The promised thunderstorm has arrived this morning. Not more than a tiny dribble of rain now and again, but the thunder rolls along loudly and ceaselessly. It’s blessedly cloudy and cool. Of course I’ve opened every window in the house so as not to miss a sound. I’m typing next to the window in the office so I can watch the rain and lightning. The rain is coming down harder now and the ground smells wet. Hmm, may have to close a window or two… Ok, it’s officially pouring now.
Well, picked S and Barry up at the airport on Saturday afternoon. Barry is S’s bosses, bosses boss, co-worker, friend, hmm, you’ll have to ask S for the exact pedigree. He’s very nice and extremely well traveled. He lived here in Toulouse before for a while so we happily drove into town with a guide for drinks and dinner. We parked under the ‘Place du Capitole’ and walked to the Place St. George. The Place St. George is a town square that is filled with cafes. The side walks are crowded with tables and chairs all in the color of the café they belong to.
(Getting slightly damp here) (This is heaven, watching thunderstorms is in the top five of my all time favorite things.)
We sat at a café for beers. At this point it’s about 18:30 and dinner isn’t served until at least 20hr, and even that is early. Really if you walk into a restaurant much before 20hr, they look at you funny and some places will only serve beverages until then. They really start to get crowded around 21hr.
Saturday shopping crowds were dispersing as shops closed and cafes opened and diners started to wander around. We had a beer and then I had a coffee. (Must keep stimulant/depressant intake balanced) I’m starting to love the coffee. A small cup of very dark coffee with 2 sugar cubes and (nobody faint, and no incredulous laughter either) no cream. Down the hatch. Absolutely delicious.
We heard people around us speaking French, Spanish and sometimes English. After people watching and listening to stories of Barry’s experiences and discoveries in Toulouse, he told us of a place on the Garonne River that is filled with great dining spots, so we walked.
(Ok, that lightning hit something very near here because the thunder was instantaneous and it shook the house.) (Getting very loud now!)
(I’m listening to Flight of the Bumble-Bee and it makes a great soundtrack to the frantic rushings outside as parents are picking up their children for lunch. Did I mention that school closes from noon to 2 for lunch also, just like all the businesses? They do. Parents or grandparents pick up the kids for lunch and then bring them back. Did I also mention that children start school at the age of 3?)
(Holy Cow that was loud!)
(Power is out)
(Great! Just went into the bathroom to discover that I’d forgotten to close that window and there’s a lake on the floor.)
(And now it’s hailing)
(Took wet towels out to the laundry in the garage to discover a small lake out there. Apparently there’s a leak in the garage roof!)
Umm, where was I? Oh, yeas, the Garonne. We walked for what seemed like miles (small exaggeration) until we came upon the river all lit up. We passed several bars filled with noisy people who appeared to have gotten an early start to their Saturday revelries. We finally came to a street, more like an alley, filled with restaurants on both sides of the very narrow street.
The restaurants have set price menus. The price could be 10 to 50 Euros for a ‘menue’. The ‘menue’ offers several courses and several choices for each course. It’s quite a bit of reading and guessing for three Americans. We finally settled on one that seemed to have a good selection for each of our tastes. I had a ‘Salade du Canard’ which is nothing more than a mixed green salad with large pieces of duck over the top and a nice vinaigrette dressing. The men had a salad with some delicious soft goat cheese on top. For the entrée I had duck, roasted and served with a baked potato loaded with cream. I really love duck, it has such wonderful flavor. The men each had salmon, each prepared differently. We shared. Dessert was of course my favorite, crème brûlée, this one with raspberries in it. A nice bottle of red wine and some good bread with dinner and coffee afterwards to round things out. We were serenaded by two gentlemen who wandered up and down the street playing accordions. We waddled back to the car. It’s a good thing we had to walk a ways.
Two funny things. First, some people brought their dogs to dinner with them. The dogs just lay on the sidewalk under the tables and waited. They were very well behaved. Then, Saturday night is apparently when the garbage is picked up. Between the restaurants were piles of garbage set out for pick up and halfway through dinner the garbage truck came rumbling down the road stopping every few meters to pick up garbage. The truck was inches from us as it drove by and we seemed to be the only ones startled (and grossed out) by this event. It took less than 10 minutes from one end of the street to the other, but still it was weird and very smelly.
(Power is back on, the washing machine is continuing where it left off. This is good because I now have another two loads of towels to do; though they’ll never dry in this weather. We have to get a drier.)
The guys left on Sunday for another couple of days. They’re near Biarritz on the Atlantic coast and invited me to join them but I declined. MCo. has a reputation (with me at least) for booking people into some real dives to save money. After I spoke to S last night, I was glad I had declined, per usual, scummy hotel. And anyway, then I would have missed this lovely storm. S and I will have to go when it’s for fun and not work.
Oh, got the lowdown on the milk. It’s not pasteurized like there, it’s irradiated. (Does that mean I’ll glow when I return?) I guess that the not having to heat it keeps it fresh longer? Also we’d been wondering about the eggs. The egg yolks are almost orange. This is apparently because of the feed the chickens get. (No further questions your honor.)
In other news, it’s ‘fungus’ season here. Mushrooms, you know that fungus you are all soo fond off. The stores are full of them. There are dozens of varieties and prices vary widely, mostly prices vary according to the area the mushrooms come from. Whatever!
The storm is starting to let up a bit, I think I’ll venture some window opening. What the heck, I still have some dry towels left.
