Yesterday afternoon I finally, FINALLY, made it out for a long run (20km!). Not the 28 I was technically supposed to be doing if I was on track for the marathon, but a whole lot better than I've done so far. Luckily the Champ de Mars was full of activity to keep me distracted. There were tons of young families out with children on bikes, scooters, skateboards, playing catch and soccer and rugby. So many dogs of all varieties getting tangled on leashes and making friends and chasing sticks. I ran for an awkwardly long time alongside a Segway tour group moving at the exact same pace as me. A tourist horde overtook the sidewalks in bright red matching nylon windbreakers with the number 12 emblazoned on the back. A high school band played Don't Stop Believing and Can You Feel The Love Tonight in the central pavilion. A girl jogged by in the opposite direction in full running attire but carrying a pink clutch. Greying Italien men played a game like horseshoes but with flat metal discs and two policemen tried their hand at it. Older Frenchmen in sweaters played pétanque across the pathway and I very nearly tripped over the cochonnet. Teenagers and couples picnicked and sprawled on the grass and consumed towering ice cream cones. Lots of excellent people watching to pass the time as I did lap after lap.

The rest of this week has been busy with lots of schoolwork, eating an early dinner on Île de la Cité on the banks of the Seine, a Vivaldi concert in the magnificent Ste Chapelle, a delicious Friday evening picnic followed by wine and dancing at Chez Georges and the requisite crêpes on the way home, studying and trying not to nap in the hushed Bibliothèque historique de la ville de Paris with leather desks and gilded ceiling beams, a delicious pizza lunch on a grey afternoon and Sunday morning gaming and French fashion discourse with the manfriend. 

I hardly took any photos at all this week, which is a terrible thing since all of Paris is getting greener every day but here are a couple from the other day along the Seine.

(not my shoe floating down the river...)