My Sundays are beginning to fall into a routine which is good as it means that I am becoming a resident and not a tourist.

I got up and went to the St. Aubin farmers/flea market. I have picked out the vendors that I like and so frequent them to get the things that I need for my daily life. I bought fruits, vegetables, cheese and olives. I, also, needed some olive oil so I bought some for the olive vendor. I figured that has to be pretty good olive oil as it is made from the olives that the seller grows. I had it for dinner and it was very good and definitely fresh. It is sold in a tin can with a pop up stopper. The tin can preserves it as it prevents light from the getting to the oil.

After my stop at St. Aubin, I went to the Marché Victor Hugo for my baguette from the MOF (winner of bread making award). I bought mussels from the seafood vendor and chicken from the chicken vendor. I bought two proteins as the markets are not open on Monday so I had to prepare ahead for Monday dinner.

The mussels reminded me of the ones we used to eat at Yarmouth Island in Maine. Friends and I used to go to Yarmouth Island for a week in the summer. One of the fun things to do was to harvest mussels from the rocks of the island to have with dinner. These mussels were like those as they were not farmed raised and had barnacles and their beards still attached. I had to do some cleaning before I cooked them. They were definitely fresh and tasted fantastic. Used a nice locale Sauvignon wine for the sauce. Had fresh baguette to enjoy the sauce. A very good dinner!

As a treat, I stopped and had a croissant and hot chocolate for breakfast. I sat on the terrace to drink and eat. The weather has not been as nice as the earlier part of my stay. There is a hint of fall in the air. It has also been overcast so somewhat dreary. The croissant and hot chocolate made up for the weather.

The Opera l’Urbain was still going on and I ran into one of the scenes as I was heading back to the apartment after shopping. It was the spider working its way around the city. The machines are very intricate and amazing to watch. I, unfortunately, cannot upload a video to the blog but you can see a video at @pwb1956 on Instagram.

As I wandered around on my daily routine, I saw a band playing on the corner at the Marché Victor Hugo and an accordion concert. I could not see who was playing the accordion as they were draped in plastic. All of this must be going on because of the Opera.

I went to the English mass at Saint Sernin for church. It was interesting as the mass started and the priest said there were supposed to be special guests for the service but they had not arrived. It turns out they had just arrived so the service was delayed so the Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles could get into his vestments and lead the service. The Diocese of Los Angeles had a group that was on a pilgrimage and were stopping in Toulouse. I am guessing that the group was visiting Lourdes as Lourdes is not far from Toulouse. At some point, I will have to go and visit the shrine in Lourdes. The service was good but interesting having an American bishop was leading the service in a French basilica.

For the afternoon activity, I went for a run. I had a fantastic run and am getting back to my pace I was able to run before my running fell off and I got lazy about running. I was able to run six miles all at under 8:00 minute pace. That is the best I have run in a couple of years. I will be able to run with Jesse again when I return to DC in December. I now need to add some distance to my Sunday runs as I have not gone over 6 miles so far. I guess walking 10-20,000 steps a day, climbing three flights of stairs more than once a day and being consistent at my running will definitely improve my fitness and quality of my running.

I cannot wait to find out what this week in Toulouse holds for me.