Wednesday Sept. 10th Toulouse

Slow start this morning...I could not seem to get motivated and we were going through our things...packing for the next day a little. I also wanted to write more postcards. Tim had huge plans for showing me all of Toulouse and I just wanted to go slow and easy...so that was hard for Tim. We finally left about 10am and headed out. Tim wanted to point out places in the neighborhood and go to a couple churches. We checked out the flea market on Capital Square first...found some interesting things. Then we headed towards the first church. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilique_de_Saint-Sernin,_Toulouse As we went down a road we passed the library. Of course I had to go in. I went in and asked if I could use the Internet...I had to get a card first...so I did. Then I got on the Internet and emailed Lynn. It was difficult as the keyboard was TOTALLY different than what I am used to...so it made typing difficult. Once done in there...I met a lady who gave me some brochures about the library and told me about some exhibits coming soon. We then headed to a market...Tim used this market a lot to get food and produce. We went to get some items for a picnic. We ended up with a baguette, 1/2 a roasted chicken, brie, bananas and oranges. Then, we walked to the park. This was a city park, lots of flowers, dahlias, french countryside flowers, there was a Japanese gardens there as well. We sat on a park bench in the shade and ate our lunch, it was great! So many people in the park as well. We finished and went through the Japanese Gardens, saw turtles, lizards, frogs, dragonflies and fish of course...after we left there we bought some ice cream from a stand and ate it. The cutest dog was there...sitting under a table trying to keep cool. This was one of the more hot days on our trip. We headed back towards the hotel taking a different route. Tim took me past where he used to live and he wanted to take me to the French Bed, Bath and Beyond store, which was amazing. Too bad that I only have room for small things in my luggage! We also stopped at the French Best Buy so I could get a thumb drive for my pictures. Once in the hotel, Tim napped while I messed with the pictures. We decided to go to the other big church and Tim took a detour to get me some ice cream...from a place called Octane and the ice cream was chocolat noir 70% cacao...it was yummy! We walked down a street with tons of shops...more high end than quaint, the church was built over 3 centuries and you could see the different stonework. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cath%C3%A9drale_Saint-%C3%89tienne_de_Toulouse It was incredible. Then we headed to St George Square to find a place to eat. Tim was trying to decide what he wanted to eat his last night in Toulouse...he was kind of sick of duck and wasn't sure crepes or cassoulet were in his future. We decided on the Van Gogh Cafe and Restaurant, we ate outside...lots of people watching. Our waitress was so nice and patient with our french. Tim ordered gnocchi with cheese and I ordered a caprese salad...then we shared fondant au chocolat for dessert, a very fudgy cake, served hot and it was delicious! Our waitress brought us complementary shots of something as well...not sure what it was, but it was good! We headed back to our hotel...we were in bed by 9:30pm, about the earliest we had been in bed. Marie Antoinette was on the TV...interesting since we are planning a trip to Versailles soon!