I subscribe to a blog from someone who is a British ex-pat living in southern France. They have made the move completely unlike me who so far has not jumped in with both feet but am just putting my toes in. She entitled her blob post When living your holidays becomes your life. After 3 weeks, I am sort of feeling that way. I am not really just on holiday but living my daily life here in Toulouse and that changes how you act and what you do. Everything is not new and exciting and you do not have things to see everyday as you would if you are vacation.

The good parts of that are you begin to build a community. People begin to know who you are and remember you. I have that sense of community with the men at Le Panache. I have it with Elliot and other members of the running group. The woman at the olive stands remembers the types of olives I buy. Yesterday, I went to Grave for a drink it the afternoon and the waitress said “a glass of red wine”. I did not have to ask but I did throw her off as I ordered a small beer.

Other parts of this are that I do not get lost any longer – except on the run yesterday where I was exploring new running routes. This would have been the same in Washington if I was trying to find new places to run. I know my favorite places to shop for the things I want.

You also have to do house work. There is no maid service or restaurant where you can walk down to and have breakfast prepared. I have to make my bed every day (ok, maybe that is my OCD). I do laundry once a week so I will have clean clothes.

As an aside to the laundry, I only brought seven days worth of clothes with me. I like to be minimalist when I am packing. I learn quickly how little you really need to survive and also be happy. I have way too many clothes back in DC. Do not get mean wrong, I like looking nice and have variety in my wardrobe but you definitely do not need it. I am good with doing laundry once a week and wearing the same things over and over again. There might be the factor that I do not see all that many people who would know that I am wearing the same outfits so regularly. Also, I did plan ahead so have a simple color spectrum which allows lots of mixing and matching.

This is the third time in my life that I have lived for months with only 7 days of clothes so it is not really new. I backpacked around the world for 3 months with less than 30 lbs (including books – prior to having my Kindle), I lived here in Toulouse for 2 months, and now. The two visits to Toulouse have actually been with the same set of clothes with a few additions because of the change in weather from last time.

I do miss seeing my friends and the social life that I have in Washington. As the other blogger said FaceTime, texts, WhatsApp and other modern technology is fantastic but it is not the same as seeing people in person and sharing food, wine and experiences. The posting on Instagram every day and writing the blog makes me feel connected in many ways. The blog is mainly for me to be able to have memories that I can return to about my stay and my life. But it also gives me an outlet to express my feelings, my experiences and what I am doing. It is like talking to someone and telling them what I am doing every day.

Now back to the discussing the every day. When I went out for a walk, I saw a duck just sitting and sleeping on the wall in front of the building along the river. It was just sort of amusing. I tried to be too artsy with the picture and almost missed the duck.

I am always fascinated by the juxtaposition of modern architecture with the old in Toulouse. I am guessing there is not a Board of Architectural Review as there is Charleston, SC and Alexandria, VA which has designated an historic area and all new buildings must be reviewed for how it would affect the feel of the historic part of the city. There is modern right next to medieval buildings. It makes for interesting views of the city. A medieval church right next to the modern University. The new is not compatible with the old and does pay homage to it but definitely is different.

As the day was beautiful and I figured the sunset was going to be nice. I went out after dinner as sunset is not until around 8:30 pm and sat on the wall (where the duck was) and watched the sunset with others. Toulouse is know as the Ville Rose (pink city) because of the red brick architecture and what it looks like at sunset. The sunset showed that off well.