Monday is always life maintenance day – doing the cleaning around the apartment, washing clothes, and going grocery shopping for staples if needed. I do this all on Monday as most things are closed on Monday – restaurants, cafes, small shops and the markets.

I have to wash my laundry once a week as I only bring 8 days of essentials with me. I have tried to pare down my wardrobe for travel as much as possible. One is that I do not want to bring lots of luggage with me and two because I find that I do not need that many clothes as I have in my Alexandria life. I have figured out that having a few good clothes that you can mix and match is as good as having a wide variety. Also, having few choices, for me, is less stressful than having to figure out what matches and looks good together. When traveling, all my clothes are blue, grey or black primarily. I do have one pink shirt and one green to add a little color when I need it. The other essentials for me are my running gear.

One of the things that required 8 days of essentials is the apartment I stay use in Toulouse does not have a dryer so everything has to be aired dried. On lovely sunny, warm days, this does not take that long as I can keep the French doors open. When it is cooler and wet, it takes longer. With the 8 days, I can dry things and still have one set to wear.

I am always amused as I see clothes in all sorts of places and other times being laid out to dry. With sheets and comforters, I have seen them hanging out of windows in the courtyard of my apartment complex. The other day I saw two drying racks attached to windows over the streets. I am guessing they did not have space or a good way to dry clothes in the apartment.

I went out to a new grocery store as I had mentioned, the Monoprix is closed for renovations. I went to the Market Toulouse Compans in the underground at the Compans Caffarelli Metro. It was somewhat confusing to navigate but that is probably because I had not been before. It is probably the biggest grocery story I have seen since coming to Toulouse. It seemed somewhat like a small Walmart with groceries.

I found all the things that I needed and it definitely was inexpensive. Since I was only getting staples, it worked well. I got milk, vinegar, mustard, cookies and yogurt. I am always trying to compare costs and definitely think that it is cheaper in Toulouse, especially shopping at a store like this. All of those items cost me $9.38. I am not positive but I think 4 yogurts, a small box of cookies, a quart of milk, with vinegar and French mustard in Alexandria would definitely cost more.

The rest of the day was just reading, relaxing and cooking dinner. I find that I try to do too much regularly and need to build in rest days. I found this when I backpacked around the world for 3.5 months. I was always filling each day to the fullest and realized I would wear myself out if I continued to do that. I decided I needed to have one day a week where I did not have any set plans. That did not mean I could not do something on the off day, just make sure I do not have an organized plan. I have found that Monday is the off day here in Toulouse. I, generally, have a routine and activities all the rest of the days of the week.

Another good home cooked meal, chicken with rosemary, sautéed zucchini and salad. This was followed by a small chocolate gateaux from Poussin Rose.