Today is a great Toulouse day. We don’t overdo it like we did our first day, but we still make it around the city to see a lot. It’s the most well-balanced day I think we’ve had.

We discover a boulangerie near our apartment, so we finally try authentic beignets. As you can imagine they are a huge hit with the kids. Oly insists on a little cobbler that he shares with his sister. Sitting with coffee and some treats is the perfect start to the day.

We walk toward the city center, which involves crossing a small bridge over the canal, to the carousel again. The kids ride the carousel one last time. It’s a beautiful carousel with two levels. Lillian is very excited to ride on the top level! And Oly chooses a brown horse because he rode a white one and a black one the other times. So cute!

We walk a new direction than we have before toward St. George Square. There are so many cute shops along the way! I think this is the best shopping city I’ve been in. It seems that every street has cute shops on it. And the summer sales are on, so of course we have to stop and shop a little. Lillian has a blast picking out a couple things at Petit Bateau, a store I usually avoid because it’s so expensive. She dances around in the outfits she tries on, entertaining the women who work there. We have a lot of fun, and Oly is content to sit at a little table and play. It’s the most relaxing shopping experience I’ve ever had with both kids.  

Packages in hand, we walk to St. George square, which is a nice plaza filled to the brim with cafe tables. There’s a great little playground in the center, so we decide to have lunch there while the kids play. We select Au Jardin des Thes because my guidebook recommends it and it abuts the playground.

Lunch is so nice. It’s the most perfect weather, and we enjoy fresh food with rose wine. The kids run back and forth from the table to the playground, so we linger a bit, rather than the usual rush due to the kids’ restlessness.

Full and happy, we make our way toward the water to visit the Foundation Bremberg museum. It’s an old house built in the 1500s for a wealthy wood merchant and now exhibits art. The house is cool; the art is okay. Oly realizes he can get attention from docents for being disruptive, so our visit ends abruptly.

//Stefan Note: She full blown yelled at Olaf and I pretended to just be walking in the museum solo, also disturbed at these miss behaving children.

We start walking back home now. When we pass back through St. George Square, we glimpse some of a strange dance show. We stop at a grocery store where we pick up blueberries, bananas and some other provisions and head home.

Oly falls asleep on Stefan on the way home. He used to be so picky about where he’d sleep, but lately we’ve been exhausting him to the extent he’s willing to take a nap anywhere, even sitting on Stefan’s shoulders!

Stefan and I have a date tonight! I think we really need some time to just walk around the city hand in hand without the kids. Stefan isn’t completely sold, but I know he will be once we are out the door. Our Airbnb host found us a babysitter, Pauline. She just graduated high school, speaks English well, and is super sweet with the kids. Lillian gives Pauline the tour of the apartment and then starts describing the nighttime routine. Basically, I’ll be out of a job soon. She’s got this. I think Pauilne is surprised by Lillian’s commanding presence. I give her a look like, “good luck!” They start playing a game just as we head to the door. Each kid runs and hugs us and says “bye!” I love that they are comfortable with new people and that they are confident to let us go out for a night without them.

As soon as we are out the door, Stefan is calm and happy. I love being right. He hasn’t quite admitted to himself how stressful it can be to be with kids 24/7, and he usually spends a ton of time away from us at work. As lovely as we are, this has to be a difficult transition.

Stefan Note: Your always right sugar

So we walk down to dinner at Le Colombier, whose cassoulet the NYT says is an absolute must while in Toulouse. We hurry to get there by 8, our reservation time, to find the restaurant near empty. Not the best sign. But then our host welcomes us and explains our choices for dinner. It’s the cassoulet, the cassoulet with a salad or the cassoulet with a salad and dessert. So we order the cassoulet. And it is amazing. I’m not sure I’ve ever had cassoulet before, but it is definitely something I could eat regularly.

After a lovely dinner with great wine, we walk to a wine bar mentioned in NYT’s 36 Hours, Au Pere Louis. It’s an old wine bar with a lot of character. The bartender is charming in a gruff French way and swerves our wine in tiny glasses. We enjoy our wine out outside, basically tables on the side of the narrow street. It is beautiful and makes me want to stay in Toulouse much longer.