Hotel du Grand Balcon, Toulouse

Toulouse is the space and aeronautic centre of France, and our hotel this weekend has taken the lives and exploits of France's earliest aviators as its' theme. Antoine de Saint-Exupery, author of "Le Petit Prince" and "Night Flight," is probably the most famous and romantic of them all, but the portraits you can see here are of Jean Mermoz and Henri Guillaumet. Aren't they beautiful?

I think we were both rather nervous that the "theme" might be a bit overwhelming, but it wasn't. There's a quote above the clouds (on the shower wall of all things) from A de St-Ex which says, "Les yeux sont aveugle. Il faut chercher avec le coeur."

Quite right.