After a lazy morning, I walked over to Terra Tolosa for lunch. As you know, it is my regular lunch on Thursdays. The walk over was good but the strong wind was back for the day. When it decides to be breezy in Toulouse it is a strong wind. I, also, noticed that the Garonne is up again, not flood stage but definitely running high and stronger.

When I got to Terra Tolosa (@terra.tolosa), Pierre, one of the servers told me it was his last week at the restaurant. He is returning to Carcassonne where he is originally from and has family. He amused me as he said it was where his “crew” is. Pierre is always supper nice and friendly. I will miss him.

Lunch was good as usual. The first course was Falafel which was interesting but it was not one of their bests. It was served with yogurt and a pea hummus.

The main course was tuna (rare) with grilled vegetables and mashed potatoes. I wanted to try it as it was not something that had been on the menu before. It was cooked perfectly and delicious. The grilled vegetables as always were good. I have never eaten as many parsnips before but they seem to be very popular in Toulouse. The parsnips is at the left of the picture under the broccoli.

I repeated my dessert from last week. It was Clafoutis. It is delicious and I really like it. After last week, I looked up on the web how to cook it and it seems very simple to make. I think cooking it to the right consistency of the pastry is the key. The top needs to be brown and the base needs to hold together but be cut through with a spoon. I am definitely going to try to make it when I get back to Alexandria and have the equipment to cook it. I could eat it every week. This one is made with pears but you can use any type of fruit really – I think the standard is cherry but you could use peaches, apricots, prunes and apples.

Eating by yourself leaves you time to observe your fellow diners, which I enjoy doing. There was a table near me that must have been a business meeting. There were four people at the table and one must have been the manager or the decision maker as another at the table was definitely trying to sell him on something. The decision maker was leaning back and listening and the person making the pitch was leaning in and very animated. I think one of the other people worked with the decision maker, he again was leaning back in a very relaxed pose and did not talk a lot. The woman at the table seemed more neutral as she would lean into the conversation at times but also would then lean back. She did not add much to the conversation. At one point, a spreadsheet was passed from the presenter to the decision maker. I do not think anything was resolved at the lunch. It would be nice if I understood the language so I know for sure I was right with my observations.

In the evening, I ran with Run in Toulouse (@runintoulouse_officiel) as usual. It is always nice to be part of the group. My two (maybe three) favorite things in Toulouse are diners at Le Panache(@le_panache_31), running with Run in Toulouse and sunsets.

Marc told me he had decided to run the Athens marathon. I was somewhat surprised as he is more of a trail runner. He is running a trail marathon in the Pyrenees in May but is not really a road race runner. I am sure he is going to do great as he is a very strong runner. I told him if he can run the elevation he does, he should not have problems doing well in a road marathon.

I realize how lucky I am to be able to experiences these things and have the flexibility to live this live. I know that I am unique in that I have good health, the financial ability and being single so I can choose to do this. There have been times that I have longed for someone to spend my life with but that has never happened so I try to make the most of my life as it is. I am a person who always tries to look at the positive side of life and look to the future and not focus on the past.