Tag Archives: shopping

Totally Terrific Toulouse — Part 2

Today’s highlights are a walk through the streets of the ‘Pink City’ of Toulouse in the Midi-Pyrenees. It was a cold and wintery 3 days there, so you’ll notice that there is very little in the way of blue skies!

Today’s post shows you a few glimpses of the Rue du Taur area with its charming pink brick buildings, narrow streets, wrought iron details, and medieval history.

The origins of the Rue du Taur are actually rather grim! This was the street where St Saturnin, first Bishop of Toulouse, was tied by the ankles to a charging bull and then dragged to his death at the instigation of the pagan priests who were headquartered at the site of the current Capitole plaza.

The basilica of St. Sernin (St. Saturnin) is the large cluster of buildings at the top of the Rue du Taur and it is all that remains of a formerly vast abbey complex.

UNESCO World Heritage Site Basilica of St. Sernin (St. Saturnin) in Toulouse, France.

Shoppers on Rue du Saur in Toulouse, France.

A slight curve in a narrow road filled with soft pink-coloured brick buildings in Toulouse, France.

Man sitting on a bollard in front of the Notre Dame du Taur church entry reading a guidebook.

Clad in a full fur coat and fur hat, a woman bustles through the shopping district on Rue du Taur in Toulouse, France.

Our journey down the Rue du Taur ends as the street opens up into the vast plaza in front of the the Capitole de Toulouse, a government and arts complex covering over 2 hectares (4.4 acres) right in the heart of Toulouse and rebuilt in the 1700s-1800s in the same spot as the original Roman Capitolium.

Rue du Taur terminates at the vast plaza containing the Capitole in Toulouse, France.

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The plaza in front of the Capitole building in Toulouse is frequently crowded with both tourists and local residents.

Photo Of The Day: Surplus To Requirements in Melbourne, Australia

The economic downturn has been felt in Australia during our 2 and 1/2 years in Europe and we have seen more of these “Closing Down” signs in Melbourne than expected. This shop inside one of the lovely arcades is apparently surplus to requirements.

Sad signs of closing down in Melbourne, Australia

Moving Masses At Melbourne Central

Decided to take a break from unpacking boxes and listing things on Ebay today. First stop — the tram stop RIGHT outside our front door!

Blue tram travelling down St. Kilda Road

Down to the shopping precincts on Bourke Street Mall and Melbourne Central to try on clothes amongst the (literally!) thousands of other people milling around. Mixed success, but after living in rural France, Melbourne can be a bit of a jolt to the senses when there are so MANY people swirling around!

Moving masses of people at Melbourne Central shopping centre

More soon!

Quick Pics From A Melbourne Vintage Saturday

Quick pics today since I am listing, listing, listing on Ebay this weekend. Wheeeee!!! Things are already starting to sell. (whew!)

We took a little time for a quick wander through the once-a-month Vintage Clothing Market at the St. Kilda RSL Club (Retired Servicemen’s League for you non-Aussie readers). It was well attended, but it was also a blast from the past to see items of clothing that were clones of things I wore back in the 70s!

This hat seller below was doing quite a good business since we still have weeks of winter ahead.

Hat seller at the Vintage Clothing Market in St. Kilda, Melbourne

Shoppers at the St. Kilda Vintage Clothing Market in Melbourne

More soon…

4 Things To Do On A Sunday in Melbourne, Australia

We’ve been back in Melbourne, Australia for a week now, so it was definitely time for one of our favourite pursuits — a day out and about in the city for a few hours of food and culture. Seriously, Melbourne is such a vibrant city that even if it is a gray-sky and gloomy day, if you are bored — you just need to get up and get OUT of the house!

Glistening even on a gloomy autumn day, a partial skyline view of Melbourne, Australia across the Yarra River from Southgate.

Here are 4 things to do on a Sunday in Melbourne.

1. Arrive at your destination without the hassle of finding an overpriced parking place if you travel by train for an easy way around the city. The comprehensive train network makes Melbourne such a joy to travel throughout!

