been sitting in limbo until we called to enquire as to its whereabouts. And that, in a microcosm, is the story of using the internet in France: place order on line, wait weeks, call them and suddenly, things start to happen. We were informed that they will now order it and we should hear from the transporter next week. I won’t hold my breath. Also, we replaced the shower tap and toilet innards a few weeks ago and have been pleased with the results. The other day, I replaced the aerator on the bathroom sink tap and now, we’ve got great pressure there too. I’m kicking myself for waiting 20+ months before doing so but pleased with the result.