Quiet Day, Working Day

Last night before bed I laid out my running clothes, my ipod, my shoes and then I set my alarm for 6:30 am.

A few seconds later the alarm went off. Sure enough, it was morning and time to get up. So I went for my first run in Paris. I don't know how far I went, but I was gone for 45 minutes. I stopped to stretch by the Louvre. It was kind of a neat experience, and far safer than running on the country roads around home. I didn't have to deal with much traffic running along the river walks or through the Jardin de Tuileries.

My neighborhood is just coming awake at 6:30; the only pedestrians out are either runners, homeless, or jet-lagged tourists. I snickered at the American family walking in the Tuileries park at 7am -- three kids with mom and dad, all awake and out to see Paris. I hope they found a cafe with "service continu" since nothing else was going to be open for several hours.

JJ likes the schedule here. Things open at 9 or 10 (or 11, like the Pompidou) and stay open late, except for many restaurants that close between lunch and dinner. It matches her natural sleep cycle, I suppose. The restaurant operating hours haven't been too much of an issue for us, since we don't usually go to restaurants, which are distinct from brasseries, cafes and bistros.

Anyway, the streets had light traffic at 6:30, but by the time I got back near 7:30, the rush was full on.  It's noisy and the pedestrians are in a hurry. You really have to watch out for the tourists. They'll change directions on you, stop short, and just get in your way. The reason is that tourists aren't looking where they're going; they're rubbernecking. So their bodies kind of get out of control. Ella got rundown by an American teenager who flew out of the Subway yesterday.

This is the first time I've stayed in a city for this long. In general, I don't really like being in cities.

But Paris is kind of inside out. The heart of it is mostly 4 or 5 story buildings. You don't get that closed in feeling you get from walking among skyscrapers. All the modern, tall buildings are on the periphery of Paris. So when we step out, it feels open, well lit, and the air is relatively clean. There are lots of trees.

I haven't seen a single gas station. There has to be one somewhere around here.

++++++++++++++

So I got back from my run and locked myself in the bedroom to work on a song. It was like pulling teeth today, but I got one! It's crap, but now it's out of the way so a good one can come out.

Then we had pizza at our favorite pizza place and whipped up to the monoprix to buy some much needed groceries. Got back and spent a large portion of the afternoon trying to fix a computer problem. Unsuccessful.

Then JJ and Ella headed out to Jardin de Luxemburg for the playground experience, but non!

The green barrier signifies that the playground is closed. There will be non playing today!

However, it turns out there are some things to do. Like ride this carousel, which allows you to joust at some rings.

Sir Ella catches a ring on the carousel!

I wasn't there for any of this, since I was back at the apartment trying to fix the computer.

Eventually it was dinner time and we had our first take away crêpes. You walk up to the stand on the sidewalk, and they make it on a round hot plate right before your eyes. JJ and I both had the jambon et fromage crêpe: that's ham and cheese. It was very, very, very delicious. I'll be trying a Nutella one soon.

"This tastes like crêpe!