oulouse, March 2000 and Christmas 2000.

When I arrived in France from Australia, I stayed with Yves and his family in Toulouse for a week, and then we moved to Scotland. During this week, Yves showed me around Toulouse and around a fortified city called Carcassonne, about an hour away from Toulouse. (Pictured right.) Carcassonne was built in the middle ages, and has a grand church in it that was built in the 1100's!!

We spent 3 weeks in Toulouse over Christmas. We stayed with Yves' family and spent a lot of time eating, going to see the Christmas markets and generally enjoying a nice break from work.

In the centre of Toulouse, they had some electronic puppets (called 'Marrionettes', in French) which were on display for the Christmas markets in the town square. The puppets are dressed beautifully in fancy dress party clothing, with masks etc, and they move in time to the music, waving and bowing etc.

All in all there were about 8 different sets of them in different costumes and scenarios. Each set came to life separately, when the lights would shine on their stage, the music would start, and the puppets would begin to dance or wave.

The cheese in France is the most famous in the world, so a photo of myself at a cheese stall in the Christmas Markets in Toulouse was an absolute must. It was soooo cold, as you can see by my huge jacket, but that didn't stop the markets being alive with things to see, do and of course, buy.

We visited the St Ferreol Dam near Revel in Toulouse which provides water to the channels in the Midi (Southern France.) (Picture on bottom right) which was interesting. The surroundings looked very lunar like as you can see in the picture. We watched the sunset there.

hristmas 2001: The Saint-Pierre Bridge across the Garonne.
Trees on the footpath along the Garonne.