well, this is mostly about food.

So today I got to run around Toulouse by myself as Noemi and I were visiting different people. So after checking in at the Petits Freres office, I walked down Rue Riquet to the most awesome little cafe called La Papilloterie (many thanks to Miriam the accountant for recommending it to me and Noemi the other day!) Noemi and I went there yesterday for lunch and got papillotes- the French equivalent of tin foil dinners, complete with meat (chicken or salmon), vegetables, and delicious sauce, all wrapped in parchment paper and baked. Yesterday's flavor was cumin. Hello, cumin is my favorite spice in the world, so it was amazing, even if I accidentally ordered salmon (generally, I hate fish, but this was the one exception because it was so good). The decor in this restaurant is really cute too. One wall is bright green and there are all of these paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling. I'll have to take a picture next time I go. Anyway, I went there today and got a bagel sandwich. Heaven. I went downtown and ate in a little park next to Mango, where I then went to purchase a purse (les soldes! only 18 euros!). After that I went to visit Mme Sciacco. She is such a cute lady, with a cute family and cute grandkids. She told me all about them and her children. Unfortunately I still only understand maybe half of what people are saying to me, but it was obvious that she's very family-oriented. She kept telling me, "Une famille doit etre unie!" (families should be close-knit!) She didn't have a lot of opportunities for education, and for that reason I think, she kept telling me how important it is to keep studying and going to school. At the end of our visit, she told me, "Tu es adorable et tres gentille! Merci de votre visite!" (You are adorable and so nice! Thank you for visiting!) which somehow made everything worth it-the hot, hot weather, the whole navigating the city alone, the residence, it was okay.

Later, Noemi and I did some more exploring downtown trying to find Stradivarius (we shop a lot...). We did not find it, but we did discover a more classy part of downtown which we very much enjoyed. We got macaron cookies that we've been dying to try, and oh my goodness (they're in the photo above). They were so so so so so good. (I swear I could do a blog on my European culinary experiences alone.) They look like cookies, but taste like cake, really soft and delicious. Mmmmm. Tonight we're going to go out and get dessert crepes. Oh, how I love French desserts.