paris

so a couple days of work, and then hop on a super fast tgv train bound for paris on friday night. 4 hours later, arrive in paris, hang out for a bit, then immediately to sleep. wake up, grab a delicious sandwich from a nearby bakery, head to the catacombs. so basically there used to be this extensive underground network of quarries in the city, and then years later they decided to use it as a place to put dead people, and then now it's like a tourist thing to go and walk around down there. so down this huge spiral staircase, and then walk through a virtual labyrinth of tunnels, with some carvings and stuff in the rock as well. then came the massive piles of bones - the skulls and tibias and humerus' and femurs were stacked in some neat patterns, with countless other bones piled in behind. walked through what must have been several kilometers of these passages, with bones the whole way...countless thousands of people...by the time we went up the stairs back in to the open air i was ready to leave, pretty dark and musty in there. pretty cool though, definitely something to see. turns out it's turned into a great day outside, stopped for roadside crepes, walked by this really amazing looking market, fish and seafood and great looking fruit and vegetables, a neighbourhood type thing that i would love to be able to have the chance to shop at. the day when fresh community markets pop up in calgary, i'll be happy. stop for some pastries, take the metro to see the notre dame cathedral. yea, the one in the hunchback of notre dame. obviously, a lot of people here, tourists of all kinds and people selling 10 mini eiffel tower keychains for 2 euro? wtf, why would i need 10 keychains. pretty cool cathedral, but man oh man, i can't count the number of cathedrals i've been in this year, and harder even to remember them and compare them all. heard the organ blasting in there though which was pretty cool. took a walk around the area, stopped in at this place for some quick pasta on the go - carboloading as much as possible - for cheap too, like 5 euros for a full meal, even in pricey paris, take that switzerland. continue on this walk by some other sweet buildings, and then end up at the louvre. lots of tourists here too. see all these glass pyramids and stuff, there's a gate that kinda looks like the brandenburg gate in berlin - weird. didn't actually go in the museum, huge lineup and allegedly, not supposed to be the best one of them anyhow. perhaps, when i go back the next time i'll give it a shot. but from here, we continue down to the champs d'elysses, the biggest trendiest street kinda thing that's famous all over the world. find a good spot in an immaculately trimmed garden on the way, and join the numerous other people lounging in the grass on a beautiful sunny day. a short nap, and we're walking again, while mike and dave insist on stopping at as many crepe stands on the way as possible. pass by some cool statues and fountains, the place de la concorde, tree lined paths, all the good stuff. then we hit the busy champs d'elysses, packed with people, fancy restaurants, shops, and in general the classier things in life. meandering down the street, we end up at the arc de triomphe. snap a few pictures, decide not to pay the 5 euros or whatever it is to go to the top. now, it's time to face the inevitable, i guess i had signed up to run the paris marathon months ago. time to go pick up the race package from the run expo place. pretty cool actually, picked up a sweet asics bag, some bananas, powerbars, and then ate some pasta at the pasta party. lots of merchandise and inspirational posters and the like, which i actually appreciated so much. really helped the mindset. in fact, i was just terrified. headed back to try to get some sleep, hoping that i had eaten enough pasta and drank enough water.

wake up at 7:00 am for the 8:30 am start. at this point, the realization really dawns on me. basically, the background here is that i had signed up for this run in like, maybe october or november, purely on peer pressure, mostly from patrick meunier. so naturally, with the whole traveling every weekend, drinking, fast food eating, and cold weather all winter, rigorous training had not been done. in fact, in two months before this marathon, i racked up at most 50 k i would say. so basically going into this thing cold. strap on the shoes, and get down the the arc de triomphe to get it started. about 30 000 people are in this run, and the amount of public urination at the starting area is outrageous. also old clothes, ponchos, banana peels, water bottles etc. are littered everywhere. with 'tonight's gonna be a good night' playing on repeat forever, i start running. take it easy out of the gate, and before i know it 5 and 10 k are gone just like that. of course, the beauty of running 42 k in paris is that you get to see all the sights. so pass by the louvre and place de la concorde again, tuileries, notre dame cathedral again, the bastille...at this point we're feeling pretty good (running with chris and chan) and stop at the 5 k markers for some food and water and stretches, mitigate a blister formation problem with a handy band aid, take measures against potential nipple chafing later as well. and so, 21 k goes by, and i've just casually ran a half marathon in a casual 2:10 - seems like i'm on a good solid pace now. running next to the river now, and can see the eiffel tower in the distance. 25 k goes by, and by about 28 or 29 the legs start feeling it. by 30 k, i'm strugglin with stiff legs. this is about when i lose chris as he continues ahead, and chan has fallen back already. passing by the eiffel tower, luckily there is a massage station where i go ahead and rub on some menthol/freezing type thing which helps to numb the pain for a few km. really cramping up now. basically trying to keep the feet shuffling and stop to walk when it gets too bad. terrified of getting those dreaded debilitating cramps that seize up your whole legs, cause at that point, it's game over. by 36 or 37 i'm walking more than running, and now is when the people watching are helping me along. really amazing to get so much support from strangers - the whole atmosphere i'm liking a lot. this guy on a bike gets me going after i'm struggling to walk, gives me a little pep talk about how the hardest part i've already done and all i gotta do is a few more k's. keep pace with one or two people around me, helps me and helps them too i think. this other guy basically forces me to run with him for a while, and i get my feet shuffling again. by 40 i just want it to end. walking with this one guy who won't let me stop haha, like i said, really really cool experience how we all look for something to hold on to when in so much pain. force the legs to get going for the last kilometer and a bit, gotta run through the finish line, right? so yup. i finished it. not exactly the most respectable time at a little over 5 hours - i was shooting for 4 - but really, all things considered, i'm on top of the world. the run itself was great, in retrospect. did see a lot of paris, through some nice parks, lots of cheers, ate lots of bananas and raisins, went to the bathroom a few times off to the side of the road. got a medal, drank some powerade, hung out for awhile. turns out that three of my friends did under 4:10, chris kept it just under 5 with a sore knee, and even chan finished. all in all, pretty happy bunch. i'm addicted to running - that runner's high - amazing, better than any drug i am so sure. so obviously at this point, my legs are stiff as boards, and walking is impossible. getting through all the stairs to the metro station is a challenge, and the 6 flights of stairs back up to the hostel room are all but impossible. man taking off those shoes felt great. after all that though - i can't wait to do it again, and this time to do it properly with some legitimate training and preparation. after laying down to slightly recover from the physical exhaustion, we headed out to this nice part of town to find some dinner. needless to say the 5 minute walk to the nearest metro station took about 20 minutes, and by the time we sat down i was pretty hungry. a really solid meal of onion soup, steak and potatoes, and apple pie indeed made that night a good night. and just the relief of it all being over was really amazing. another long tired walk to try and get some sleep, before waking up at 5 am to catch the early train back to switzerland. the weekend was too short - definitely could stay in paris for a while i think - one thing i guess i'd love to do at some more is to do the whole culinary traveling thing, not like i haven't been trying to eat a lot of unique local stuff but more like being able to buy the fresh and seasonal and local food at the market and then try to cook it in the style of where it is. definitely an idea that i want to explore some more. anyways, paris was a good time just as all the weekend trips have been, especially with good friends and good laughs. back to work for just a few more weeks and then it's already time to go home!