Nov. 9: Cruisin' Paris

Over the last month or so Jennie and I have been slowly buillding our confidence for cruising around Paris by bike. Believe it or not, Paris is an excellent city to cycle in. When we moved I did not even bother packing our bikes because after visiting Paris before our move and seeing the traffic I figured, "No way in hell I will ride in that city!" Here it is ~ 8 months later and I have done a complete 180 - Paris is awesome to tour by bike. So, every weekend now we jump on our bikes and cruise.

The astute reader must be asking themselves, "But I thought that you did not pack your bikes?" True, but Paris has an excellent public bike system called the Velib'. I generally use it everyday to partially commute to work, but it is best enjoyed just cruisin' around Paris on a crisp autumn day!

When we cruise there usually is no real destination, but general areas of interest. Today we started by heading over towards the Place de Bastille (shown below), grabbed a coffee, and sauntered towards the Cemeterie Pere Lachaise.


A coworker of mine told me that the Pere Lachaise cemetery was her favorite place in Paris. After visiting, I can fully understand why. I have pictures below all taken from my camera phone. They do not even come close to displaying the beauty and tranquility of the cemetery.

For Jim Morrison fans out there - his grave is below. (I personally thought that this was one of the least impressive graves...it looks so unkept and, basically, like a glorified garbage can).

Below is Oscar Wilde's grave. After learning more about him on my recent trip to Dublin, I was curious to see his grave. It was not what I expected. I thought it was quite interesting that his admirer's kiss his grave with bright red lipstick (look closely and you will see plenty of kiss marks).

And alien tears will fill for him

Pity's long-broken urn,

For his mourners will be outcast men,

And outcasts always mourn.

Below is the crematorium. The two smoke stacks (only 1 visible below) sent chills up my spine.

The rest of the photos are a feeble attempt to capture the tranquility of the cemetery.

After the cemetery we rode down past Notre Dame. Here is Jennie on the Velib'. Sure the bike looks dorky, but it sure makes for a great day in the city!


Then we cruised by the Eiffle Tower. This picture was actually taken last weekend on our weekend Paris cruise.


After about 5 hours of our urban biathlon of riding and walking I squeezed in a 6.5 mile run at an average pace of 7:24 min/mile. I saw 6 trannies (sorry, no photos) and am now chillin' and looking forward to the next weekend all ready!

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Nov. 8: Running again

Today I ran for about 7.5 miles at a pace that only Garmin knows since it decided to go into stealth mode at the beginning of the run while giving me some double-talkin' back talk about a low battery. Whatever, my garmin is dead to me now...well, at least until the battery gets recharged, then I am sure that we will kiss and makeup.

I have said it before and I will say it again. Autumn is phenomenal! And this autumn has been amazing. Today my run was nothing short of spectacular. Amazingly there are still many leaves on the trees, there is a crisp chill to the air, and there is that mysterious autumn afternoon light which sends chills up my spine when running through a wooded area like today.

Each time I go out I wish I had my camera with me to capture just how gorgeous it has been the last 2-3 weeks. But then I remember that 3 weeks ago the concrete next to the Eiffel Tower jumped up and bitch-slapped my camera into a painful and sudden death. Oddly, I was not the klutz holding the camera at the time....!!! At any rate, I think I know what my Christmas present will be!

While running today I was running across a pedestrian crossing where a fully geared cyclist (think Terminator II) was waiting for the light. He had the full body lycra, gloves, time-trial helmet (ok, not really...but it makes for a better visual effect), super-sweet bike, and well you get the idea. In Paris you know that the cyclist is either a tourist or VERY serious if they are wearing a helmet...this guy did not look like a tourist. What I find amusing though is that as we both see each other we both instantly give each other "the head nod". You know the, "hey man, I see what you are doing...and although we are different breeds, I respect what is going on over there."

I always laugh at these situations because it only seems to happen when I know that I am looking super-serious and when I see someone else who is looking super serious. I saw many other cyclists out today, but none of them in full body lycra, and none of them gave me "the nod". Oh oh...after re-reading this last paragraph an entirely new thought has crossed my mind...I am running in a park where I see a ton of trannies and only the dudes in full body lycra are acknowledging me...oh dear, I got to go and map out some new running routes...

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ps- I have not run much this week...but all my bits are starting to feel normal again...this has been a good break that will soon end...

Oct.30: Misplaced Smells

Do you ever find that somethings in life are only enjoyable if you, and only you, are the one enjoying/doing it? Take, for example, whistling. That is definately something that is only enjoyed by the whistler. And normally people start whistling because they are feeling happy and relaxed or they are just enthralled in whatever it is that they are doing. It is just too bad that while doing so that they annoy everyone else around them and distract them from whatever it is that they are doing.

