In the morning, I needed to go out and get some fruit and a baguette so headed over to the open air market on the Boulevard de Strasbourg to see if it was open. I had previously thought it was open one day a week but learned on this trip that it is open at least, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. This makes it convenient to do shopping at as I can go any day of the week not just Tuesday as I had thought on the last trip.
The fruit is cheaper at this market than Marchè Victor Hugo so it is worth it to go to this one. I bought four large peaches at it cost me 1.08 euros. In Alexandria, at the farmers market I regularly go to, it would have cost me around $7.00 for the same amount. I love going to the farmer’s market in Alexandria as Oliver, the farmer, is super friendly and all the produce comes from his farm but it is somewhat expensive. Even the larger farmer’s market in Old Town Alexandria is pricey but good. One difference is that the open air markets are not “farmers” markets as the produce is not raised by them. They get it from farmer’s but they do not actually product it.
Since I have been here, I have seen the fire trucks painted with En Grève as I have wandered around. I know that means on strike so I googled firefighters strike Toulouse and with the wonders of AI, I learned that the firefighters are on strike so better pay and staffing. Because they are first responders, they cannot really strike but they are allowed to put information on the trucks, drive them around in convoys and park them in prominent places. They are allowed to do this for about 3 weeks. I have seen one of the convoys of trucks and have seen them parked around where people can see them. This seems very different than what would be done in the United States.
In the afternoon, I went to the cafe on the river and had a half pint of Panaché, the shandy and read my book. I had one of those embarrassing but fun French language lessons. I had ordered the Panaché and knew it was 4 euros. I had the money ready pay and the server said something to me and I thought he was asking if I wanted to pay by card and said no and handed him the 4 euros. He was actually telling me the price. I explained that I did not speak French that well and he pronounced “carte” (card) and “quatre” (four) for me. In reality, I was just a step ahead of him as I knew the price and was just thinking about paying not the cost. Next time, I have to pay more attention to what is being said and not thinking about what I need to do.
The project on the river seems to be wrapping up as the construction crew is removing the last of the material from the barrier in the river. Having read what they were doing, it is somewhat interesting. They have attached a slightly upward metal lip to the barrier. This is supposedly going to help fish transit the barrier. It makes the fish jump out and not land on the lower part of the barrier as they go over it. Right now the river is so low there are no fish transiting the barrier. I do not know if the low water level is based on a drought that they have been having or whether the water is being held at the dam further up the river while construction is done. I have seen in the past that the water level is controlled so will be interested to see once the construction is completed if the water level rises.
