A la Poste

On my way to the post office - La Poste. Here's a postie - we're not far off!In goes the cheque for the vintage French lace from ebay...Then a silghtly tedious wait inside, but it's worth it to get the PIF packages sent off! La Poste is set in this square. The blue road signs are in Occitane, the original language of our area (and known to all who have read Labyrinth). Son 1 is taking an optional class in Occitane language and culture at College this year, so we rely on him for pronunciation and a bit of translation.

The excellent bookshop, 'Il etait une fois' (Once upon a time), is next to la Poste, and these amazing trees are in bloom all round the square.Looking around with a camera in my posession, I notice things I wouldn't normally see, like the brick, shutters and lamp above the bookshop.

Here are some great 'oeil de boeuf' (ox-eye) windows further down the square! And the corner of the same building has amazing detail on it.Here's the door - on the main road now, not on the square. Bricks are an ancient tradition around Toulouse, as we are built on clay. The Romans introduced brick-making technology and it was never forgotten. Therefore bricks don't look so Victorian, as they do in the UK. But this building IS 19th century, isn't it?Our town is a bastide, which means a planned medieval town built on a grid pattern. Look down the roads all around la Poste and you can see the grid still functioning...
A bit further down the other side...

But among the old buildings there's plenty of 21st century technology. 'The Green Mouse' below is an I.T. centre. Into the centre now, with the market Halle dominating the very confusing road system. It's in the centre of another square, with all the civic buildings down one side. The Hotel de Ville is connected, by this wonderful war memorial arch,

to the Mairie. As well as the French and EU flags, you can also see the Occitane cross being flown. On another side of the square they're doing up a building which had fallen into disrepair. It's going to look amazing when it's finished - look at the roof top!Opposite, with the Halle in between, is this charming row of arched buildings. Our Notaire has his office there. Yes, like the rest of France, we have two grey cars... imagine trying to find them in a car park!

A lot's going to be going on this summer in and around the Halle. I'll keep you up to date with the events - markets, Vide Greniers, concerts... It's going to be fun!