Toulouse, France

The Train ride from Bordeaux was long with nothing worthy to report.  I could see the river out the window almost the entire trip.  I did wonder at the time if it was the same river.  My feelings about this trip were good although I did not feel as if I had seen quite enough, I started to wonder if I had spent enough time in Paris.

My thoughts started to ponder my meaning of Travel, which is to immerse myself in the many flavors of another culture.  I began to believe that it was not possible to become truly immersed unless you live in the culture like I did in Brazil.  To learn the language is the first step of learning the culture.  Once I had the language down I realized that the rest of the culture had already sunk deep into my bones.  Just take for example, it has been many years since my travels in Brazil and I am still talking about it.  These thoughts sadden me for I know that I am not going to spend enough time in France to truly become immersed in their culture and so it will always be their culture, one that I merely visited and never really became a part of.

I follow a blog called Ancient Digger and I find it very interesting to look a cultures that have gone into history.  The question is always raised in my mind whether it is possible to actually know the many flavors of a culture when they are no longer around.  Ancient Digger digs out every possible bit of knowledge on a long dead place in what must be an attempt to breath life back into that culture.  I guess in that way Lauren is gaining an understanding of the people and the way they lived, the language they spoke, and the culture that drove them while they thrived.  It would take a good imagination and probably a strong desire to own a time machine.  I do like to read her Blog though for I am drawn to the old school as well as existing cultures.

As I meditated on these and many other thoughts the trip went by quite fast and I found myself standing in Toulouse.  “Now the adventure can continue” I said to myself as I pulled out my map.  Nothing said “tourist” more than standing in the train Station looking down at a map.  I think that is probably why I was selected by a group of youth that was walking through the terminal.  I am no stranger to Scam artists more specifically those that would rob you but leave you unaware that you have been robbed.  I have seen many times the groups of children that flock to you and as they ask you for money and food one of them steals your wallet.  I have also seen bigger youth roaming around in packs like wild dogs and their method is far more aggressive.  They have a couple guys run straight into you while a third or fourth picks your pocket.  Then the other start to harass you while the thief escapes.  In the end the victim does not even know which youth was the thief.  I am the type of personality that is always using his peripheral vision, a trick my father taught me while on the farm.  This skill kept me from getting crushed by livestock and it also helped me to avoid scams by paying attention to things around me.  So I noticed the group of Teens moving in a pack way before they got to me.  I prepared myself and just as they came close I started saying in a very loud voice “hey, over here, I’m right here, over here” in a very loud voice while waving like mad to a location behind the group.  The teens had a look of confusion as they passed.

It worked and I had escaped being robbed.  Though to be quite honest I do not think I could have been robbed in that I was not carrying a wallet, all of my important documents were tucked safely away in my boot.  I also carried cash in three different locations including my front pocket.  The money I had in my pocket was a very small amount and I used it to buy the little stuff like a magazine or water bottle.  That way anyone scoping me out was not seeing the actual location of my loot!

Passing on this part of my journey has taken all of my time for this week. Contemplation of culture and then an encounter with the very darkest part of a culture all on one trip to Toulouse!  Next week I will visit some of the sights of Toulouse, France.

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