Paris as a city is absolutely wonderful. While the streets don't align like in Manhattan and the people aren't quite as generous, the overall atmosphere is thrilling, vibrant, and Parisian. I have spent my first week getting to know the 15th arrondissement (quarter). My home base is the largest quarter in Paris and has proved to turn me around when I pop out of a new metro station. One of the great advantages of living in a city for a extended period of time is that you can absorb the everyday life of the natives. Two days ago I was walking to Montparnasse along a small side street near the Pasteur Institute. On the opposite sidewalk I saw an elderly woman, probably in her 70s or 80s scootering. This was not the automatic scooter that the elderly use when they can no longer walk, this was the stand up scooter that little kids play on. She was extending her right foot to accelerate as she passed the car dealership and grocery store on her way to the main boulevard. It was wonderful!
Paris is known for many different things. The City of Love, the City of Lights, etc. but personally I think love fits quite nicely. I have fallen in love with Paris and the ease in which I was able to become accustomed to life here. Yesterday I changed my running route and ran to the Eiffel Tower. Running down Boulevard Pasteur the Tower is in sight for most of the run just until the metro comes above ground. I turned the corner at one point, keeping the direction of the Eiffel Tower in my head and I ran directly into a market. I decided to run through the market because at 7:30am it wasn't teeming with Parisians yet. All of the market vendors gave me slightly strange looks, a) because I wasn't buying anything and b) because I was running through their market. Finally the Eiffel Tower was again insight but the military academy was in my way. You cannot run through the military academy and even though my first instinct was to find a way to go through rather than around, I knew that wouldn't go over very smoothly with the French government. So I went around and I ended up finding the UNESCO building on my left. Further down I passed an Aston Martin dealership and finally I came to the Champs de Mars and the long park covered with trees and runners! I ran to the Eiffel Tower which was incredible and then precieded to run around while watching all hte other people surround the structure. I even managed to see the pompier (fireman) on their morning runs, the second time in a row as they were also in the Luxembourg Gardens. These pompier, however took it to the next level. First they were running with me around the park that surrounds the Tower, but before I knew it they were running up the stairs of the Eiffel Tower.
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