Toulouse

After an extra night in Bordeaux, I took the train to spend the next couple of weeks with my aunt and uncle. We planned that I would meet her at her office at the university where she teaches. We met up, and she had one more class to give before we headed home. She recommended I walk down the Canal du Midi, which connects Toulouse to the Mediterranean Sea. Built in the 17th century, the canal is lined with a pleasant path. I enjoyed walking alongside it and saw a couple of boats, which are called péniche, pass by. I came across a part of the canal I wouldn’t have ever imagined: a bridge for the boats over a freeway. It turns out this is a fairly common structure, officially called a navigable aqueduct.

My time with my aunt and uncle was filled with many wonderful moments. We had great conversations covering a wide range of topics, from world politics to life in general. One of the things she and I talked about was the fear of not knowing what to do after retirement. It was something I had been hearing and thinking about lately. After a lifetime of achievement and contribution at work, she mentioned worrying about what comes next. Since I haven’t worked as long as she or others had, I didn’t want to trivialize it because I understood how difficult that transition could be. I shared my view that retirement could be a time to focus on things we may not have had time for before, such as spending more time with ourselves, understanding who we are now, and giving back in ways that feel meaningful and aligned with our own needs and abilities. Of course, one doesn’t need to wait until retirement to start on those things.

On our first Saturday together, we made some adjustments to our plans so that the three of us could attend a pro-Palestine demonstration. We arrived a little late but were quickly able to join them and walk down some boulevards for about 45 minutes and hear a few speeches by the organizers. I was glad we made the time to support something important to us. The next day, my aunt and I visited Albi, a small village about an hour away. We walked around its narrow streets and parks and crossed a recently opened pedestrian bridge over the River Tarn. We visited the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum. I had seen some of his paintings before but didn’t know much about him. It was interesting to learn how, among many things, he pushed the boundaries of lithography, creating large, colorful posters. For lunch, we picked a local spot that served the region’s well-known dish, cassoulet. It is a slow-cooked stew with white beans, confit de canard (a traditional method from the southwest of France for cooking duck leg), and local sausage. She confirmed it was well made and authentic.

During the week, I took a day trip to the fortified medieval city of Carcassonne. My first reason for visiting was because I didn’t realize the board game I used to play with my nieces and nephews was named after a real place. The second reason was that everyone emphasized that I could not miss visiting it. I was amazed at how the city walls had been constructed and improved by various empires over the centuries and how well preserved they still are. I walked around the perimeter of the wall and learned about the history of the village from the various informative plaques. I enjoyed a nice pastry with tea and headed home. Walking around such old structures continues to be different, especially compared to the Americas, where most buildings are more recent, aside from the few surviving remnants of civilizations destroyed by colonization.

Throughout my stay, I went on trails around their village where they live and spent a couple of days walking around downtown Toulouse. One trail I did with my uncle. We walked for over two hours, and I learned a great deal about the area along with some helpful tips, like how cemeteries always have faucets where you can refill your water bottle, and how you should always walk on the outer part of a curve, even if it's not against traffic. The other trail I did alone, and it led to a small park with a panoramic view of the city. I took a moment there to pause and practice a meditation exercise I learned in Brazil. It helps me bring focus to the present and connect with my thoughts and feelings. In Toulouse, I walked around quite a bit, and things lined up so that I was able to have lunch with another uncle who lives in Brazil and happened to be visiting the city.

My time in France continues to expand my experiences with new foods. I enjoyed many delicious dinners prepared by both of them. One in particular was when my uncle made an amazing Quail Kadra, a typical Moroccan dish. I also had the chance to explore the wide variety of local cheeses and learn a bit more about how they're made. I had never taken the time to try the range of flavors or learn how to eat them, but here I was able to try several after our dinners. Some I didn’t expect to like, such as Roquefort, and others I couldn’t have imagined, like the sheep cheese pressed with wildflowers and herbs from the area. In their backyard, their loquat tree was full of fruit, and I spent several afternoons picking and eating them. I hadn’t had that many loquats since I was a kid in Brazil, where we had a tree in our own backyard. We came to learn that loquats are grown all over the world and originally come from China.

My last Saturday with them was once again full of activities. I had a late flight, which gave us plenty of time. My aunt and I visited the museum of giants, La Halle aux Machines, a creative space that builds large and small mechanical wonders. Some were musical instruments, others like a gigantic minotaur that was controlled by various people on a large truck with multiple moving parts. They’re displayed locally and taken on the road to perform for the public. I was quite impressed by the artistry and engineering behind them. Afterward, we had a nice lunch at a local restaurant, returned home for a siesta, and played a few ping pong matches. That evening, she drove me to the airport, and I was on my way to London. I'm grateful for the time I had with them.