I got up and went down to breakfast at the hotel. I expected this but confirmed that most of the people staying in the hotel had either participated in the race or were spectators. They either had the t-shirts on or were sitting with someone who had the t-shirt on. The breakfast was on extraordinary but definitely was what one needed.

I was supposed to meet Marc, Mireia, Hugo and the rest of the family later for lunch so I decided to go walking. I was going to do some more hiking but when I saw the vertical incline of the nearest trail I abandoned that idea.

Instead, I realized the 7k, 12k, and 21k races were being held so I walked over towards the finish line and sat and watched the runner finish the race. I was amazed at the young children who were competing especially since Marc said even those races were technical and included some steep parts.

Hugo texted me and said they were up at the finish line so I walked up there and met them. Marc seemed totally recovered and fine. Hugo was still limping some and his legs were still hurting somewhat. We grabbed my backpack from the hotel and headed to Marc’s house for lunch.

We had a nice lunch and hung out at the house. Marc did fall asleep at one point which was totally understandable after the race. Mireia, Hugo and I sat on the balcony and admired the views. We saw some deer in the garden of one of the houses across the road from Marc’s house. The afternoon weather was perfect so it was very enjoyable.

Irene, Marc’s mother, made a special cake for lunch. It was a variation on the traditional Easter cake, It was delicious and fun.

After lunch, they brought me to Andorra del Vella, the capitol of Andorra which is a very modern and dynamic city. It was where Miguel and I were catching the bus to return to Toulouse.

I enjoyed the bus ride with Miguel. We chatted about a whole range of subjects. I learned more about Andorra and I think he learned more about the United States. It was nice to just chat about various things.

We returned to hot weather in Toulouse. It is unseasonably warm here now. It is in the 90s but unlike Washington, the humidity is low which is nice.

One thing that I am astounded about is the multilingualism of the people I have met here. This is especially true of Marc’s family. I speak English and some French. Hugo mainly speaks French with a little English and a smattering of Spanish. All the Marc’s family would speak to whoever they were talking to in the language of that person. At times, they would switch between languages without even batting an eye. They all speak Catalan (native language of Andorra), Spanish, French and English.

The whole weekend was a fantastic experience and I am glad that I was able to participate in it. Marc and his family were incredibly welcoming and made me feel like part of the family.