I realized the French have 3 state holidays in May, May Day, VE Day and Ascension Day. It makes for a good month to take vacation is you are working. Ascension Day was a perfect holiday for a four day weekend as it fell on Thursday and I gather most people took Friday off as… Read More Ascension Day Holiday
I am doing the regular things required to wrap up my time in. Toulouse. It is both fun and somewhat bittersweet. I went shopping today for things to take back to Alexandria as gifts and mementos. I bought Stade Toulousian rugby polo shirts of two boys. I bought two cute dresses for two young ladies.… Read More Wrapping up in Toulouse
I went to the St. Aubin’s farmers market as usual to do my weekly shopping. I, generally, buy fruit that I can eat on Sunday and Monday as I go to the other farmers market on Tuesday and get fresh fruit for the rest of the meals until Sunday. I stopped at the olive purveyor… Read More Standard Sunday
After discussing food the other day and at the suggestion of a friend, I decided to break my lunch routine and decided to try some Vietnamese food in France. Since Vietnam had previously been a French colony and they are strong connections between the two countries, I thought I could get some good Vietnamese cuisine.… Read More Fun Day
Since I broke my routine on Tuesday, I had to do some shopping on Wednesday so I would have vegetables for dinner tonight. I walked over to the Victor Hugo market and bought some fresh peas. I am getting my quota of peas while here in Toulouse as I generally cannot get peas in the… Read More Various activities
I can honestly say I have not had a bad meal at a restaurant since I have been in Toulouse. I do not know if I have just been lucky in finding fantastic restaurants or whether Toulouse just has really great chefs and restaurants. My favorite for both atmosphere, nice and friendly staff and great… Read More Food
The change in lifestyle sometimes brings revelations that one does not expect. I have embarrassed the daily shopping and not storing a great deal of food to have on hand to cook and eat. This brought a little bit of an issue as when I woke up it was pouring down rain. Sunday is my… Read More Revelations but good ones
I went for my usual Friday night dinner at Le Panache. It is always fantastic food and a fun place to spend time. Before I ordered, Diego, the chef brought out an appetizer for me that he had created that was not on the menu. It was grilled asparagus with ceviche and passion fruit. As… Read More Happy and Sad
Fête du Travail (May Day) is the French version of Labor Day. It is one of the most observed holidays in France. Everything is supposed to be closed except essential services. It is pretty accurate description as almost everything was closed yesterday. Restaurants, cafes and shops were primarily closed. Some of the bars and cafes… Read More Fête du Travail (May Day)
My Tuesday routine is to go to the open air farmer’s market on Boulevard de Strasbourg. It is a larger farmer’s market with many fruit and vegetable sellers. I usually pick up some fruit for lunch. Now that it is strawberry season I always buy the strawberries from the man who only sells a little… Read More Getting Philosophical
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