The Run 5

2012: New races, new challenges, new opportunities. I mentioned in December that I was excitedly planning my 2012 running calendar. The first race on my list was The Run 5 to Keep Kids Alive. My friend, Anna, was adamant that we run this race because all of the proceeds go to benefit the Wolfson Children's Hospital. This hospital is a top-notch facility in Jacksonville that treats all kids- regardless of a family's ability to pay. Because of this, it relies heavily on donations to sustain itself. Anna works for Babies Can't Wait and is a HUGE advocate for children with special needs, so running this race was a must.

Anna, Krystial, and I met up with Tiffany and her friend Kailee to run this race. This was my first 5-miler, so no matter what I knew I was going to PR. The course was spread out along the banks of the St. John's River and it was beautiful. It was also very tough with lots of ups and downs- two bridges, an overpass, and a ramp. Even though it was a difficult run, I ran pretty well. I finished with a chip time of 42:49 and placed 4th in my age group (out of 85 runners). The other girls also ran really well, and we earned our delicious Italian lunch. This was a great start to the running year. I am excited about all of the events that I have planned for this year. I apologize in advance for the number of upcoming running posts. There will probably be a lot of them. ***And as a sidenote: If anyone wants to join in on the running fun, let me know. It's lots of fun***

Day 7: Montmartre

On our last full day in Paris, we slept late and then took the metro to Montmartre to see the Basilica of the Sacre Couer. Brian had come here earlier in the week with his mom, but he liked it enough to come back with us. I had taken several doses of medicine and was feeling much better. We went inside the Sacre Couer, and it was just beautiful. Outside, there were lots of street preformers, so we spent some time watching them. There was one guy in particular who did amazing things with a soccer ball. After wondering around the basilica area, we headed "down the hill' through the streets of Montmartre. We stopped and got some souvenirs and headed back to the hotel.

There was one thing that I still wanted to do before I left Paris- and that was visit the Centre Georges Pompidou (museum of modern art). The kids were tired, so Brian watched them at the hotel while I went to the Pompidou Center. I enjoyed wandering around the museum without having to worry about what the kids were getting into. There were lots of interesting works here by artists such as Picasso, Kandinsky, Dalí, Matisse, and Pollock.

Since our last night in Paris was also New Year's Eve, we enjoyed a nice meal at the Pizzeria across the road from the hotel with Brian's cousin Brandon and his family. Later, Brian left with some of his cousins to go ring in the New Year at the Eiffel Tower. I was tired, though, so I stayed at the hotel with the kids.

This will be my last Paris post, so I want to take a moment to make some general reflections. First of all, I want to say that the city of Paris deserves every good word that is ever said about it. A lot of my trip report has noted where we went and what we did, but our experience was more than that. There is a different type of "mood" about Paris, and I enjoyed that so much. There are just so many little things- like the way that people dress or how people rent bikes to get around- that all add up to make Paris an interesting place. I was also so delighted to get to spend time with Brian's family. There were some in the group that I had not had the opportunity to spend much time with before, and I was so happy to get to know them. I sincerely hope that we are able to see more of Brian's family in the future.

Day 6: Disneyland Paris

On day six of our vacation to Paris, we took a short train ride to Disneyland Paris. I had started feeling sick the day before, but I felt a little better on this morning. Since I didn't want to miss the Disney day (and since I had already shelled out the money for our tickets) I decided to go ahead and go to Disneyland with everyone else. Disneyland Paris was nice- but in my opinion, it cannot touch Walt Disney World. Not even close. Still, the kids were thrilled to be at Disney. We rode some of our favorite rides like Pirates of the Caribbean, Small World, and the Haunted Mansion. Although theses rides were similar to the rides in Orlando, there were some differences, and it was neat to pick up on those. We also rode Thunder Mountain. Owen was tall enough to ride the coaster this time. He was so excited not to have to sit out, and he loved the ride. We also went on some rides that we do not have in Orlando. I didn't see as many characters as I would have liked, but we did see Mickey. It's not a trip to Disney without a picture with Mickey. The whole park was beautiful and was decorated for the Christmas season. It was a pleasant trip, and I probably would have liked it better if I hadn't lost my voice and started feeling like complete crap halfway through the day. We left the park arond 3pm and made our way back to Paris, where I (no surprise) climbed right back into bed because my fever had come back. Brian was so sweet and went to the pharmacy for me. He told the pharacist what was wrong, and she went and got some kind of medicine from the back. Through research I have learned that the active ingredient in the stuff that she gave me is a mild opiate that is commonly used in our country to help heroin addicts overcome their addiction. Apparently, it also makes a pretty good cough suppressant. Anyway, you can't get this stuff over the counter in the U.S.- cause I've looked. I will say that this medicine was the bomb, and it made me so much better- fast.