Turnstiles inside the Flinders Street Station in Melbourne, Australia

2. Eat a reasonably priced lunch in an eclectic food court inside a beautiful building at Southgate. There are also some wonderful luxury stores and full service restaurants in this multi-level building complex.

One of the multi-level entries to the Southgate shopping & dining complex alongside the Yarra River in Melbourne, Australia

Diners at the food court on the lower level of the Southgate shopping and dining complex in Melbourne, Australia

3. Go to the Sunday Market at the Melbourne Arts Centre to see quality handcrafted art, craft, and food items. The row of glass-overhang-covered artists has an enthusiastic audience each weekend.

Sunday Market flag indicating the weekend event outside the Melbourne Arts Centre in Australia

Artists and craft vendors lined up alongside the Melbourne Arts Centre each Sunday

4. Spend an inspiring afternoon at a world class museum — the NGV on St. Kilda Road. There were hundreds of people milling around inside this large art museum, but there was a very happy and relaxed vibe. Autumn leaves were swirling around outside of the beautiful bluestone facade and the people strolling by were dressed appropriately for the cooler temperatures.

Autumn leaves falling outside the NGV art museum in Melbourne, Australia

The current winter blockbuster show at the NGB is Monet’s Garden, a travelling exhibit from France. But since we have seen so many of these works at various venues worldwide, we chose to visit several of the permanent exhibit galleries as well as one special exhibit — Dior and Yamamoto: The New Look

Dior sketches from the 1940s post-World War II “New Look” collection

Dior black wasp-waisted dress and black hat from the 1940s post-World War II “New Look” collection

The other enjoyable exhibit, in part as an observer of the effect of it on the audience as they either walked by or interacted with it, was Clinamen by Céleste Boursier-Mougenot, a sound and motion exhibit with round white ceramic bowls floating in a round pool of deep blue water. The gentle clink as bowl contacted bowl tinkled pleasantly in the atrium space.

Floating ceramic bowls in a pool of water at the NGV art museum in Melbourne, Australia create a ringing sound as each one gently bumps into an adjoining bowl

Floating ceramic bowls in a pool of water at the NGV art museum in Melbourne, Australia create a ringing sound as each bowl gently bumps into an adjoining bowl.

Photo Essay: Newcastle Upon Tyne On A Sunny Saturday

I have to laugh about the timing of this photo essay since I took these pictures 21 days ago and it was the last time we saw any blue sky at all! It’s been unrelentingly grim weather-wise here in Newcastle Upon Tyne and the locals we have talked to all say the same thing. They have never experienced a winter that has lasted so long and been so cold.

Since the high is 2 degrees today and the skies are dark with yet more snow in the forecast for this evening (groan!), let’s move the Rickety Time Machine backward by 21 days and enjoy the sunny views, eh?

41 m (135 ft) high column & monument to prominent politician, social reformer, & Prime Minister Charles Earl Grey erected in 1838 in Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK.

Busy shoppers and pedestrians on a sunny Saturday in Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK

Entry to the historic Central Arcade in Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK

Interior of the historic Central Arcade in Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK

On The Road Again to Newcastle Upon Tyne

Departing Norfolk on Monday, we were back in travel mode as we faced a 5-plus hour drive north to Newcastle Upon Tyne. After (finally!) getting past the ultra-slow two-lane A-roads of Norfolk, we began to see large overhead signs on the motorway indicating that we were headed to (seriously!) “The North.”

After three hours, we were drooping by the time we were just outside York, so we stopped in one of those mega-roadside-rest-stations that has multiple restaurants, a chain hotel, petrol stations, a grocery store, and a bookstore inside. There might have been a lot of traffic on the motorway, but the inside of this large building was amazingly quiet as you can see from the photo below.

Food court at motorway rest stop

And since when is it necessary to have music-playing games machines right outside of the toilets in places like this? Sometimes having an iPhone to document things is quite handy!

One machine in a row of fun-fair type games parked outside the toilets in a motorway rest stop

I’ll be posting pictures in the days ahead of our short term renovation assignment here in Newcastle and some tourism articles about places to go and things to see in Newcastle.

Stay tuned!

A Wanderful Life

The Neverending Journey