The highlight during the week was going to an English pub called "The Frog and Rosbif" with a couple of guys from Randi's work, who also came to Toulouse from Minnesota. The pub is named after what the Brit's call the French (The Frog) and what the French call the Brits (Rosbif, or Roastbeef). It was fun to hang out with those guys and here about their experiences (they have both been here about 9 months). I ordered a pastis and mentioned to the bartender I had never had one. He promptly turned around and ran a bell behind the bar, told everyone it was my first and asked that I chug it down. Luckily I've built up an immunity to alcohol and I like the taste of anise. It was good.
That Sunday we took a ride through the "Gaillac" wine region, which is the 2nd oldest wine growing region in France. It has had vineyards here since before the birth of Christ. We took the scenic route there, taking D988, as opposed to the A68 tollroad. We stopped at the Chateau de Tauzies.
It was a huge house on top of a hill...big view...totally deserted. We stood outside for a while looking around and started to drive off when Pierre came out...old guy in his 60s maybe. He didn't speak any English or our new broken French but knew the international sign Randi gave him of tipping a glass back for a wine tasting :) He sent his wife out who spoke a little English and was very nice.Then we continued on and traveled to the village of Cordes Sur Ciel, which is about a 75 minute drive from Toulouse. It is this little medieval village that sits on top of a hill. We ate and drank some free wine at some kind of festival that was going on right as we entered the town. We weren't sure exactly what we were celebrating but we were very happy for whoever or whatever it was, that everyone else was happy about :) It was really pretty cool. It was sunny out and everybody seemed to be kickin back.
Since returning, we found out more about the 'Festival of Responchons' we attended there. We look forward to visiting Cordes again someday soon.
