Slow Monday

Mondays are slow here.  Many shops are shuttered and dark--they've been open for part of the day on Saturday, or like my butcher, on Sunday, and are taking a well deserved break.  The library is closed as are several of the nearby restaurants  Whatever is needed can wait until Tuesday. 

Additionally, we are at the beginning of a two week vacances scolaires.....school break. I am so glad I didn't need to be anywhere near a train station last Friday!   Since the city buses are used to transport students to and from school, they are running on Saturday schedules for the next two weeks as well.  So, even though there seem to be more tourists here than there were last week, the streets had a quiet, slower rhythm to them today.

I made a pot of cauliflower-cider soup, which turned out to be delicious.  I don't think that reflects on my skill as much as it does the quality of the ingredients.  I love getting fresh produce and am learning not to buy too much at any one time.  Clementines are showing up at the market, as are chestnuts and the orange-est  pumpkin I have ever seen.  It's obviously a different variety than I grew up with in the States--the flesh is thicker and more vibrantly colored than what we used for Jack-o-lanterns.  Halloween here is not the big buying opportunity that it is in the States, either.  I did see a notice in the paper that the cemeteries are going to be having longer hours in preparation for All Saints Day. That's a far more important holiday.

On the way to the bakery this morning (to get a mini-campaillette to go with my soup)  I stopped in at a decommissioned Dominican church that's used for art installations.  There was a new showing of some work by a local woman artist.  The theme for this installation  is the celebration of women.  Her style is Picasso-esque, not really to my taste. (I struggle when the eyes are both on the same side of the nose)  But there is no denying her ability. I am told that Carcassonne has a vibrant visual arts scene, but I haven't stumbled onto it yet.  I will keep looking; I have only just begun poking around.