Lose In Toulouse

I forgot to mention something that occurred while we were in Rennes. I can't believe I didn't write about it, since it was a significant part of the start of our trip. On the second day of our vacation, as I was blow-drying my hair, I did something stupid.  You know how you mindlessly throw your head forward to dry underneath? Yeah, I did that and was immediately assaulted with vertigo. The only thing I could do was grab onto the bathroom sink and yell out my husband's name. He came running and sat on the bathroom floor, holding me tightly and patiently waiting for the episode to end. I was sweating and sick to my stomach for the next couple of hours. I won't do that again--ever.

To say that I was fearful of another attack like that coming on again is an understatement. I was terrified. I got out my iPad and did the only thing I could. I reached out to my friends and family on Facebook and asked them to pray for me. We still had another 2 weeks of vacation ahead of us, and believe me, I didn't want to spend it lying down with spells of vertigo and feeling sick. Fortunately, I have several friends who are nurses, and they told me to get some motion sickness pills. So, once we arrived in Toulouse, I walked right across the street from our hotel armed with the French words--Dramamine, car sick, motion sickness, dizzy, and vertigo. I expected one of them to be translatable. It was, and I left with an ample supply to get me through our vacation. Thank God for friends! And for a pharmacist with a good sense of humor, my French wasn't too good when it came to those types of words, but we made do, and from that moment on, whenever I began to feel dizzy, I'd pop a French motion sickness pill.  I am very thankful that I have these special people in my life, who cared enough to pray and enough to help me out with some sage advice.

For me, Toulouse was interesting. First off, I loved our hotel. It was located right in the city center, which is what we love. It was modern, clean, and perfect for us, with a Nespresso machine (score), a big comfy bed (double score), and a window seat overlooking the main square.  The city of Toulouse, though, was really, truly not my cup of tea.  For one thing, we were a bit too old. It's a university town--loud, lots of bars, and tons of live music.

We set out to explore, walking through the main plaza and soaking up the scene. We listened to live music, stopped for a coffee, did some shopping, and then had dinner. Looking back, there is something I was very thankful for: double-glazed windows.  We were able to shut out the noise (which was still going on into the wee hours of the morning) and get a decent night's sleep. Funny how small things matter.


Honestly, because of the age factor, I wasn't too enamored with the city and wished I had chosen a different destination.  However, it was just one night, and we were soon off to Nice. We had a 6-hour drive ahead of us, with tollways, rest stops, and coffee to buy —it was time to go.

My husband wondered why I had chosen Toulouse as a stopover. I told him that years ago, we were supposed to go there for a business trip.  After much planning and looking forward to the trip, it was canceled at the very last minute. I was so disappointed. This was my way of finally seeing the city that I had researched all those years ago. Checked that box--on to Nice.