I woke up this morning and it was raining outside. I decided to see if the weather would get better and stayed home.

Because I was home, I decided to watch the Pope’s funeral on TV. It was very interesting and in many ways moving. It was incredible to see all the people in St. Peter’s Square and on the procession route to Saint Mary Major. These events are few and far between so those people who saw it live will always remember it. As a I child, I lived in Italy when Pope John XXIII died and it was interesting to live in conservative Italy and go through the funeral and the election of the new Pope. We did go to the funeral in Rome but there were lots of services and commemorations in Verona that we saw.

In the afternoon it cleared up so I figure it was safe to do my daily walk around the city. At the start it was sunny with scattered clouds but after about 20 minutes, it started to rain. It was those large rain drops that come all of sudden when the sky can be sunny. It was brief but a constant for a while. The sun came out again and it was a lovely temperature. I decided to stop and have a beer and enjoy the afternoon. I sat outside but under cover which was good as it started to pour while I sat there. There were even thunder storms while I sat. I think I was the only person outside. After the rain had slowed down, I walked back to my apartment.

I had dinner at Le Petit Marais again. The food is good and the atmosphere is very nice. The staff person is the one I ran into on my walk on Friday. I am not very good at this stuff as I forgot to take pictures of my meal. I had fried chèvre with honey and then steak in pepper sauce. Both were very good.

The young man who work there and I talked as everyone else had cleared out before I finished. I found out his father is a musical producer who lives in Hammersmith in London. His parents are divorced so he spent summers in London and school year in Paris. He came to Toulouse to go to University but found he did not like studying and thought the hospitality industry was more his style. He worked in a pub first but said carrying trays full of pints for rowdy students was not ideal. He got his job at Le Petit Marais and likes it a great deal. It was a fun conversation.