I did some cleaning of the apartment in the morning. Figured it need to keep to a good cleaning routine as all the floors are white tile and any little bit of dirt I bring in on my shoes shows up. It is very different than the wood floors and rugs of my house but it is very fresh looking and nice.

Since it was Tuesday and running day, after cleaning I walked over to on of my favorite restaurants and had lunch. A gratin of champignons and a glass of white wine. The gratin was very good.

Le Petit Quai is very small – 18 seats at 6 tables. Two tables of 4 and then all the other tables are for two. It is usually partially full when I get there but I can always find a table. It is very nicely decorated and just a nice place for lunch.

After lunch, I ambled around with the intention of going to a wine shop in my neighborhood that I had not been to before. I wandered some streets that I had not walked before but knowing they were in the correct direction to get to the wine store.

When I got to the wine store it was 3:00 pm and it was not opened. I tend to forget that in France small shops close for a couple of hours during the middle of the day for a long lunch and then generally stay open until at least 7:00 pm in the evening. I decided that instead of walking home and then coming back, I would have a cup of tea at the patisserie across the street and wait for the wine store to reopen. The wine store reopened at 3:30 which was just as I was finishing reading and my tea.

The wine stores is more like a small gourmet shop with cheese and other gourmet products – foie gras, cassoulet beans and other items. The young lady who was manning the shop was very nice and I explained I wanted local red wine. She showed me one that was made 20 minutes outside Toulouse. It was a little pricier than I have been buying but sounded very good so I bought it. The grape varietal is Tannant which I think of more of a South American grape. I had a glass for dinner that it was very good. It had lots of tannins, was very dry and tasted great with cheese.

I did not realize until after I had take the picture that you can see my reflection in the bottle.

In the evening, I ran with the running group. I know this is becoming a broken record but amazingly, it was a completely different route again. It was very windy as the vent d’autan is still going on. It is supposed to keep being windy until Saturday. It was a fun run but going over the bridges was challenging with the wind. As usual it was a large group.