It is All Saints Day and I decided to go to the service at Saint Sernin as it sounded like a nice service when it was announced on Sunday. Unlike on a regular Sunday, you could only get into the Basilica if you were actually attending the service. On the usual Sunday, there are many tourists just wandering around when the service is being held. The priest does ask the visitors to be quiet during the service.

With it being All Saints’ Day, there was a procession around the Basilica which was very interesting as we even processed down through the crypt. The priest said the reason for the processions is that Saint Sernin has the largest collection of reliquaries of saints in the world. I was amused when the priest described the collection of reliquaries he used air quotes when describing it as a collection.

After the procession, there was a nice service. I always try to attend All Saints Day to commemorate my parents and my sister and remember them.

After the services, I went to the Salon de Vins & Terrior at the large convention center near Toulouse. The trade show has wines, chocolates and food from France. There must have been 100 wineries or more that were providing tastings. There were numerous chocolate stands as well has charcuterie, cheese, honey and more. The wines were from all areas of France not just the region around Toulouse. There were champagne producers, producers for Bordeaux, Burgundy and all over. I believe it is one of the largest events like this in France. One of the vendors I met said that it is very hard to get included in the show and that each region has a certain number of slots and she had to come under a certain IGP (georgraphic area with rules for wine making – lower than AOC but same sort of idea) and not her actual region because all the slots for the region were filled.

It was overwhelming as there were so many options and it was fairly busy. Jessica from Taste of Toulouse, who told me about the show, said it was be to go Friday and before work got out as it can be very packed the weekend days. One of the benefits of being retired and not working is that I could go in the middle of the afternoon.

I was a little intimidated about going up and asking for wine with not being super good at these types of spontaneous interactions in French. So I would find stands that were not busy and try the wine there. In doing that, I came across a women who was American and owned a vineyard and winery in Gaillac. Gaillac is a wine region just northwest of Toulouse. She was originally from Oregon but not wine country and has lived in France for 27 years and decided she wanted to make wine. She said her husband was the actual wine maker as he has a Doctorate in Biochemistry. She said that she determines the kind and style of wine and then he makes it. They ware very small producers and do not export. They want to mainly sell regionally. She also told me it was her first time at this show and she found it somewhat overwhelming as well. I tried three of her wines and ended up buying a bottle.

I had a very nice interaction with another of the wine producers, again one that was not doing too much business. The winery is owned by a couple and they do all the work themselves. They had been in business for 3 years. They explained that the soil around the winery was very deep so made for robust wines. They have very old vines – 50 years old. They are totally organic and biodynamic. They were also in the Gaillac region. The wine was very good and I bought a bottle of their wine as well.

I have to be careful or I might end up with a wine collection in Toulouse which would not be good as I would need to send it back to the US after my stay here. I did restrain myself and only bought two bottles.

I took the Tram both to the event and back. It is an easy use of public transportation and goes a fairly long way out of the main part of the city. The first stop is near the old city but on the edge. The tram then meanders ( and I do mean meander) through the suburbs south and east of the city. It goes past the airport but does not stop there. Supposedly there is another tram line that is to be built or completed to go to the airport. The tram speed is very slow so it too about an hour to get to the convention center. It is well used as the Metro does not go to the same area where the tram goes. I have now used most of the forms of public transportation in Toulouse. I have not tried the bike shares but almost all other forms.

The end of the day was my usually Friday dinner at Le Panache. The atmosphere is great. The staff is super inviting and makes me feel at home there. Our conversations are getting better in French and English. The food as usual was great. I met the chef last night. I am slowly eating my way through the menu.

The starter was Parmesan Croquettes and the main dish was a Tomahawk pork chop that had been neatly cut into pieces and French fries. Both were outstanding. I had some nice wines to enjoy with them. One was not on the wine list by the glass but they gave me a glass of it.

Another fun day in Toulouse.