The weather changed and there was a touch of fall in the air. The high was in the low to mid 60s. It was a sunny with wonderfully expressive clouds. The plane tree leaves are beginning to change color. It is not the riotous color of maple trees but they are beginning to yellow.

Since it is Monday, it is life maintenance day. I have only brought a small amount of clothes so it is required that I do laundry once a week. In Toulouse, many restaurants and shops are closed on Monday so it is a good day for doing washing and cleaning the apartment. These are things you do not see on Instagram or other happy, pretty sites.

I am always amazed at how long both the dishwasher and washing machine take in France. To run the washing machine on the Sport cycle takes about 90 minutes. This is for a small front loading washing machine. The industrial strength large capacity washing machine at home takes about 45 minutes at most for any cycle.

Also, there is no dryer so I have to air dry my clothes. Luckily, I have most active wear with me so it does not take forever to dry but I have to be prepared and not get caught out needing something that needs cleaning as it cannot be done quickly.

After, my life maintenance, I went out for a run along the river. The weather was perfect for a nice run. There was a slight breeze and the sun was not hot because of the cloud cover. I had a very good run, I ran for 5 miles (8 KM) at 8:10 pace (5:05 pace). This is faster than I was running in Washington and I am guessing it was partly due to the cooler temperatures.

Around 6:00 pm, I headed out for my daily circular walk around the city. I try to walk by the Place de Capitole to see if anything is going on in the city that day. Sometimes there is and sometimes it is quiet – relative as there are always people out and about. Today, there was a larger than usual police presence but there did not seem to be a reason.

After the walk, I stopped at La Reserve and had a happy hour Aperol Spritz. It is always fun to have a spritz and watch the people walk by on one of the main pedestrian streets.

The evening was finished with cooking dinner. It is all become normal again.