I knew I was going to be very busy in the afternoon so I took it easy in the morning. Got the rest of the things I needed for Italy ready as I will not have much time between finishing the half marathon and getting to the airport for my flight.

I headed over to the Athletes Village to pick up my bib for the half marathon. It was somewhat of a walk as they had moved it from the Place du Captitole to the Soccer (football) stadium for security reasons. All having to do with the protests that are scheduled for Saturday. The bib pick up was easy. Also, it was sort of on the way for my next activity.

My next activity was to go to the Salon de Vins et Chocolate. This is a yearly show of wine and chocolate with other food being shown. You can taste wine, chocolate, cheese, charcuterie and more. I think there are a couple of hundred vendors in all. This is my third time to go and I am getting better at tasting the wine. I always worry because I do not speak French well enough to hold conversations that it will be a problem but I am getting better at just walking up and talking to the vendors. I ended up buying three bottles – one Burgundy, one natural wine and one bottle of champagne. The champagne is for next Friday at Le Panache to celebrate the half marathon. I will have a picture of that next week as it is currently at Le Panache.

The person selling the Burgundy was very amusing. He started out saying that they were inexpensive compared to other Burgundy producers but just as good. I paid 30 euros for the bottle and I thought it was very good. I am bringing it back to Alexandria when I return. The other was 12 euros and Merlot and Cabernet. I thought it would be a great every night wine.

I took the Tram out to the MEET where the Salon is held. It takes about an hour to get there as it is the very last stop on the tram. I laughed at myself as I knew there was a tram stop near the Athletes Village and it was called Croix St. Pierre. I was using Google maps and it said it was a 14 minute walk when it ended up being about 5 – there is actually a stone cross somewhere near that was what Google maps was giving me not the tram stop. It was my fault as I did not indicate the tram stop when searching as I did not think there was an actual cross. One the ride back on the tram, a woman sat next to me talking on the phone the whole time but I was fascinated as she switched from English to French and back continuously. There was not hesitation in either language.

The end of the evening was Le Panache for dinner. Enzo and I were alcohol free in preparation for the half marathon – we drank non-alcohol beer. It was reasonably good.

When I first got there Enzo, knowing I like fish, said they had gotten good fresh fish. He brought me out a Dover Sole to show me. It looked fantastic so I said I would take that. I loved that he brought it out to me to show me how good it was. It was excellent. Risotto accompanied the sole. I had the pork ravioli as a starter. Dinner as usual was excellent.

Here is before and after I ate the sole. I wish I had my fish fork and knife but the regular silverware was not too bad.

My walk home was a little exciting. Not sure the cause but a group of homeless people were having a fight. It was easy to avoid but it was the first time I had seem that here in Toulouse. My walks home are usually very peaceful. There are multiple routes home so it was easy to avoid the issue.