Running through Paris (literally)

When I took up running about a year and a half ago, I never would have thought that one day the streets of Paris would be my usual course. In IV, I would run the path along the cliffs overlooking the ocean, usually not seeing anyone else except the occasional other runner. At home I'd spend my mornings running along the strand in Manhattan Beach or on the sand in Playa Vista. Needless to say, things are a bit different here in a big city. First of all, getting lost is so easy that I'm surprised it hasn't happened to me yet. Maybe it's because I've been staying glued to the banks of the Seine so I always have a path to follow. You know, like when you're lost in the woods you stay by water? Same thing.

You see some crazy stuff while running through Paris during the early morning, such as people taking wedding photos! I've seen three separate couples taking wedding pictures while in Paris which must look amazing, but I wonder how many of them are stuck monumenting the best day of their life while some random tourist (aka me) runs or walks through their picture. Not as romantic as it sounds. Also... it kind of stinks here. It's pretty much like when I went to NYC and was shocked by how dirty it was, only a little nicer. There's the same amount of trash and pee-smell, but if you keep your eyes on the architecture it's not so bad. Dodging some suspicious puddles is definitely worth it when your mile-mark is the Notre dame. On a more dangerous note, puddles aren't the only things you have to avoid while running through a big city - cars here DO NOT STOP for pedestrians or even other cars. Seriously, drivers here are insane and that's coming from someone who learned how to drive in LA.

So basically, running here has taken some major getting used to. But it's a whole new way to explore the city. A few days ago I ran along the Seine and realized the bridge rising above me was the famous love lock bridge, so I hopped up the stairs and took my time walking along it, savoring the emptiness of the usually tourist-filled spot. And yesterday, what was meant to be another trip to the lock bridge, turned into a run through an unexpected park, which is apparently where the natural history museum is located. I saw tons of other runners (for all the people online who said that no one runs in Paris, you have obviously never been to Paris) and there was a maze of paths along flower gardens, tree-lined hills, and even a little menagerie where I saw teeny kangaroos. The bonus is that I can't get lost because it's all contained within, like, a half-mile radius. Unrelated end note: the best part of running is that when you trip over a tree root and almost face plant in front of a bunch of French people, you can just run away and it doesn't look weird. Not that that happened to me or anything.