It's Tuesday morning (July 2nd), we are leaving the Basque coast and starting our travels back home to Canada with our first scheduled flight leaving Toulouse tomorrow morning at 10:20AM to Paris, departing at 1:55PM and if all goes as planned we should be "Home" by 8 o'clock PM local time or 2AM France time.
For a more relaxed day of travel on departure day to which we have given the nickname of "Hurry Up and Wait Day", we always stay the night before in a hotel near the airport.
Last year someone recommended we try the "Fast Hotel" and it was perfect...comfortable bed, modern walk-in shower, wi-Fi in the room, and a pub to get a cold glass of wine or beer if desired and the traditional "petit déjeuner" in the morning.
The hotel is 3 minutes from the airport and 10 minutes from Downtown (Center) Toulouse.
I had made a reservation and this was our destination today.
If you need a room near the Toulouse airport, try Fasthôtel ... Email blagnac@fasthotel.com
I had hoped that we would take an off the beaten track route to Toulouse to possibly catch a few more unexpected sights however Monsieur Honey was already in the "Hurry up and wait" mode and the Motorway was his route of choice.
As we were driving along the motorway, I saw a sign that said something about St. Jacques de Compostelle at the next "Aire".
Aire (French noun) ... area.
Motor way "aires" are similar to the service/ rest areas on our highways in Canada, a place to rest and relax when on long journeys.
Some "aires" are very basic and others may have everything from restaurants, fuel stations, picnic areas, children's playgrounds, or even a special attraction.
Since Monsieur Honey is aware of my goal to someday to walk parts of the pilgrimage route, he willingly made a stop at this "Aire".
This "Aire" on the western end of the A64 near Hastingues has an exhibition centre which is all about the "Saint James Pilgrimage to Compostelle".
Depending on what language or country you are in, the pilgrimage route has different names... since we are in France I will use the French name of "Le Chemin de St. Jacques de Compostelle".
When I'm in Spain hopefully next year I will refer to it by it's Spanish name "El Camino de Santiago del Compostella".
A large bronze statue of Saint Jacques (Santiago) (Saint James/ James the Greater who was Jesus's companion) greets you as you walk the paths inlayed with engraved granite stones that lead you to the Exhibition Centre.
Engraved granite slabs with the names of various starting points on the route.
The Centre houses many displays about the pilgrims' route.
The displays range from mosaic tile depictions, stained glass windows, historical artifacts and replica exhibits with statues in glass cases.
This photo is part of a 3D map of the the pilgrimage routes from various locations in Europe to St. Jacques de Compostelle in Galicia, Spain under glass on the floor.
The pilgrim routes start from many locations in Europe ending at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostella.
According to legend the pilgrims found their way by following the Milky Way, there are stars painted on the ceiling of the Exhibiton Center to show you "the way".
So was it fate that we took the Autoroute (motorway) and discovered the "Aire d'Hastingues"?
I'm not sure but it was an interesting addition / attraction to our last day of travels in France.
So, next year will I be writing "Postcards from Spain"?
We arrived in Toulouse mid afternoon without incidence and later in the evening we walked to a local restaurant ..." L'Espirit du Sud Ouest" where we enjoyed some delicious wine and food.
On our walk to the restaurant, the air was full of a wonderful fragrance from this tree, one we were not familiar with...does anyone know what it is?
It was a great way to spend our last day in France!
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