Wednesday 10 March 2010

semi-marathon de Paris - success!



Wow, what an achievement - I have run and survived the semi-marathon de Paris (the Paris half- marathon to you non-French speakers!), and not only that, but in under 2 hours and still managed to walk up and down the steps of the Sacre Coeur the next day - neither of which I thought would be possible!
The organisers admitted it was possibly one of the coldest years this event has taken place and with 27,000 people registered it was bound to be a busy event.
From start to finish I was surrounded by others pounding the pavements of Paris, and this was
exactly what I had been dreading - bumping into each other, tripping over when trying to get past and just generally not being able to run in a straight line - and this without a drink! And to top it all off, at the end of the 21km, when the finish line was insight there was a bottleneck - we all had to stop 20 metres from the finish line and it took 15 minutes to get over it - lots of 'boo..ing' was to be heard. I even thought of forgoing my medal rather than waiting in the cold.
Obviously a celebratory lunch was had - in a great restaurant not far from the 2km marker - L'Apprenti. What I love about this place is that from the outside it looked nothing at all, but when you stepped inside, it enveloped you with warmth and comfort. The food was typically French with amazing sauces and flavours and the atmosphere absolutely perfect for a relaxing afternoon of eating!
Unfortunately as often happens after doing lots of exercise, my body didn't want too much food (at this point it was too busy trying to recover!), so I had to top it up again later with a plate of French cheese and salad at La Fontaine de Mars - another great French restaurant not far from the Tour Eiffel. Cheese and salad was not on their menu but as with all French restaurants, and very unlike English ones, they are happy to serve you what you want, and normally do it very well!

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