I intended to head to the south of France immediately after Paris, possibly to Bordeaux, but I ended up in Toulouse after many hours on the train.

Journal, May 16: "They were having 'le fete du pain' today in the main square. Loaves of bread were laid down to spell that phrase on the ground, and put in other patterns and decorations."

This picture looks out on the Garonne river, crossed by le Pont Neuf (on the left side).

Now in the south, I intended to go more slowly. Of course this was made easier by a train strike. I wanted to get from Toulouse to Carcassonne:

Journal, May 16: "... the train at 5:22pm has not left at this point and it's now 7:00pm. We were kicked off the train, and I followed someone to a bus. The bus took the LONG route, about 2 hours, and then half and hour to walk to the youth hostel, so about 10:30pm I arrived."

Carcassonne has a preserved and restored medieval city, and the youth hostel is housed inside the walls! Here is a picture from outside the walls looking toward the Chateau Comtal.