Bits and Bites

Having recently received a few emails from friends wondering if I am alive, I'm beginning to think I need to do a few blog posts of my "boring" daily life. I have to concede that not every blog entry will be a great story, and that some can simply provide a peek into my life in Paris.

Swimming IS a contact sport. It's true, at least in Paris. I've come to appreciate what a blessing it is to swim at the University of San Francisco Koret Center and typically splitting the whole lane with one other person. In Paris, I get to be up close and personal with 10-15 other people, thrashing, kicking, hitting and pretending to swim. I estimate that, on average, I hit or bump into more people in one "workout" in Paris than I have in the past 10 years of swimming in San Francisco. Having pondered on the expression "it's all about your attitude" I've decided that I will be much happier if I just accept that it's okay to run over people in the swimming pool. Sometimes when I feel badly about being so aggessive with people who don't wear goggles while swimming or who actually wear glasses (yes, it's true) I remember, that sometimes we can't change our situation, but we can change our attitude. Repeat after me: "swimming is a contact sport, swimming is a contact sport." Allez.

"My" boulangerie, which is the one on my street, is closed on weekends. Fortunately there is one just a couple blocks away that is open. Today, after swimmng I stopped by for a "tradition" and they were out. So, I just asked for a baguette instead. There are several types of breads - tradition, baguette, mult-grain, cereal, talmiere, etc., so you must know what you want. And the best part... it was still warm. 6:00 on Saturday and I'm handed a loaf, errr, baguette that is still warm - so warm in fact that I have to switch hands after half a minute as it cools down. The stereotype is that "madame" takes the bread home under one arm, whereas as "monsieur" takes a bite. I tend to be more discrete and simply rip off the end and start eating it immediately. This is what it looks like when I arrive home.

People ride bicycles everywhere and there is a new service called Velib, which was introduced last July. By May, the service has been used more than 20 million times and has around 200,000 subscribers. There are stations all over the City, more than 20,000 bikes which can be rented on a daily, weekly or annual basis. Daily is 1 euro, weekly is 5 euros and it's only 29 euros for a year. The first 30 minutes of each trip are free. Go shopping, and then get another bike to return home. Each 30-minutes is free. Each additoinal half-hour costs only one euro, so a trip of an hour and 25 minutes would only cost 2 euros more. And, it used by all sorts of people, even men in suits heading home after work. [Anthony - check out http://www.velib.paris.fr/]

Of course, the signage in Paris can be a bit confusing, so be alert while riding a bike.
Other "exciting" things this week: Wandered around with Antonio and checked out a few galleries - he's looking for somewhere to show - or more importantly - sell his artwork. Saw "Sex and the City" - the television version was more risque than the movie. And watched "Indiana Jones et le royaume du crâne de cristal." Definitely implausible, definitely sketchy in terms of facts and history and definitely a lot of fun.