Hmm…
I have been trying to write this article for a number of weeks, but I always found myself stumped on the first line. How can you write a tourist article on a town where you have spent years doing your shopping, administration, paying bills and going to health appointments or even the hospital? It has been a place where we have shopped for groceries and taken our children to birthday parties and fun days out.
As my son so eloquently says of Montauban, “There’s stuff there.” Let’s just say he’s not going into writing as a career. It is not that you fall out of love with of a place, it is just that in the end you get so comfortable in seeing it in one way, that you forget it is also a wonderful tourist town with a lot to offer for a day or a weekend. You can visit famous sites such as the Canal du Midi, le Musée Ingrès or just the welcoming La Place Principale. There are loads of activities in the industrial zones which you can enjoy with your children or teens, such as the trampoline park or Laser Games. (ref. Article on Saint Antonin Noble Val).
Tours
To try and combat these impressions, I decided with my oldest son to visit the place once again, but this time follow one of the tours that are on offer at the Tourist Office. I had heard of these tours when I taught in the local primary school and college many years ago in the town. The Tourist Office provides you with a map (downloadable also on the website), or you can join an organised tour for a small charge. For a few hours in the afternoon you can immerse yourself in parts of the town that perhaps you have never experienced before.
Art
We decided to look for the graffiti and street art in the town that has wowed tourists over the years, but which as people who have lived here, for nearly 20 years we had forgotten over the passage of time.
Treasure Hunt
As we went on our treasure hunt over the town, we managed to see only 2 “oeuvres” of the artist “Invader” who has managed to put across Montauban over 3,566 little black and white space-invader tiles (inspired from the 1978 computer game) which incorporate his main work ‘Invasion”.
The other artist of note is a Montalbanais “100Taur” who (inspired by Ingres) has used Montauban as his own canvas, and has created some incredible works of art. “Seeing is believing” comes to mind here as, until we actually saw these amazing street arts, we really didn’t fully realise the scale and the quality of the works.
Fun
Whilst having fun searching for the graffiti marked on the Tourist Office maps, we were able to take a few photos of the amazing architecture in the town-a smaller version of the pink city Toulouse, but able to stand tall and proud with its wealth of history and moments of beauty. Obviously all finished off with a hot chocolate and a cake in La Place Nationale in the centre.
MidLife Crisis In France
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