Pronounce TOLOSE

I know it's no more in the current event section, but I would like to write about my new year's eve now as I could access a decent internet connection before.

 Usually, I don't try to plan new year eve until the final days. I think it can be a quiet good strategy allowing you to meet the unexpected. In general, the less you plan, the better the evening. Another important principle is to never forget to drink gradually otherwise you won't last long. (There's a French saying that the one who want to travel far get easy on the horse...).

In contrast, this New year eve was planned for a surprising number of weeks. I have been visiting university friends in the pink city (Pink is due to the omnipresent pink colour of the houses, not to a large gay communities). I was very happy because it was my first time in Toulouse (check the map).  I have been driven from my house  by my friend N. and his girlfriend D., both are sharing a flat there. On the way, we have given a ride to my friend Y. who is also living in Leicester. As Toulouse is in the middle of the southwest quarter of France and we came from the border with Italy, it is a long journey taking several hours driving on the motorway. The journey was supposed to begin at 2 pm but due to Latin punctuality, we weren't on the motorway before 5 pm. We picked up Y. and we start heading towards Toulouse. N. and D. are very good friends of mine, N. especially. We haven't see each other for more than one year and we had a lot of things to chat about. 

One hour before reaching Toulouse, we decided to stop at Carcassonne which is partly a medieval city in very good state. We quickly found a small restaurant where we could have an incredibly good food: duck gizzard salad as starter and cassoulet of Carcassonne as main course. (cassoulet is a stew of white bean with duck meat and pork sausages). This was the best cassoulet I've ever eaten, partly because I have never liked cassoulet until this one. 

The medieval city of Carcassonne

After an egoist digestive nap in the car, we finally arrived in Toulouse shortly after midnight, just in time for a small aperitif before being called by the bed around around 4 am. The morning after, hmm, The afternoon after, we went shopping at Toulouse's covered Market where the most incredible amount of cheeses, poultries, hams, sausages, meats and anything related to fat and delicious food was displayed. After the first beer of the day, we bought a black pudding stuffed with liver chunks for lunch and some cheese and chorizo for bringing back home. We had a very nice lunch with 2 bottles of superb red wine. The three others took a little nap before we headed to to the New Year's eve party at F. and T.'s flat.

Another New Year's eve's principle would be, the less you help, the funnier the party. I'm not very proud of reckoning it, but I didn't help at all. I paid my share of course, but I didn't do anything else even, even if I'm usually happy to help during the preparation.  F. and S. the 2 girls that managed the whole preparation from buying alcohol in Italy to cooking the food did a really good job. I have to reckon that I can't really comment on the food as I spend the whole evening drinking and drinking... I know the party was fine, but have just a few memories for what happened after midnight and the traditionnal kisses. 

When we arrived, the living room was filled by old friends (we were 23 in total), some very dear, most of them that I haven't saw from months or year. I spent a big part of the evening talking with F. who is a girl that I see very rarely but that make me always think that her biggest flaws is to be extremely attractive, lovely and more than friendly but already have  T. as a boyfriend, unfortunately a really good friend. Among the few events that took place that night, there was the dancing caterpillar in the street of Toulouse, the destroying of the sofa, the wine spillages on the wall, the series of people falling due to the continuous cleaning of the floor (cheap alcohol, lead inevitably to alcohol everywhere) and so and so... 

We went back to N. and D. 's flat around 6 am, totally drunk and totally happy. I had used $30 worth of phone call that I couldn't remember and I was starting to  feel my body bruised and hurt. (cheap alcohol lead inevitably to painful games...). I woke up at 1 pm, still drunk and literally starving. Obviously, on the first day of the year, most of the shops were closed but we could find very expensive pain au chocolat. 

The return was less exciting, we, Y. and me were driven home by S., a former girlfriend of mine and G., her current boyfriend. In the car, I was just keeping thinking how much I would like to go back to  Toulouse for holiday or even for living there for a while.

Thanks to NationMaster for the map

Contact the English version of tourism office of Toulouse here

Contact the English version of tourism office of Carcassonne  here