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Walking, exploring, marching through the city ; stopping , finding and finally invading unknown places…
Having a stroll, looking around, identifying these abandoned locations, deserted and forsaken in the hope of better days…
Writing this I'm sitting outside of my favourite library, la bibliotheque de la Patrimonie. It's a big beautiful white old building. In the main hall there's a lot of space under the ceiling and rows and rows of books of course. But today the sun is warming so I'm staying outside leaning my back against the wall listening to the music Navid gave me before I left Norway, which has become kind of the soundtrack of my living in Toulouse, la ville rose.
I've been here for some weeks now. School has started. It's weird to have a teacher, a class, homework after a long time (it seems) of freedom. Well I'm still free, but you know… And it's great, even though it messes up and confused my french at times when I try applying the grammar lessons from school to the language I've learned mostly by speaking and listening.
Toulouse as a city is just perfect. With my flat mate's bike (and even without) everything is juste à côte, close by. I move within a radius of and find everything I need; the pool, the library, my school, friends' flats, the circus school, the cinema, the markets, parks, yoga school, the canal,the river, concerts, exhibitions.
Normally I'm living in a flat with Marguerite, Aurore and JB, but we're having some problems so this week I'm staying at some friends' apartment. It started with water running from the pipes, then some electricity problems, our blankets disappeared and considering that the heating doesn't work the nights suddenly got very cold and unsupportable. Latest news is that the shower is broken and to avoid having Aurore's room turning into the Atlantic Ocean we had to turn of the water. At one point, Julia, myself and JB went looking for abandoned houses to live in but finally we've decided to stay. Just waiting for a guy to come and fix everything. I'm longing to go back, even though I'm very happy at Jerome's and Clem's.
Favourite things in Toulouse must be the everlasting hanging out mentality, the marked on Sundays and biking! The bike doesn't have any breaks so I can't go too fast, mais tant mieux. I put on some nice music and float down the streets discovering new houses, corners, people, shops, plants, rocks, bricks… Often I find small (and big) treasureson the side walks; pots and pans, boxes, glasses, a mirror, a note book with someone's dreams from 2005 written down. I never went by bike to L'Observatoire, being afraid of going down again. But I've climbed on my feet. Up there it feels like you've left the city. The air is fresh, it smells of grass and trees. I need that at times; the French cities are so cityish!
The marked at St. Aubin takes place every Sunday around the old church and there you'll meet everything that can move in this town. I'm sad to say that I've only been once since I came, but it seems my Sundays have been occupied by road trips or sleeping. Last Sunday we left town to go to the mountains south-east of Toulouse.
Enjoy the photos, I hope they speak for all (or some of what) I didn't write here. Hope your all learning and enjoying. Take the time to look at some of Frida Cahlo's paintings.
Come visit!
Love, Yrja
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