November 26th 2011 Toulouse, France

Today started out a little rough, I have learned that a hangover is the same in France as it is everywhere else I have been... and today mine has contributed to a pretty slow start.... but once I got going and the feeling of elephants dancing inside my head was gone I took a shower and we checked out of the hotel and went to meet Nicolai. He took us to his best friend Davids house, where he and his girlfriend Cendryne had prepared a North African dish, Couscous. While they were preparing the meal to eat I went with Nico to his brothers house to retrieve 2 more chairs as they had more people coming over and we did not have enough chairs for everyone, Nico is very helpful in explaining the things that I see and the questions that I have about where I am. The walk was short to his brothers flat (apartment) which was a old traditional French flat overlooking the Le Tarn River and right outside of his living room window is the oldest brick bridge in Europe... I was taking a picture through the window and Nico said, “go ahead and open the window”.  (The windows here all swing open and have wooden shutters on the outside) I opened the window, I could hear the water flowing and the sound of peacefulness with the ambient sound of of the city in the distant background... the feeling I had as I looked at the marvel of this old bridge and listened to the sounds around me was one that made me feel truly at piece...a gentle city hundreds of years old with a bridge that has withstood years and years  of weather, people, and wars...and there it stood....still strong.

  We carried the chairs back to Davids flat and some more of his friends arrived, David spoke very good english and was very entertaining, Nico had told me that David was a wrestler, and showed me some of his videos on Youtube, he is a Luchador and does wrestling for entertainment at events, David showed me his uniform and let me try on his cape, it was a great experience for me.  

Soon our meal was ready and everyone was there, we sat down for our meal and even though some of the guests did not speak english everyone made me feel like a friend and we all laughed... David was the life of the party to say the least.(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksXR4EURK4M) . I wish all my friends had the chance to meet him and have such a meal in his house and with his friends, it is a meal I will never forget not only because it was delicious but also because the new friends I was enjoying it with and so much smiling and laughter that filled the room. They were a group of great people that I am honored to call each and every one of them my new“friend"

 We said our goodbyes in the evening and headed back to Toulouse where we met with Marco, Manue and "Gipsy" man David for another evening of fun in St. Sulpice and just as we did last time, we had another fun filled night this time, We ate some dinner, I had Lamb Kabob with red wine and it was another  delicious meal, after dinner we had some drinks, more “basketball, listened to music French, Gipsy and American... In France they enjoy American music.....and I taught them how to make “Applejacks” lol.

Goodnight from France