Scott slept in a bit this morning but we managed to get out the door by around 10 am. We needed to get a move on as rain was in the forecast for much of the day. We only had a single objective. Visit the Marché Victor Hugo and buy some food for lunch and dinner. With a less than appealing weather forecast and a full kitchen in our suite, we thought that we may as well be prepared to hole up for awhile.
Although, its location is anything but glamorous (the stalls are located on the ground floor of a 1970s car park building), the well regarded Victor Hugo market reflects why Toulouse as an epicentre of authentic French cuisine. More than one hundred vendors gather at Victor Hugo every morning from Tuesday to Sunday to offer an impressive selection of local products, the freshest seafood, breads, pastries, wine and just about every type of cheese imaginable. Tuesday morning was a great time to visit as there were few visitors and most, like us, were well into their retirement years.
Award winning Maison Beauhaire delivers the first pain aux raisons of the trip.
A carnivore’s dream. Butcher shops had wide displays of beautifully marbled cuts of beef, thick slabs of pork and elegant racks of lamb. Here is some great looking Prosciutto.
Big jars of cassoulet (a thick, hearty, Gascon stew of white beans, sausage, lamb, goose and duck) the rustic regional dish only requires reheating. While we were there the vendor had just sold three large jars of the wonderful mix.
Cool weather but fine if you dress for it. There are many parents shuttling their kids around on the back of bikes. From our experience, the inner city is great for cycling and walking around but not very approachable by car.
With our visit to the market a great success, we returned home just as the skies opened and the day`s forecasted rain began. We spent the remainder of the day safe and dry watching the wet weather come and go perched high up in our tower. We enjoyed our quiche and salad for dinner and afterwards in between cloud bursts went out for an evening walk. The city streets were quiet but beautiful in the day`s twilight.
Waiting out the rain again at Place du Capitole, The horizon is looking brighter.