Another good example is the smell of certain foods. For example, I love the smell of grilled salmon with hints of lemon and herbs on it if, of course, it is coming from the plate sitting directly infront of me. But if I am about to dig into, oh I do not know, desert and the guy next to me is just about to dig in to a nice filet-o-fish, I find that fishy smell downright revolting!

Then you have the foods where the smell is NEVER good but the taste is oh so heavenly. The only way you put up with the smell is because you know that there is a delicious reward in it for you...Blue Cheese is an example of this for me. When you are eating this stuff, you know you are eating cheese...durn, it is good. I love the stuff that is half mold and half cheese...yummy! But here is the deal with blue cheese, if I am smelling the stuff, I better darn well be eating it because the smell itself is just nasty.

This brings me to the point of my blog today...I am (literally) sick of going into the men's locker room at my gym and being greeted by the strong aroma of blue cheese. It is just ripe ol', "I have not washed my gym gear in a month, but I work out hard everyday," stench. Do not get me wrong, I am glad these guys are paying attention to their fitness. In fact, I applaud them. But how do they not get naseaus (sp?) when they put their own gear on? The guy sitting next to me during spinning today smelled like an after dinner cheese platter.

In other news, my little nephew had to go to the ER the other day because he had stuffed a popcorn kernel so far up his nose that they could not get it out!! Man, I wish Uncle David could have been there for that. I bet that uncle David would have been able to get him to see just how many he could get up there!!

ps: Vic, Jennie wants to thank you for making my blog X-rated and for making her day!

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Oct29: Running...Again?

Weird thing happened today - I ran again! That makes 2 times so far this week!! And just like the first time, it felt great! It was a nice relaxing 6 miles around a 7:45'ish pace. It was quite chilly - I was bundled in my pants, long sleeve shirt and light jacket. I, of course, was overdressed. It is amazing that 5 years of living in Houston NEVER prepared me for "cold" temperatures such as today.

And for those of you who are wondering...no trannies! I am not suggesting that it is too cold for them to work, but perhaps their clients are to cold to...ahem...enjoy what they are paying for!

Je suis fatigue. Je vais dormer tout de suite.

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Oct.28: Spinning Encore

I just returned from another spinning class...good times! The biggest challenge I am having right now is calibrating my HR and intensity with each other for cycling. Now, I know that your HR is a function of many things, which is why it is a good thing to monitor it - let's you know how your body is responding to ALL stresses. I have a fairly good handle on calibrating HR to intensity while running, but cycling is a whole new learning curve for me. I guess I got to keep going so I figure it out! Empirical data to analyse and learn from can only be acheived by doing things!

Right now the TV is on in the background and "Les Simpsons" just came on. Do you remember back to when you used to read comics and you used to have a certain voice associated with each character in the comic? (Yes, I am referring to this little thing called "the imagination"). Then one fateful Saturday morning you stumble upon the TV cartoon of your favorite comic only to realize that the cartoon voices are nothing as you imagined?! I have to say that my biggest disappointed was definitely "Garfield". He was totally kick-ass in my mind but a total DUD on TV. Infact, I think I stopped reading Garfield shortly after I saw the cartoon. Anyhow, what is my point (other than being nostalgic about things that aggravated me as a 7 year old)? Well, after years of training my ears as to what each Simpson character should sound like, I may never watch another episode again after hearing how these Frenchies are butchering each character!! This show is definitely lost in translation!

I guess it is just as well...I have moved on to more mature shows such as Family Guy anyhow.

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Oct 27: Dillema

So Jennie and I just finished running 4 miles together in the Parc Monceau (just a beautiful gem of a park just next to our apartment). Now I am sitting here with a bit of a moral dilemma...

After the run I had a quick shower while Jennie was putting the finishing touches on dinner. Now that she is in the shower it is my job to "keep an eye on dinner" (as it is still on the stove) and to "tend to things if need be". Now, I have been given this responsibility many times before and EACH time I find myself struggling with the same moral issue. If I let dinner burn, or go bad, or spill over, or something just this one time, then chances are that I will not be allowed back into the kitchen again for a very long time to "help out"! So, 1 bad dinner just might buy me several months of freedom!

Does this dilemma make me a bad person? I don't think so ...I know that EVERY guy out there when placed in this same situation, has the same thought! And ladies, if he says differently, he is lying!

Ok, I hear something boiling over and the smoke detector is going off...it looks like I am going to have some spare time in the nights ahead!!!

