Toulouse!

We bit the bullet and made the trek up to Toulouse again today. However, instead of just gracing Ikea with our presence (we needed more rugs, cushions, bed stuff), we decided to make a proper day of it and head into Toulouse city itself where we would have lunch and do some shopping - if Andy couldn't find his 'rouleau patissier' (rolling pin) in Toulouse then there was no hope! Besides, I had heard it was a lovely city and well worth exploring.

So, after the obligatory Ikea trip, we got parked up in central Toulouse by 1pm and headed straight for 'La Maison du Cassoulet' for which I had read excellent reviews and which promised quality regional cuisine. We were not disappointed. We both had a very pleasant salad for starters followed by coeur de canard (ducks' hearts), flashed to perfection in a frying pan and I had monchons de confit de canard which just dropped off the bone. Fantastic cuisine and I was so pleased we had at last had a decent meal out, following several previous disastrous attempts to have a proper French 'luncheon'.

Lunch was followed by a meander into the shopping area which was a wonderful mix of the traditional and the modern, with little cafes and brasseries tucked away in old streets but also modern department stores and designer shops. We did find the wooden rolling pin that Andy has been searching for, so no excuse now for not making me loads of yummy patisserie!