Le vendredi 7 juin. Friday
7 June.
This is my last full day at the Cité St Pierre, Lourdes, before I travel to Toulouse, and I have taken it as my jour de congé (day off).
It is very hot, and so I caught a bus to Tarbes, with my swimsuit in my bag, and trekked up to the Piscine Tournesol only to find it closed. I repaired grumpily to the Jardin Massey (the Massey Gardens) where I soon had my good humour restored. The couple running the buvette settled me at a table, after asking me whether I preferred sun or shade, and bought me a cup of black coffee with a little jug of hot milk. I watched gardeners vacuuming up leaves, peacocks strutting with their tails in full display, and people wandering the paths under huge trees. Later, I walked through the Gardens, sat on a bench to eat my picnic; then I went into the Musée Massey and enjoyed the display rooms featuring hussars, a class of light cavalry, originating in Central Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries. I believe this is the largest collection on the subject in the world. The charming woman at the reception pressed these souvenir tickets onto me:
It is very hot, and so I caught a bus to Tarbes, with my swimsuit in my bag, and trekked up to the Piscine Tournesol only to find it closed. I repaired grumpily to the Jardin Massey (the Massey Gardens) where I soon had my good humour restored. The couple running the buvette settled me at a table, after asking me whether I preferred sun or shade, and bought me a cup of black coffee with a little jug of hot milk. I watched gardeners vacuuming up leaves, peacocks strutting with their tails in full display, and people wandering the paths under huge trees. Later, I walked through the Gardens, sat on a bench to eat my picnic; then I went into the Musée Massey and enjoyed the display rooms featuring hussars, a class of light cavalry, originating in Central Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries. I believe this is the largest collection on the subject in the world. The charming woman at the reception pressed these souvenir tickets onto me:
 |
| Entry tickets for Musee Massey, Tarbes. Photo Ann Barrie 2019 |
I spent my last morning at the Cité St Pierre, cleaning and making up my room, so the next person to use it would find it immaculate, and saying my good-byes with a promise that perhaps I would see everyone again. Two weeks had passed all too quickly. I felt my French improved during that time – so much of that language is hard-coded into my brain, and it is just a matter of bringing it to the surface.
On the train trip from Lourdes to Toulouse, a woman from
Martinique, who was seated opposite me, came across to chat, fascinated by my
crochet. Crochet is a craft I have taken up again after a 25-year break. My first motif was full of
errors, but I’m back into my stride now; it's good to use one’s hands, twinges of arthritis and all, rather
than always using one’s head.
*
The Gare Matabiau
at Toulouse was a mad crush of people, and it is fortunate my hotel, Ambassadeur, is not far away. The hotel
has a beautiful winding staircase but no lift, and a young fellow traveller
helped me hoist my suitcase up to my room on the top floor. The hotel is a
little shabby, but the staff are friendly and helpful, and the bed is
comfortable. I was weary, and since I had eaten a large midday meal back at the
Cité St Pierre – calamari entrée; main course of trout and green beans; then
cheese and cherries – I contented myself with consuming the picnic I had brought
from the Cité, reading Paris Matches,
watching CNN News, and then enjoying a bath. It is fortunate that I brought my
travelling plug with me (Bill and I bought it in Fiji years ago). I love baths
– our whole family does – and I will find it hard if I ever live in a place
without one.
Le samedi 8 juin. Saturday
8 June.
This is my third visit to Toulouse, and this time I bought a
18€ Toulouse pass and visited several museums, enjoying the walk between them in the
sunshine.
 |
| Child enjoying a quirky merry-go-round on a sunny Saturday in Toulouse. Photo Ann Barrie 2019 |
The highlight, for me, of the four museums I visited today,
was Les Abattoirs; Musée d’Art modern et
contemporain. This museum is in Toulouse’s old slaughterhouse. The current
exhibition, which runs from 15 March to 25 August, is Picasso et l’exil; une histoire de l’art espagnol en resistance, and
it extends over all three floors of this generously proportioned building. It
is rich in its elements. There are works by Picasso, and by many other artists
who either knew Picasso or were influenced by him.
 |
| Pablo PICASSO, La Célestine, 1968. 66 etched copper plates. Les Abattoirs; Musée d’Art modern et contemporain. Photo Ann Barrie 2019 |
 |
| Josep PONTI, Les tailleurs de pierre, oil on jute canvas, ca. 1939. Les Abattoirs; Musée d’Art modern et contemporain. Photo Ann Barrie 2019 |
 | |
The exhibition also included numerous installations. For example, there was a rather disturbing
video by a woman artist wishing to portray violence inflicted on women: dressed in a pristine flamenco dress, she systematically stabs herself with a
needle, in time with the flamenco music, until the snow white fabric is stained
with blood. Another video portrayed two male police officers wearing uniforms complete with helmets and
visors, guns and heavy military boots, dancing a
graceful tango. This brought to mind my father’s description of how he and my
mother, in their courting days during WWII, would practise their dance steps on
the pavement outside her parents' house in St Kilda, he in his military boots.
