Toulouse

Okay so on the 25 I met up with my darling Stacey in Toulouse as she started out on her own european adventure. For living so close to Toulouse I'm actually pretty disappointed in myself for taking so long to see the city but I finally had a good excuse! Toulouse is a university city and the largest in the south of France. Its actually kind of similar to Saskatoon in a lot of ways. Unfortunately we had super bad weather so there wasn't a lot going on but normally there is plenty happening in the market squares and along the river beaches and canals. 

 This basilica is one of the largest in France and is a UNESCO world Heritage site. Saint Sernin I believe.

 I apologize my photos are so blurry obviously I was just shaking in excitement to see Stace.

 This is the nicest looking water tower I've ever seen I put it here for my Mother who collects photos of interesting water towers, this one now houses a photography museum.

 As you can see we got an excellent view of the city from the ferris wheel which yours truly forgot to take a picture of because I am awful at capturing moments and will clearly have no hope of recollecting memories of my youth when I am old and senile.

Staceys first time ever on a train and I was there for it!!!! I think she hates trains now though, you'll have to ask her.

Tour De France

Okay, I know what your thinking but relax I didn't forget! I also went to see the Tour Stage 16 in Carcassonne with my parents while they were here. I just sort of thought it deserved its own post because this was one of the things I wanted to experience most in France. The Tour is just so iconic and exciting, really its like the super bowl for cycling!

My neck bruise from wrestling for free stuff

Then the Next Day we hit the beach

 And then found a sea of gold.

The Last of My Parents Visit!

Alright I am officially the worst blogger in the brief history of blogs. I am almost a month behind and so I think rather than slowly play catch up I am going to give a few summaries and some photos at the bottom. I apologize for my pathetic travel writer skills I guess in this regard I will never be internet famous. Oh well.

Okay so I think I left off at Mont Serrat, after which we drove off and up back towards France to a small Ski town CanFranc. Located in the pyrenees this little village was selected as the perfect spot for an international rail way station. Now so you know this is off the beaten tourist track our main reason to go to this place was in my mother's interest of abandoned places and art. I digress, built in the early 1900s it had been hoped to boost imports and exports between Spain and France as well as provide a rather grand holiday experience for the wealthy. Unfortunately these dreams were never realized as shortly after the rail station was completed the depression hit. People simply could not afford a grand holiday and imports and exports between con tries dropped along with the economy. Then of course there was the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s and as everyone knows WWII in the 1940s. Interestingly enough although the Nazis used the rail station as a means of getting support from Fascist Spain the rail station was also successfully used to smuggle Hungarian Jews through Spain keeping them safe from deportation into the Nazi Death Camps. Likely accomplished with heavy bribery such as Schindler's Factory it is a remarkable story of life. After WWII Europe was left in rubble and drowning in debt and so the station never took off and was eventually closed and abandoned to decay completely.
The history of this immaculate  station does not end there however, many of you may have seen the critically acclaimed film Doctor Zhivago which used the station as part of its set. In the early 2000s the region Can Franc is in chose to begin to revitalize the station as part of their tourist economy and slow work and progress is being made.

Ps. I do not know how I changed the font or spacing, sorry. 
After Canfranc we headed back to France stopping in the quaint medieval village Mirepoix which has one of the best preserved 12th century squares in France. After a delicious vegetarian meal (Vegan for me of course) we headed back to my home in Limoux bringing an end to our adventures in Spain but not our adventures together in Europe.
My parents stayed a few more days in my region and were able to see much of the sites near my home. Together we saw the four Chateaux of Lastours, Chateaux Arques, the beautiful french countryside, Rennes les Chateaux (were the Da Vinci Code story comes from), Chateaux Peyrepertuse, and the beach at Leucate. Sadly all good things must come to an end and my parents departed back home to Canada and their regular routine, with me to join them in a short month (however at the time of writing this blog entry really only a week and a half!)
Anyways this summarizes quickly my enjoyable visit from my parents! Next up I will talk about meeting the wonderful and amazing Stacey Paul in Toulouse! 
A Bien Tout!