I had one of those days that always surprises me.

First, I went to Terra Tolosa for my last lunch there for this stay in Toulouse. I always have a glass of wine with lunch. Remi usually offers me a choice depending on what I am eating. This time even before I ordered food, Remi brought out a bottle of wine and said “you do not get a choice this time”. He explained that someone had ordered the bottle yesterday and had rejected it. Not because it was bad but because they did not like it. I cannot imagine refusing wine just because it was not exactly what I thought when I ordered it.

It was a bottle of Sables & Schistes (Sand and Schist) Savennieres. It is a Chenin Blanc from the Loire valley. As the label says the soil the grapes are grown in is sand and schist. It is produced near Anjou. It is a very small AOC of only 740 acres. The actual vineyards only cover 360 acres. The wine is high in acidity and full bodied. Remi said when he took over the wine buying for the restaurant this was the only wine on the list that he kept. He was very excited about the wine. He has met Loic Mahe who is the wine make. It was definitely a very good wine and I am glad I got to taste it.

I will miss my usual Thursday lunches at Terra Tolosa when I am back in Alexandria. I went with light options for the meal as it was hot out today – still experiencing the heat wave. I ate on the terrace as it was under shade and there was a light breeze.

The cannelloni was made with zucchini instead of pasta and was delicious. The middle picture. The starter was cold mackerel. All very good.

The second experience was buying gifts. I wanted to get some of the prepared cocktails from a MOF barman. MOF is the Millieur Ouvrier de France competition where craftsmen (even barmen) can compete to be the best in their classification. I had found the shop when Pamela and Kimberly were visiting Toulouse. I thought they would be a fun and unusual gift to take home. Only in France would there be an award for best cocktail maker.

The experience was that the shop’s wireless credit card reader was not working. I have found this to be the case a couple of times here in Toulouse. I did not have enough cash on me to pay for the whole purchase. The store salesperson, let me take all I bought and said I could come back tomorrow and pay for the rest. I cannot really see that being done in the United States but maybe I am cynical about the U.S. I will go pay for the remainder.

The run was cancelled because of the heat so I had an evening in. I am pleasantly surprised that will all the heat my apartment does not get unbearable. I know I tolerate heat well but I have been able to sleep easily without air conditioning.