This morning, I had some shopping to do so I could have food to eat. I went to a market farther from me, St. Cyprien, which is across the Garonne River from where my apartment is. It is the furtherest central marche from me. I like to branch out and try new places and since the weather was lovely, I decided to make the trek.

After shopping, I was wandering back towards the pedestrian bridge across the river and ran across a park that had some outside sculptures. One was a cow that was brightly decorated, I am not sure why it is in the park but it was fun to see. The juxtaposition against its background was interesting. It sits behind a historic building that is now a hospital. One of the plaques near the statue discussed the siege and conquest of the city during the crusade against the Cahors in the early 1200s. I do not think the building is that old but it is very old. There is also a museum attached to the gardens and I am going to have to go back and visit it. It was not open today so that is a project for another day.

I walked across the river and then sat on the steps on the bank of the river and read. I thought as I was doing it, why I am willing to do it here in Toulouse when I did not think of doing it in Alexandria when I only lived a couple of blocks from the Potomac. It might be the weather as it is in the 70s and definitely not as humid. There can be a lot of wind in the city but the stairs are sheltered so it is a good place to read and enjoy watching the river.

This evening I did another run with the Run in Toulouse group. I have run with them four times and we have not taken the same course on any of the runs. The run group is very interesting as there are three options and we break into the group we want to run with. The whole group runs as a group and it is not by speed. The leaders ensure that the group stays together and no one gets left behind. They know some of the runners want to run fast at times so at certain points, they announce that this group can run fast to a certain point and then circle back and join the group again. I, generally, take off with the fast group and do the sprints and then circle back with the rest of the fast group and join the whole group for the next part of the run. When we get close to the end and the Capitole where we meet, they yell that we can race back to the meeting place. I feel at times I am back in DC racing down King Street to the store. I miss my races with Grayson.

One of the things I really like about running in Toulouse is unlike DC, the river runs through the heart of the city so when you run you are always able to run along the river. Only one of the runs has not followed the river for most of the run. The hill run moved off the river but at the end, it circled back and there was some running on the river. The Canal di Midi also runs through the city so basically, I can always run along a body of water. They have great paths and sidewalks that flank the river and canal so the runs are good. Just a picture of a heron in the river.

Tomorrow I am off to Albi, a town about an hour train ride from Toulouse. It was where the painter Toulouse-Lautrec is from and there is a museum dedicated to him. Also, there is a large medieval cathedral in the town. I am interested to see all of this.