Where is Toulouse?

Some of you have been asking us where Toulouse is in France. Here is a map to help get you oriented. Toulouse is about six hours by train from Paris. Note that Toulouse is halfway between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea along the Canal du Midi, which links the two coasts. There are bike routes that run along the Canal, and last summer Marty and I bicycled from Toulouse to the Mediterranean. (It was about 3.5 days of leisurely cycling to get to the coast.)

By the way, from what we could see during our brief visit to the Mediterranean, no French woman wears a one-piece bathing suit on the beach. I felt like my one-piece suit was the equivalent of waving a flag that said "FOREIGNER!!" It was like showing up at a Little League game in an evening gown; I was definitely overdressed. I am contemplating buying a bikini for beach days, but I'm not sure I can do it. My abdomen hasn't seen the sun since I was about 10 years old. I think my belly could blind our fellow beach goers with its whiteness. Ah, the tortuous dilemmas I face - one piece or two?

In case you are curious, I have not noticed Marty wrestling with the question of whether or not to emulate the French and wear a Speedo on the beach. For those of you who are familiar with Marty's fear of air touching his body ("I might get cold."), you understand that it is highly unlikely that Marty will ever don a bathing suit at all. My vote is that if this improbable event takes place, it won't be in a Speedo. If any Speedo is sighted on his body, you’ll be the first to know.

But I digress, back to geography... Toulouse is south of the Dordogne, a beautiful area famous for its foie gras and the Lascaux Cave, one of the world's most amazing examples of Stone Age art. The actual Lascaux Cave can no longer be visited because the art was deteriorating as a result of visitation. The French painstakingly constructed a reproduction of the cave, which Marty and I went to a few years ago. It was truly humbling to see the artwork of early man; for me it was one of those rare moments when I felt a real connection to the past.

The Pyrenees Mountains and the pilgrimage destination of Lourdes are south of Toulouse. For those of you unfamiliar with Catholic lore, Lourdes is where the 14-year old Bernadette saw the Virgin Mary. I went to Lourdes several years ago and found it beautiful, fascinating and tacky. There were pilgrims from around the world, many in wheelchairs, who go there to be healed by the holy waters. There are also lots of bric-a-brac shops selling Virgin Mary kitsch. A favorite item appeared to be plastic Virgin Mary bottles filled with holy water. Isn’t it nice to know that America doesn’t have the market cornered on tackiness?