The Ship Has Landed

I have arrived!! After a looong day of travelling, I made it to Paris. It started out with a 3 am wakeup call Thursday morning and then off to the airport. Managed to get both suitcases to check in at a smudge under 50 lbs (phew!!...see my pack job below! Notice how half my suitcase is Pamela’s products?).

First stop was Washington DC; I managed to doze off for most of that flight and then catch up on work/emails during my 5 hour layover. I thought for sure I would sleep over to Paris. There was a big problem though…good movies!! Since Gregory and I don’t have a T.V and watch our favorite shows online, I had not seen a movie in months. It started with “he’s just not that into you”, and then “bridal wars” and finally finishing with a movie that was based in Minnesota that managed to totally knock on the North (ie. Canadian) talk and culture. It was hilarious! Needless to say this movie downward spiral did not do much good for my beauty sleep.

I arrived in Paris at ~7 am where my fabulous Mother-in-law and Auntie-in-law were waiting for me. It was a relatively quick drive back to their place through rush hour traffic (where I was reminded that there are no lanes, nor driving rules followed in this city!...I almost crapped my pants a few times out of shear fear that someone would crash into us on one of those death-trap traffic circles). We had a nice meal…I was STARVING as United not only downsized the quality of food, but portions as well! And then decided to take a short nap…yes, a short 4 hr nap! I was zapped!

After some more food and a quick run, where my legs didn’t want to move from the jetleg and my body was a swollen mess (from flying) I went to the Grocery where I got my favorite France thing…YOP! It is sooo yummy and I can’t get enough of it! I did splurge on the gluten thing and have an almond croissant but am trying really hard to behave myself.

After a day of travelling and a 8 hr time difference, sleep looks like this: go to bed at 10 pm, sleep till 3 am, read from 3-4:30 am (totally awake), sleep from 4:30 am to 9:30 am (like a dump truck hit you)…then because you have slept in so much, you have no time to catch up on more work, get a short run in and then head out the door to your scheduled

One of the things I love most about Paris is the smells. When I go running and pass someone, I always get a whiff of Chanel, or cologne which is a lot better than smelly sweat! Also the chicken shop, and the bakery; I don’t much prefer the smell of the cheese shops though.

Tomorrow is Mother’s day in France so I am hoping to get up early enough to go for a longish run and then take the mother-in-law out for lunch followed by a tea at a close-friends. It is amazing that it is almost Sunday! I feel like I should still be on Thursday-Friday! Time flies when you are having fun (and jet-lagged! LOL).

Thursday is the day that I will travel to the French Alpe’s to resume my bike training. My bike should be ready on Friday and I have mapped out a number of rides to complete to ensure I am mentally/physically prepared for La Marmotte. But, for now, I am getting some well-deserved rest!!

Stay tuned for the next French-Installment!