COOKING WITH LYNNE IN GASCONY - THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES

TOULOUSE - VILLE ROSE, OR PINK CITY

A 2000 year old city built mainly of red brick which gives it a warm, pink glow in some atmospheric conditions.

Here we are on the banks of the Garonne, the river that flows all the way to Bordeaux.

During the middle ages, Toulouse's wealth was built on the plant-based pastel blue dye that was processed in the area. 

Inside the wonderful Cathedral of the Jacobins where a huge mirror has been installed to make it easier for visitors to study the amazing overhead fan vaults - without lying on the floor or breaking your neck.

A view of the rooftops of Toulouse - and three muses that I found up there - from the top of Galerie Lafayette the famous French department store.

On the way home we stopped off at Gazaupouy for dinner at the Bar St Hubert. 

Guess what we had? 

Quite right! 

Duck.

This is the hostel in Lectoure used by pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela in Galacia Spain where the remains of St James the Apostle are reputed to be buried.

Three pilgrims on their way to Compostela.

Above and below are shots of the wonderful Hotel de Bastard in Lectoure. Funnily enough, in English, the French word bastard means just that: bastard.

 Foie gras - or duck liver - is the great delicacy of the region. Here Alain Cescatti demonstrates how his ducks are fed - 200 of them twice a day.

When we're not eating a meal, we dream about death by chocolate.

A team shot showing the roof tops of Nerac, the great medieval capital of King Henry IV.

Check back soon for more pics of us on Lynne Macmillan's cooking adventure in France