I got up and wandered over to where the Toulouse Marathon was being run. I watched at the Grand Rond, a large roundabout with a fountain in the middle. It was where I read on Friday. It was approximately the 40 kilometer mark on the marathon which is not far from the end of the marathon. There was a half marathon being run as well along the same course.

It was an ideal day for running a marathon as it was in the low 50s and overcast. The marathon started at 7:30 am so it was probably cooler at the start. As I walked/jogged over to the place where I was going to watch, the main roads where the race began was blocked off as you would expect.

When I got to the Grand Rond, there were spectators but not as many as I expected. The crowd did pick up over the time I watched but it was not huge. Also, it was interesting as the crowd was not super vocal. Having run 10 marathons in DC, New York, Boston and the Leigh Valley, this was the least excited crowd I had ever seen. On occasion, you would hear an Allez or Allez Courage but there was not a great deal of cheering. People would just watch the runners go by. Clapping would happen when a larger group of runners went by which I joined in.

There was one group that was louder and was waiting for their friend to go by, when he did they were very louder and supportive. They were the only group that had a noise maker – one of those hand clappers, shaped like a hand and when you shake it, it claps.

There were no cow bells. Not sure if that is an American thing but I did not hear any cow bells. I was not complaining.

It was fun to watch, I am sorry I could not sign up for the 10K but still do not miss running a marathon.

The rest of the day was my regular Sunday. I went to the St. Aubin farmers/flea market. I bought my olives and was very impressed. The young lady who sells the olives remembered me and even the kind of olives I wanted to buy. I joked with her and she said she never forgets a face or order. I bought my cheese from the normal cheese monger and fruit and vegetables.

After shopping, I headed to St. Sernin’s for church. It is interesting as at the English mass, they have had a number of visiting priests officiate. This week was a priest from the Diocese of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The service is quite nice and it fairly well attended each week. I have commented before that it is interesting how people are still visiting the church while the mass is in progress. Most people are very considerate and do not talk but they still wonder around and are taking pictures.

I did not end up running as there were showers during the afternoon. I will have to do that tomorrow.

Had a lovely dinner from my purchases at both Victor Hugo and St. Aubin’s. I opened the second bottle of wine that I bought at the Salon des Vins. This is the one made by the American couple. It was very good.

This is just an amusing picture of the difficulties of driving in Toulouse with the small streets. It think the blocked streets added to the issue.

The blue car is backing up to let the silver car get through. As you can see, the bicyclist is riding between the two cars not carrying what is going on. The walkers are just going by.