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Oct. 26: Random Thoughts

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Autumn is absolutely my favorite time of year. Many people seem to like Spring better...I am not sure why that is. I think it has something to do with new beginnings and everything is fresh...it basically ends a long winter's hibernation - it is time for mind and body to be active again. The flowers are blooming, the leaves are sprouting, and people tend to be giddy with all their pent-up energy from a long winter's grind. I like autumn because everything that was once new finally has a chance to reflect and to learn from a time past. Spring is too full of giddy energy, wondering what will be, how will things turn out, and what does the new season have in store? While autumn is briming with knowledgable hindsight - it is a time to reflect, to learn, to progress. Sure you do not get the fragant smell of new flowers blossoming in a meadow nearby (ok Houston, use your imaination) but seeing a rainbow of colors everytime you look at a patch of trees is hard to beat. Red bleeds into orange, which squeezes between vibrant yellow, while still showing hints of green, with the occasional purple hue sprinkled to keep the pallete full. Plus I was born in this season - perhaps I am biased? To add to this bias, October is by far the best month! I certainly enjoy living back in a place where I am reminded of the season for what it is, not for being something other than "hot" or "not hot".

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Happy Belated Birthday Dad! No, I do not suck as a son - I actually called on the actual day! But should I ever get stuck with short-term memory loss or some other condition that makes me forget this period of my life and I am forced to use this blog as a historical document to recap the who, the what, the where, the why, and the how, I want to know that I was one of those people that remembered things...not just "things" but the "important things."

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I have been watching too much House lately. That is quite clear by my last statement! Plus, truth be told I can only remember what I have in my Outlook calendar...and what Jennie reminds me about! Maybe I do have short-term memory loss? Did I already say that earlier??

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Two days in a row now I have seen the Paris Firemen (or 'Pompiers') out on group runs. There are about 15-25 of them all running in formation along the street. It is clear that the entire Firehall is out together, spending time on their fitness together...and it seems to work - they all look really fit. So, what happens should a call come in? No problem, 2-3 guys are driving 2-3 firetrucks/EMS vehicles behind along the street to pick them up should an emergency arise. Perhaps I should join them on their runs? The firetruck/EMS vehicles are definitely the best SAG wagon anybody could ever ask for!

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Steeeve - I think you and Andrew are right. My story is not yet complete with the marathon. Sometimes I wonder if I should be an epic story writer though - perhaps I am more adept to be writing short stories, or poems, or editorials for the weekly newspaper, or heck, even a blog? Hmmm...but those are things that you can read on the toilet...the epic novel is something you need to take with you everywhere you go and spend time focused on it if you ever want to complete it. But sometimes if you put the novel down for too long you have to go back and re-read the final chapter to get caught back up. I remember the last chapter being really, really good - time to go re-read it!

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Why can I never think of a cool Halloween costume until I move to a place where nobody would appreciate it?! (It also does not help that I have no party to show it off too!). Next time that you know that I am back in town, and it is Halloween - please invite me to your party because I gaurantee you that I will have the BEST costume there. It is retro, it is reality based, it was (is?) a cultural phenom, and only I can pull it off. Want to know more...invite me to your party!

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I have decided that one of my "to-do's" (or item to put on my "bucket list") is to own a Moped (or scooter) while living in Paris. It may not be this time I am here...but sometime. It is just way too cool not to do that while I am here. After consulting with my brother-in-law we have decided that it would be best done with a total retro looking bike. I am thinking an WWII looking scooter painted in army green with a side car. While driving I will wear goggles like parachuters wear. I guess we all have dreams...I am going to hold tight to this one! (But perhaps I should think of a few back-up plans incase this one does not work out as I hope!)

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I do not have a "bucket list" or a "100 things to do before I die list". I will not make said list because I think I takes away sponteneity. But by saying that I am NOT going to do something one might argue that I WILL do something - it is just the opposite of what I said I was NOT going to do. So, in effect am I making a list of "100 things NOT to do before I die"? Is this any better than actually making a proper list?

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I do NOT want to go bungy-jumping. If I am going to pay to fall off of something, I would rather go skydiving. Plus, I think skydiving would be better for my back...no?

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I think that in nature's attempt to be ironic that the day that I finally learn French will be the last day I ever live in France. I have no evidence of this, and trust me this day is a loooooooong ways away, but I just have that feeling that I will never be completely fluent!

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Good luck to everyone running the Houston Half today! That was always a fun event...one that I miss.

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I went running today and it felt great! I ran 6.6 miles at an average pace of...who cares?! I ran and that is all that matters right now. I was able to think about everything and nothing all at the same time...can you tell?!

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