(2024-05-11/13) Not the whole world, but some things are upside down, even on the way to Toulouse. For example, most of the town signs are a peaceful and imaginative protest by farmers against the government's agricultural policy. Spain and the Maghreb are getting closer. The architecture is changing, street signs are now bilingual - French and Occitan - and loads are sometimes carried on the head, which is both elegant and makes for good posture.
Other things here are the same as they have always been. The Pont Neuf [New Bridge] is not new at all, but the oldest surviving bridge over the Garonne dating from 1632. The Canal du Midi, 240 km long, has connected Toulouse with the Mediterranean since 1681. Toulouse is also known as la ville rose - the "pink city" - due to its numerous red-brick buildings. Pink or not, everyday life goes on here, even at the weekend. The garbage collection service squeezes through the narrow streets of the old town and the numerous Jewish institutions are heavily guarded around the clock, here for instance the Liberal Jewish Association of Toulouse.
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