This morning, Jesse and Jen, headed back to the U.S. We got up fairly early so they could make it to the airport and catch their plane. I walked them over to the bus stop for the Aeroport Navette so they would be sure to catch the correct bus.

After seeing them off, I walked back to the apartment. I made a stop at the local boulangerie to get a chocolatine but, unfortunately, they were sold out of them so I settled for a regular croissant. I could not complain as the croissants are good. I added a little good butter and confiture (jam). It was a good breakfast.

Next on the list, was doing laundry. It is alls a fun task when drying the sheets and towels. The weather was warm and nice so I would open the French doors so it made the drying quicker and easier. I think I have found the best way to spread out the sheets for ideal drying.

The rest of the day was the return to normal. As it was Thursday, I went to Terra Tolosa for lunch. I really like the restaurant and the group that works there is great. I find it interesting as the kitchen group all call me Peter but the oldest server always refers to me as Mr. Blair.

Lunch was great as usual. I had the butternut squash soup with a poached egg floating on it. Poached eggs are very common as part of appetizers here. I am generally not an egg person but I have tried a couple of these appetizers and they have all been good.

Since I had been eating so much for the week that Jesse and Jen were here, I decided to go with the vegetarian option for the main course. It was roasted pumpkin and other root vegetables on a bed of pumpkin purée. It was very filling and delicious but not overly filling which was good. It, also, had feta in it.

Dessert was a rum soaked cake. I thought it might be very dense and heavy but I guess soaking it with rum made it a lot lighter. It was much better than I was expecting. All in all a good lunch and not super heavy. I know it sounds funny saying I needed less food and had a three course lunch but it was much lighter and less food than many of the meals for the last week.

I am always confused and somewhat amazed at how much Europeans eat and are generally not fat. Almost all lunches are three courses and some are an amazing amount of food. I know that the Europeans walk a great deal more than Americans and that could explain some of it. Also, in most cases, even though there are three courses; the portions are not as large.

In the evening, I ran with Run in Toulouse. We took a different route (as usual). This route took me back down memory lane as we ran part of the route I ran the first time I visited Toulouse in the summer of 2024 when I was deciding whether I wanted to live in Toulouse. The funny part was this time the route was deliberate and the last time, it was because I got lost. On the first run, I had scoped out a route but took a wrong turn and ended up on the route we ran last night. There is a park and traffic circle called the Grand Rond with different road and park spikes off it. I took the wrong spike the first time and ran further away from the old part of the city instead of the spike that would have brought be closer to the old part. This time we ran along the Canal de Midi further out of the city and looped back towards the old part of the city and ran back the spike I had gone out on the first run.

I will miss having Jesse and Jen here but am looking forward to more fun and experiences in Toulouse. I did see they are having a food and wine fair in the Place de Capitole on Friday and Saturday so that will be fun to attend.

The post picture is the Cathedral of Saint-Ètienne as seen during our run tonight.