Day 5: Versailles

When I was in high school I saw a picture of the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, and I have wanted to go there ever since. So, on our fifth day in France, we took a train to the outskirts of Paris to visit this palace. You may notice from the pictures that Brian and his mom did not go with us- they stayed behind in Paris and ended up going to Montmartre instead. For the rest of us, though, the trip to Versailles was quite memorable. The palace was stunning. I could not get over how elaborate the decor was. One thing is for sure- if I were a starving French person during the time of the revolution and I saw the nobles living it up in that palace- I would revolt, too. It was over-the-top! There was a designated tour path at the palace. We followed it and were able to see the King's and Queen's chambers, the Hall of Battles, the little Chapel, and (drumroll) The Hall of Mirrors. That was my favorite room. And, yes, I took a picture of my reflection in the mirror in the hall of mirrors. Apparently the grounds at Versailles are also awesome to see, but we didn't walk around in those because it was so... cold outside. It had been quite cold all week, and I actually got sick while we were in Paris. Our day trip to Versailles was the turning point for my health. I realized on the train ride back from Versailles that I was sick, and the kids and I had to forfeit our plans for the rest of the day. I went back to the hotel room and stayed in bed with a fever. This little bug turned into a pretty bad cold. Here it is a week later, and I still have a cough and runny nose- but, I feel so much better than I did.

Day 4: Muesums and Monuments

We began our fourth day in Paris at one of the largest museums in the world- the Louvre. I was overwhelmed by the size and by the crowds at this museum. The Louvre has three large wings- each with about four floors of stuff see. We were in the building for a little over three hours and were only able to see one floor of the Denon wing, and one floor of the Sully wing. We did see "the big 3" (Winged Victory, Venus de Milo, and Mona Lisa), though. We started with the European paintings and then moved through the Greek and Egyptian artifacts. Three hours was about all that I could take. It was so crowded- even for such a large building. Under the Louvre, there was a shopping area / food court. After our museum visit, we went to this underground area to eat at the McDonalds. It was so nice to have fries and a coke after fighting the crowds all morning. Don't get me wrong, I liked the Louvre- I just wasn't prepared for it being so large and busy.

After spending our morning at the Louvre, we hopped on the metro and headed to the Arc de Triomphe. It was cool to see this monument. We climbed all the way to the top where we had a great view of the Champs-Elysees. We spent the rest of the afternoon walking down this street and popping into different shops along the way. The Champs-Elysees was decorated with Christmas lights that started to come on as it got later into the evening. There were also lots of vendors along the road, and there were even carnival rides set up in one area. The kids wanted to ride another carousel, and we let them. It was a fun day.

Day 3: Along the Seine

Day three of our trip to Paris was the busiest, but it was also my favorite. We spent most of our time staying near the Seine river and doing things that were close to its banks. The morning began early at the Museé d'Orsay. Of all the museums that we visited in Paris, the Orsay was my favorite. This is the museum that houses the impressionist and post-impressionist art. I saw numerous works by masters such as Renior, Monet, Van Gogh, and Degas. This was the only museum where photography was strictly prohibited- but as you can see from the photo of Whistler's Mother posted here, this rule was not followed by all members of our party (Brian). The kids did pretty well in the museum- especially considering that they had very little interest in the art. I was happy to be able to see everything that I wanted by noon. After a quick visit to the gift shop, we left the Orsay and walked to our next destination- the Rodin museum.

The Rodin museum consisted of a small indoor musuem and a fairly large garden area with sculputres all around in it. One of the first sculptures that we came upon was "The Thinker". Other favorites included "The Kiss" and "The Gates of Hell". We had lunch at the small café in the gardens of the Rodin museum. Being outside was a nice change of pace for the kids- even though it was a little too chilly for my taste. From the gardens of the Rodin museum, we could see the gold dome of the buliding that housed Napoleon's tomb. This building was across the street from the museum and was our next destination.

One thing is for sure- no expense was spared in building a tomb for Napoleon. From the painted ceiling to the marble floor- everything was expensive and larger-than-life. After looking around the building for a while, we started walking back toward the river. We crossed the beautiful Pont Alexandre III (Bridge) and booked passage on a boat cruising the Seine river. We cruised on board this sightseeing boat from the Eiffel Tower area to Notre Dame. It took a little while to complete this journey, so we had plenty of time to "recharge". I loved being on the river and enjoyed all of the sights along the way. We got off of the boat at the Notre Dame Cathedral and decided to visit this famous church. Even though they were holding mass inside the church during our visit, they still let people inside. We were able to walk around the perimeter of the Cathedral and observe the service. There was a man singing in the cathedral while we were inside, and I swear he had the voice of an angel. It was so moving.

The day ended with a metro ride back to the hotel. While we were riding, we were being entertained by a couple of guys playing instruments. This was not uncommon. We saw entertainers (usually musicians) in the subways daily. Once, there was even a small orchestra set up at one of the stations. All of these muscians and artists added something to our experience of everyday life in Paris. This, truly, is a magical place.