No one tells you how cute the streets in the south of France are. Well girl, they’re cute.

I’m also intimidated to enter shops, especially in the smaller towns, because I know I’ll be outed for not knowing how to speak French, and that’s just France baby.

Toulouse

Eats

• Art Tea Coffee Shop – I got their spicy hot chocolate, and it was okay… expensive too.
• Boucherie des Copains – This employee was the NICEST man I’ve met in France. Their coppa is life-changing, and their rosette is so good. You can buy just one slice of meat to try it. Amazing service; I will be back if I’m in the area.
• Poussin Bleu – Absolutely crazy macarons. I had a chocolate passion fruit one; dang, it was insane. The vanilla and praline were good too.
• Les Illustres – I got their steak tartare and fries. It was okay, nothing to write home about.

Sights

• Notre-Dame de la Dalbade
• Saint Stephen’s Cathedral
• Place du Capitole – They have a fun outdoor market and a lot of restaurants around here.
• Haribo Store – It gets a mention; this is my guide after all.
• Chapelle des Carmélites – One of my favorite chapels I’ve been to in all of Europe; the art is incredible.
• Basilique Saint-Sernin de Toulouse

Future

• Victor Hugo Market – Go early because they close early.

Carcassonne

Eats

• Cassoulet – This is a strangely iconic dish in the south of France. It’s made with baked beans, bacon, and beef. It’s not the best of what the French have to offer in my opinion; it feels more English.
• Épicerie du canal – This unassuming grocery store has the BEST Pain au Chocolat’s, behind the counter and subject to selling out. The flakiest dough, and they’re .80 cents. INCREDIBLE. I had 3.
• Biscoff Cookies – Belgian origins but the French, as well as the rest of the world, loves them. Dang, they’re good.
• Meery Cakes – A husband-and-wife-run shop that has incredibly decadent home-baked cakes. I got their brioche caramel and strawberry cake, quiche, and salad.

Sights

• Carcassonne Castle – This is an awesome and free experience. You can walk around the inside of the castle; the streets are filled with different vendors. They have gelato, crepes, and sit-down restaurants serving spaghetti and other French/Italian food. Make sure to visit the church within the castle.
• Musée des Beaux-Arts de Carcassonne
• Square Gambetta – You have to walk through this park to get to the museum.
• Chapelle des Dominicaines – This chapel also had a modern art display inside, which was quite interesting.
• Église Saint-Vincent de Carcassonne – From the outside, you’d think you couldn’t enter, but you can!
• Cosy du Plo – This place had absolutely no right to be so good. I had coconut mango passion fruit ice cream. I’m gobsmacked.
• And generally, walking around old villages, poppy fields, olive orchards around the area like in Trausse, and cursing their unreliable bus system.