Paris 2008 - Toulouse3

Mercredi - Another terrible night. I didn't even get up for breakfast, but I must have fallen asleep because when I awoke, Robb was gone. He returned in a while with a guy carrying my breakfast on a tray. My stomach wasn't feeling all that steady, so I just drank the orange juice and ate some fruit.

Sadly, we have decided to return to Paris tomorrow, instead of going on to Barcelona. I just don't see the sense of going if I'm not going to be able to really walk around and check it out. It will be our first time and it's totally illogical to do it, if it can't be done right. Perhaps, in a year or so, we can make a trip with Barcelona as the first city at which we stop. Hopefully, by then, I'll be sufficiently rested to enjoy it.

We walked over to Place Wilson and caught a taxi to Gare Matabiau, where we stood in a long, long line which surprisingly moved quite quickly. Then we took a taxi back to Place Wilson. Robb was feling hungry so we stopped at a café but were told they were not serving food. We left there and went to the Hippopotamus. While sitting in the Hippo, I noticed a police car drive up and block the street. Robb had run into a manifestation yesterday during his journey, and said that was the way it had started. Sure enough, by the time we left the restaurant and started walking to FNAC, a group of protestors, with police escort, began marching and chanting their slogans. It was a rather small group, and once they were past, we continued to FNAC where Robb bought a CD by Christophe Mae.

We walked down to Place Wilson and walked around there for a while, until I was really needing to rest.

LIF called to confirm our dinner appointment this evening.

LIF met us at the hotel, and we walked to Place Saint-George. Tonton had secured a table on the café terrasse (under the white covering on the right side of the picture). It was to be the very first time Robb and I had ever eaten dinner at a café terrasse. Fortunately, the weather co-operated and was warm and dry. For dinner, Robb had ordered a Toulousain specialité, a sausage. He didn't much care for it, but I liked it and traded the piece of grilled salmon I had left for his left-over sausage.

After dinner, it was decided we would all walk to another gay bar, Bears. Tonton and Robb walked ahead while LIF stayed back with very-slowly-moving-me. About a block from the bar, he and I ran into a couple of guys from Barcelona, who explained to LIF that they were looking for cocaine. LIF told them we didn't have any, nor did we know where to get it. Then we continued on our way to the bar, followed by the two guys. Robb and Tonton were already inside and we joined them. One of the Barcelona guys (the cuter of the two) came in with us while his friend waited outside. After a few minutes he left. We had our drinks and prepared to leave because the bar was about to close. It was somewhere around 02h00. When we got outside, we again ran into the two Barcelona guys, who joined us on the way to another bar that would be open for several hours later. During the journey, Tonton and one of the Barcelona guys walked ahead, the other, cuter guy stayed back with LIF, Robb and me. When Tonton and the guy's friend turned a corner, cute Barcelona made his move, telling us that he was gay and started kissing all three of us. It was quite amusing. As luck would have it, we had to pass our hotel, and when we were in front of it, Robb and I told the others we were just too tired to go any further. We bid the other four adieu and entered the hotel.

Earlier in the evening, while going to the Bear bar, we had discussed the possibility of staying another few days in Toulouse and then returning to Paris. But during the night, Robb and I talked it over and decided it was just too much of a hassle to return our train tickets (we weren't even certain we could do that), drag our bags to LIF's apartment because we had to leave for one night, drag everything back to the hotel on Friday and party hearty every night. Ten years ago, I wouldn't have questioned doing that, but now I'm just too long-in-the-tooth for that youthful stuff.

Plus à venir, mes amis.