Paris to Toulouse

The day that I arrive in Paris I am going to get the unreliable and very late shuttle offered from the hotel to drive me to the hotel. I will put my stuff down and force myself to wander around seeing the sights before I crash. I am in the process of booking the chocolate tour for the following day and then I will have the rest of that day to explore again. I believe that I will be back in Paris to see what all of this excitement is about and get a show of the Moulin Rouge and perhaps Seine River and Eiffel Tower before I leave.

In order to get from Paris to Toulouse (which is in the south of France) I will need to take a 5 hour train ride or an hour+ flight. I looked up what other people thought and most people said, "you are in France, see it, take the train." They even gave the suggestion of bringing a picnic and wine to drink on the train (not really something I can see people suggesting for a train ride from New Jersey to New York). The prices for flight are about $70 and the train is about $74-$90 depending where in Paris I would leave from. I think the flight is going to win this time, I will have plenty of time to catch up on the sights for my next location travel.

This means that I will be arriving in Toulouse on Friday around 4:30 (16:30, oh so French I know) and I will be able to explore until Monday, which is when I need to arrive at the farm. There are a couple of things to do in Toulouse but the one thing I think I am going to focus on is a walking tour. I figure it will force me to see the town and get to know it since apparently there is lots of history around it. The other couple of things don't seem too impressive but I figure I may have to resort back to them since I will have a couple of days to kill.

Why not get there later? The cost of the plane will go up. There were a couple of cheaper flights but I would get to Toulouse with no time to spare or I would be a sitting duck for a week, which I would rather be a sitting duck in Paris.

Recap: Remember how I had a dilemma about what to bring and how my friend said a book bag with two pairs of underwear? And I said he was crazy, where would I put my boots? Then I kept thinking about me walking down a long dirt road rolling my suitcase behind me?

Reality: The first farm is a bit out of town from Toulouse and the couple has no cars, but they do have 4 bikes. Due to the fact that I cannot see myself biking down a dirt road, trailing my luggage behind me, or balancing the suitcase on the handle bars, or sitting on top of the luggage as I rode, I think I may have to down size my suitcase...not really to the two pairs of underwear size but somewhere in between.