Getting to Paris and Day 1

We arrived Paris!!! I can’t believe this is happening, so close to my race and with the family this time to have a blast.

Our journey to Paris was smooth, especially because Qatar is such a child friendly airline. They got special kit for kids, got meals served before other passengers, and got a box of dates when we unboarded. Girls had so much fun playing games and watching movies, what a treat for them.

I finished two books, Elites Mind, and Meb for Mortals, both very timely for my race preparation

We didn’t crush until about 2 hrs before landing Paris. I took 2 naps of 30 min and really feeling sleepy by the time we landed

we took a taxi, driver was a bit grumpy, and got to our airbnb near Arc of Triumph by 11pm or so. Super tired, we got right into our beds.

We all woke up 6:30am, and it was still dark. I was planning to run before we start the day but it was raining so we went out to get breakfast first.

Still raining by 9:30am, so we decided to go out first and find another time to run later. We bought day passes to take metro. Girls loved exploring double deck train.

We went to Lafayette to hide the rain. So many people!!!

we wandered around the shopping mall until 11:30 or so, I got a bit sleepy, so we decided to go back for a nap. We had crepes for lunch, Sofia had the sweet crepe and I had vegetarian crepe.

Lizzy didn’t want crepes and had club sandwich instead.

we rode bus back (I am saving my legs). I took a power nap, 15 min, and went out for a run. It was not easy to run in the middle of the day, so much traffic, pedestrians, etc. But I felt better having ran than otherwise, and felt awake after the run, ready for my 2pm meeting (the only work meeting I’ll take during this trip). By the time I finished, 3pm, the sun came out, perfect for us to go to the expo. The street looks so much prettier with the sun and blue sky.

The expo was not as grand as other major marathons, but still interesting to explore for the girls. They had a station to make posters, and I asked them to make one for me.

and then we found a bigger poster station with a pic of my head. hhahaha… that was so much fun

We spent almost 2 hrs in the expo, exploring, sampling drinks and energy bars, and trying new shoes. Sofia found the concept of expo super interesting as it was her first experience.

We got back to our place 6pm, undecided what for dinner. First we thought about getting something from the market to eat at home, then I didn’t feel like cooking as jet lag was catching up. So we went to a chinese place, had friend rice, dumplings, and vegetable soup. Nothing spectacular, but fit the need. We all went to bed before 9pm. Satisfied with our first full day in Paris.