Let me just begin by saying I have been slacking terribly on my blog posting, but, never fear, I will recount everything, well not everything maybe just the big things, from the past three weeks in detail little by little. To start, I will begin where I left things off. I was just leaving Dublin and the Darcy’s and was making my way to Paris for the second time.
In my opinion, the public transportation is one of the easiest to understand- even for the French impaired. Everything is labeled so clearly, and there are signs pointing you in the right direction throughout your entire underground journey. This being said, I had very little trouble finding Stephanie’s, my sister’s childhood friend from camp who now lives in Paris, apartment in Montmartre. Stephanie lives directly up the street from the Moulin Rouge, and that was the first site I saw after exiting the subway station- not a bad location! Stephanie was so kind to offer me a couch to bum on and a delicious cheese tart and salad for dinner. We stayed up and talked for quite a while before we said goodnight and both hit our beds, exhausted from yet another day of travelling. However, I must say that I did get used to the traveling, and I grew accustomed to it after a while. When you are getting to see all of the things that I had the opportunity to see, the travelling day is not really that bad, and you learn to recover pretty quickly.
The next day, Friday, I said goodbye to Stephanie as she left for her lawyer workings in downtown Paris, and I made my way to the hotel that Casey, her dad, and I would be staying. The hotel was across town, near the half marathon and Parc Floral de Paris. I went for a short jog once I got there to scope out the course and just take in the beautiful day and the area. Casey arrived at the hotel several hours after her estimated time of arrival- needless to say my motherly side was having a heart attack- because she had some unexpected transit complications. Luckily, she made it to me, and it was wonderful to see her again, as always! We went to a late dinner in the Bastille area, and I had my first Salade Nicoise (just for you, La) since coming to Europe. It was so nice to just spend the time reconnecting and getting caught up on each other’s lives. (That is probably the strangest part for me about being over here, having no idea what is going in on the people’s lives that I am normally so involved in. We are all just having our own experiences apart from one another, and I think it will be so great for me and my relationships with everyone at home, but it is still just very strange sometimes.)
The next morning Casey and I made our way to Charles de Gaulle Airport, my second of three times in four days- let’s just say I know my way around that airport pretty well by now- to pick up Mr. Smith! Casey was so thrilled to see him as was he to see her, and I could only imagine their mutual excitement. After the hugs and tears, we made our way back to the area of the half marathon so we could check-in for the big race in the morning! We received our t-shirts and other goodies and just being in the general vicinity of the race got my blood pumping a little faster. The rest of the afternoon was spent sightseeing. Casey and Mr. Smith had never been to Paris, so we took the rapid tour of all of the highlights. First was Sacre Coeur, this stunning cathedral that sits atop the city, followed by Moulin Rouge, the Louvre, the Champs-Elysees, and the Eiffel Tower. It was a moment of sheer happiness as we walked down the Champs-Elysees and the Eiffel Tower’s lights began sparkling. Some moments are just too good to be true. It was a pretty decent crash course of the city, and they returned to The City of Lights just a week later as a family. That night Mr. Smith treated us to a delicious French meal at a restaurant near the hotel, and then we crashed fairly early so we could be ready for the race on the horizon.
In true Parisian fashion, the half-marathon did not commence until 10:00 in the morning, so we were able to get a proper rest and have a decent breakfast of Wheat a Bix and banana before jogging over to the start area. Equipped in my running tights, army shirt from Hannah, and running top from my parents, I was ready for the challenge in front of me. The weather was just perfect, a little cold if you were not racing but perfect for a run. The atmosphere before the race is intoxicating. People are here to test themselves, to prove something to themselves, or simply to make a memory. There is really no way to describe the emotions I was feeling at this time: nervous, proud, scared, accomplished, but mostly excited and purely happy in the truest sense of the word. As most of you know, this race meant more to me than just completing 21 kilometers in a certain time. I was there, I was healthy, I was strong, I was in Paris, and I was living my dream. It was all that I could have asked for, and I couldn’t have asked for better people to accompany me in accomplishing this goal- Casey and Mr. Smith. Before we knew it, the race was had begun, and we were off. We stayed together for the first 5k of the race, and then we split our separate ways. The views during the run were enough to keep anyone motivated- the Bastille, the Seine River, Parc Floral, the screaming fans. I felt strong throughout the whole race and that was all I wanted from my first half-marathon. Casey and her dad finished together, and they did incredibly. Casey is now a seasoned pro, and she makes it look effortless. I have the utmost for respect for Mr. Smith who flew in Saturday morning, ran a half-marathon Sunday morning, and then flew back to the states on Monday!
After the race we received our awards and then sat down in a café for a cappuccino before going back to the hotel to back our things and head back to Florence and Bordeaux, respectfully. I had the most incredible two weeks of my life, and it came to a close in the most perfect manner with the Semi-Marathon in Paris.