It was a beautiful day in Toulouse. The wind had stopped, the sun was shining and it was warm. Because of this the city came alive with people out enjoying the Saturday, shopping, picnicking by the river, ambling as only the French can do.

I joined the crowds in enjoying the city and the weather. I went to the market to get some fresh fruit and vegetables for dinner. As I was walking over to the market, I ran across a small direct for the producer market which included oysters, chicken, fish and vegetables. I think all of it was organic. I wish I had a way to shuck the oysters as I would get some and eat them as I love oysters.

After my shopping, I sat at a cafe reading and having a hot chocolate. It is one of my favorite things to do in Toulouse.

While enjoying the break, I saw my first “traffic jam” in Toulouse. Vehicles are limited in much of the old area of the city. You have to have a special pass or have to call to a central control to enter the street. There are bollards that lower to allow cars on the streets. I am not sure what was going on but the first car could not get the bollards to come down. The driver seemed to think that he had the authority to enter (I think it was on his phone). The bollards would not come down. Then another car came up behind him to go down the street. After a short time, all the cars backed up and the second car pulled up to the machine used to call to enter the street. He called and talked to someone but did not seem to be able to get the bollards to go down. More cares came and lined up. Finally after the first driver talked to the control center, the bollards came down and all the cars were able to enter the street. It was an amusing activity to watch.

In the late afternoon, since sunset is not until after 8:00 pm these days, I went for a walk along the river and enjoyed the weather. There were lots of people out enjoying the evening. People were playing cards by the river, reading, drinking and just hanging out.

I wandered to my neighborhood bar and sat outside and had a couple of glasses of wine and read. Then headed back to the apartment. All in all a good day.