After one night in La Cité de Carcassone, we trained to Toulouse. The ride was short, about 45 minutes. It was raining when we got to the gare. The apartment we got from booking.com was accomodating at first to let us check in early. But everything went downhill from there. I don’t know whether it was because we got spoiled by other places, or they are just very stringy and rigid. The marketing line they used was “just bring your suitcase, everything else is ready for you”. The apartment features dishwasher and clothes washer, but no detergent was provided. No clothes dryer. No coffee/tea cups. No wine opener. No paper towels. 1.5 rolls of toilet paper for 4 nights for 3 people. A torn pillow. The place otherwise has new amenities, just useless. Lesson learned: read the tiny prints and don’t assume.

We walked to the Cathedrale, then Place de La Capitole. There’s a Lindt chocolate place that has flavors that I had never seen in the States. We thrifted a lot; and again ate lots of sweets.

We were lucky to be able to get tickets to a concert of Brahm at Halles Aux Grains. Our seats are on the seconde étage and we were able to see the whole orchestra. There must be about 70 musicians. It’s unbelievable to see everyone in tune with the conductor. The pianist was exceptional.

On our last night in Toulouse, we had dinner at Là Sen. I should have asked the owner why Là Sen, and not Lá Sen. It’s operated by a family of Viets from the North. The food was fusion, but after days of eating French foods, we were ready for nuoc mam! We ordered Bún Cha, Marmite de Fruits de Mer (curry and coconut and galangal Thai flavors), Magret de Canard in Tamarind sauce, and Banana Cake in coconut cream.

Our day trip from Toulouse was Albi. We went on Saturday, the first weekend of November. Here, train rides on the first weekend of the month are all 1€ a ride a person. So it costs us 2€ each for aller and retour. What a way to encourage local tourism that benefits both the residents and the host towns.

As i wrote in the Carcassone blog, the Cathars/Albigensiens Crusade happened in the 13th century. Albi was the heart of the heresy in the eyes of the Catholic Church, even though most fighting happened in Toulouse, Carcassonne, Beziers. The Church reasserted control by making Albi the regional base for the Inquisition, with the tasks of eliminating remaining Cathars.

The Cathedral of Sainte-Cécile was deliberately designed as a statement of Catholic power meant to intimidate and remind the population of the Church’s dominance after heresy. Inside the cathedral, on the sides of the altar are huge paintings of the Last Judgment – Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell. Hell is where people are punished if committing the Seven Deadly Sins (Pride, Envy, Wrath, SLoth, Greed, Gluttony, Lust). These are scary paintings which brought back childhood memories of stories how people are cooked in hot oil, or devoured by snakes in hell.

The Cathedral was extremely imposing in the center of the town and I can’t say that i like the vibe in Albi. I could feel the intentions of the Church, to remind people that everyone who was not Catholic would be exterminated, instead of teaching people of God’s love and leniency for all people.

I initially felt indifferent with Toulouse. I thought it was because it was a big and impersonal town. Then I realize I was pre-occupied with the thoughts of Tina leaving soon and therefore bracing myself for the separation. I didn’t know how to process my emotions going to the airport and saying goodbye to Tina. Besides her backpack and rolling luggage, she also would be dragging home 2 additional huge and heavy luggages.

I was looking at the cup half-empty. I saw the missing half instead of seeing the precious time Tina and I enjoyed together. Time is moving faster, and I wish I could spend more time with my kids.