I had read that there was a wind know as Le Vent Fou! This means the crazy wind. The research said that in Toulouse and the surrounding area there can be a wind that comes off the Mediterranean that lasts for days and makes one go crazy. I understand the research now. I am not going crazy but I can understand if you lived out in the country and this kind of wind happened it could make you go crazy.

Interestingly, when my parents lived in Texas, my mother read a history of women who lived in Texas during the early days and were out on ranches in west Texas would go crazy because of the wind there. Similarities but differences in totally different countries.

The reason I am writing about this is that the wind has blown for the last three days constantly. It has averaged around 25 miles per hour and has had gusts up to 50 miles an hour. It is basically unending. When I am in the apartment, I can hear the wind whipping around the courtyard. At night, it is seems even noisier. I am not going crazy because of it but could understand if you were out in an isolated area and alone it could be very disturbing.

Going out for walks in it is challenging for me. I am pretty skinny and when one of the big gusts comes along, I can hardly walk forward. It basically brings me to a standstill. I do go out everyday and walk around to do something so it does not stop me from living. It does somewhat slow down the cafe life in Toulouse as people do not really want to sit out in the wind.

I have somewhat limited activities because of the wind.

I did do the regular shopping that I needed to do on Wednesday. I went to the Marché Victor Hugo for fish for dinner. I succumbed to my sweet tooth and went to my favorite patisserie Au Poussin Rose. I realized I only have a couple more weeks in Toulouse before I return to Alexandria so want to take advantage of all the things I like in Toulouse. The petit chocolate eclairs and chocolate mouse cakes are really good.

For lunch on Thursday, I did my regular lunch at Terra Tolosa. They apologized my the lack of new options on the menu but did say it was going to change soon. I pointed out I did not mind as all the food was very good and I did not mind repeating but in reality the lunch as all new for me. Gabor did make me change my choice of dessert as he said the Entremet was new and I had already had the Declinaision Citron before.

For the starter, I had chicken rillette with honey sauce. Rillette is slow cooked meat (4-10 hours) that is then shredded and covered in fat and stored. It is then served at room temperature. The rillette was served with onion cream which tasted like a very light and fluffy onion dip with only a hint of the onion. It is the first time I had chicken rillettes and. I was impressed.

The mail dish was sea base served over leek purée. As usual it was severed with bok choy, fennel, carrots and parsnips, all roasted. The fish was cooked perfectly. It had a “sauce unique” which was made of cream basil, and citronelle (lemongrass). The flavors were subtle but definitely an addition to the dish.

I had ordered the citron déclinaison which is basically a deconstructed lemon meringue pie. Gabor, the chef for the day, told me to order the Entremet Passion Fruit as it was really good and I had eaten the citron before. It was a good suggestion as the passion fruit filling was great and the sauce with the passion fruit seeds added burst of flavor. I always follow their suggestions and it was the right choice.

The wine suggested was perfect. It was very crisp and acidic. This helped with all the richness of the food. It was a wine I had never had before which is part of my goal of eating and drinking in Toulouse. It was called Social. The vineyard is Mas Moustache and is from the Vallee d’Herault. Herault is located between Carcassone and Montpelier. I have ridden the train through this area and seen the vineyards growing the grapes from the train window. The grapes are Clairette and Terret Blanc both grapes I am not really familiar with. I had another wine with Terret Gris -tharséo but not Terret Blanc.

The run was challenging because of the wind. It was still a good run but challenging. Both Elliot and Marc were there so it was fun as well could chat and not feel the wind as much. We did a new course again which is always good. The calisthenics was somewhat interesting as the gusts of wind made doing some of the standing exercises difficult as I would get blown sideways and I was on my tip toes or was hopping on one foot.