|
I took a break halfway through my viewing of the exhibition
to have lunch at the restaurant behind the museum. My entrée was créviche de poisson au sesame, duo de brocolis
et legumes fraicheur (a delicious raw fish and vegetable salad with sesame
seeds and a dressing), and my plat
principal was Râble de lapin, façon
chasseur (saddle of rabbit with a ‘hunter’s sauce). On my other two days in
Toulouse I will have the menu du jour at La
Meunière restaurant-bar-brasserie opposite my hotel. Unpretentious food, good
value at 13€ for three courses.
The other museums I visited today were:
Fondation Bemberg, which has a rich collection of objets, furniture, and paintings in a hôtel particulier (townhouse of a grand sort):
Fondation Bemberg, which has a rich collection of objets, furniture, and paintings in a hôtel particulier (townhouse of a grand sort):
 |
| Fondation Bemberg, Toulouse. Venetian Room. Photo Ann Barrie 2009 |
Le musée du vieux Toulouse, which is in the historic quarter of Toulouse, difficult to find, and has exhibition rooms set up like cosy salons of the 18th Century;
Le Château d’Eau, which is a gallery of photographic art, including a comprehensive library, housed in a former water tower; and
Matou; Musée d’Affiche, which has large collection of posters, and also temporary exhibitions:
Le Château d’Eau, which is a gallery of photographic art, including a comprehensive library, housed in a former water tower; and
Matou; Musée d’Affiche, which has large collection of posters, and also temporary exhibitions:
 |
| Matou; Musée d’Affiche, Toulouse, Photo Ann Barrie 2019 |
 |
| Matou; Musée d’Affiche, Toulouse, Photo Ann Barrie 201 |
Le dimanche 9 juin. Sunday 9 June
Breakfast at my hotel is good value at 8€. There is a little
truc (thing-a-me) for cooking one’s
own eggs, and I set the timer, which you see sitting on the table behind my croissant, to 5 minutes.
 |
| Breakfast table Ambassadeur Hotel, Toulouse. Photo Ann Barrie |
 |
| Staircase at Ambassadeur Hotel, Toulouse. Photo Ann Barrie |
This morning I visited the Muséum de Toulouse, the second most visited museum in France. Today
it was swarming with children, and adults young and old, enjoying the imaginatively
mounted displays. Founded in 1865, the museum has more than 2.5 million objects
in its collections. The permanent exhibitions feature more than 8000 objects
and are grouped under four broad themes: Terre,
planète active (forces and movements of the planet); Ordre du vivant (explosion of life, the notion of species and
classification); continuum et ruptures
(life through geological periods); grandes
fonctions du vivant (reproduction, feeding, moving around, communicating
and self protection).
The first of my photos below shows a tiny portion of the
wall of skeletons with the museum's botanic gardens through the glass behind; and the second an interactive game for children involving
sorting and classifying. The third photo is a portion of a long wall display
featuring natural elements according to their chemical properties: gingembre (ginger), igname (yam), bois de cerf
(deer antler), boyau de chevreuil (goat’s
gut), mandragore (mandrake), herbe de grâce (grace grass), orchidée (orchid ), ginseng, cabosse de cacao
(cocoa pod), café (coffee), bois-bande (wood strip).
 |
| Muséum de Toulouse, Wall of skeletons. Ann Barrie 2019 |
 | |
|
 | |
|
Le lundi 10 juin.
Monday 10 June
Valerie, my friend from New Zealand schooldays and university, has joined me in Toulouse. Today, the two
of us walked along the Canal du Midi to Musée Georges-Labit. This museum was
founded in 1893 by Georges Labit, a passionate traveller from a wealthy
business family, to house his collection of objets
d’art from Japan, China, South East Asia, India, Tibet and Nepal.
 |
| Doukkar from Mongolia, end of 18th Century, Musée Georges-Labit, Toulouse. Photo Ann Barrie 2019 |
The
collection, which subsequently received other Asian pieces by bequest or
purchase, plus an Egyptian collection, is housed in a building with
Moorish-inspired architecture. The layout inside is clean and uncluttered, the
walls are painted in colours sympathetic to the collection, and it was a
pleasure to walk around. One of the many delights is the collection of Japanese
prints, accommodated in drawers, and grouped under subjects such as theatre,
beautiful women, travellers. The museum also has a programme of workshops on subjects associated with the collection: for example, initiation to mah-jong; the art of wearing a
kimono; and the tea ceremony.
Blog by Ann Barrie
No comments:
Post a Comment