Leaving "TheBig Easy Bake" (Oven)

Here is an example of what Toulouse is made of. In fact it's historical nickname is "la Ville la Rose" because the city glows red from all the brick work.

My new nickname for it is, "The Big Easy Bake" because when it gets hot it stays hot which probably expalins why the town is beginning to empty out. The French are almost religious about taking their vacations. It is quite normal to find everyone gone for the month of August but in Toulouse I think folks like to get a head start. Already in the main market many of the stalls were shuttered for the next month or so.

These last 3 weeks have been great! Summer full on and if it is hot in Seattle when I get back then I will have had some nice heat training! However it wasn't particularly interesting. I mean how many stories can one endure were the heroine is blissfully stuffing French vocabulary into English sentence structure?

The upside is that I can now conduct myself with the barest minimum of words and people will blather on in French to me (some of which I understand) and I can pass with the appropriate facial expressions and a well place word or two. However it if gets to a word or three or four that is when the wheels come off the bus ;-) I will confess that it is weird "pour ma" to be "that quiet girl" who doesn't talk.

Oh, some of you out there, I know, are saying, "I hope it lasts! I hope it lasts!" All I can say is I wouldn't count on it.

Our next act will be to follow the exodus and act French and go on vacation! Well technically Billy is going on vacation and I guess I am just staying on vacation. We are going to Galicia, Spain. Vacation destination from Toulouse (at least for pilgrims) for almost 2,000 years and now the home of that famous coqillage wearing Saint James!

We are going to try something new this time. We are going to rent a car BUT not spend the whole time driving like pilgrims on crack! In fact we already have hotel reservations and are going to have a base in a couple places to explore from.

Then it is back to Toulouse for one night then the night train to Paris, metro to CDG airport, catch our flight and hopefully I'll be chatting up the checkout people at QFC by 10 pm July 31st!

In the meantime if I have an internet connection I will up date both the blog and FB. For now I'm off to practice mangling the Spanish language! I guess I will start with "Habla usted Ingles?" Or if desperate, "How about that World Cup?!?"