It’s been a day for ‘splashing cash’ in smaller and greater amounts. This morning, we walked no, make that limped in an ungainly fashion due to Toulouse fatigue, to Capitole. We went in search of a coffee house, which seemed to have closed, paused to have a coffee from a street vendor and listened to an excellent blind busker singing to a backing tape of No Woman, No Cry.

We located both the shops we’d intended to visit, the first, selling rather kitsch ‘Hello Kitty’ sort of merchandise. Two items were purchased, a cute human shaped tea infuser which hangs over the side of your cup and a large coffee mug, moulded into a grumpy face. Any subtle hint of irony or stereotyping has now been abandoned apparently. Secondly we called into the tea shop that Susie used to frequent when she lived near here. Amazingly we purchased some tea…

After a restful couple of hours back at the hotel, we walked round to Michel Sarran a two Michelin starred restaurant. We’ve never dined at this level before and considering the second mortgage size of the bill, it my be some time before we repeat the experience. But, what an experience. The food, flavours, textures and presentation were all at a different level to other restaurants we’ve dined at. We were presented with a copy of the menu, signed by the owner as we left, which made our evening complete. I make no apologies for including all of the food images…

Tomorrow we leave Toulouse for Chateau D’Oleron. Visiting a big city is great for a few days but I think we are both ready for a couple of relaxing days…