Toulouse is encircled by an arm of the river Garonne and although considered a source of wealth as it enabled profitable trading since ancient times it also brought misfortune in the form of invasions and flooding.
The 1544-1659 Pont Neuf, said to have been the first to resist the river's anger, stood there right behind us as the boat trip organised by ENAC sailed off.
... To our right the promenade of the Quai Saint Pierre with quite a lot of people sitting around along the shore ... talking or simply looking at the river ...
As we approached the Pont Saint Pierre the Church Notre Dame de La Daurade could be seen in the distance ...
... and so could Saint Jaques Hospital on the left bank of the river ...
Soon after having passed the Pont Saint Pierre we sailed into the Canal de Brienne (bearing the name of its promoter - Cardinal Loménie de Brienne) built in order to link the Canal du Midi to the Garonne.
The sequence of never ending beautiful images had an hypnotic impact on me ... it was as if I was again in the Canal du Midi photographing it from the inside ... I couldn't say which one was nicer ... both impacted me in a similar way ...
Once we reached les Ponts Jumeaux ... it was time to continue sailing along the Canal du Midi ... and sooner than desired found ourselves sailing back to the starting point ... whilst drinking and eating "petits fours" ... as "hors d'oeuvres" for what would follow ... a dinner out ...
I walked back to the hotel with a few Russian colleagues along rue Saint Rome towards the Tour de Serta ... a 16th century twenty-three metre high Tower crowning a half timbered house ...
Although those were the last "official" images taken during the Toulouse trip ... many more "unregistered" ones have kept me awake till late at night since I have been home ... (a sign that I have to go back ... sometime).
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