Paris part duex

I decided to observe the Parisians as we were walking around. I have discovered that their daily lives entail a great deal of exercise. Of course there is plenty of walking, which tends to be the case in many cities. In addition, they have a bicycle rental program that is widely used by everyone; Parisians, tourists and tipsy people post bar hoping. I also saw some swing dance classes being held along la seine (river). The coolest form of exercise I observed was the Friday night rollerblading. I was told that they meet every Friday and Sunday. I was able to look up more information on their website, www.pari-roller.com. I looked at the course and it ended up going right by where we were staying, which was quite convenient. I believe the course is typically about 18km and gets fairly aggressive toward the end. It is suggested that you have some rollerblading experience. I didn’t realize that rollerblading was so big in Paris. Apparently, it just never went out of style like in the states. I remember my rollerblades and how much fun I used to have in them. It was a great form of exercise but didn’t seem like you were working so hard. This is probably why it has done so well in Paris. Maybe they will make a come-back in the states.

I would like to touch on the rumor that Parisians are so healthy yet they eat heavy food and smoke. Well, from my experience there are a couple differences. They are not obsessed with fast food like Americans. However, there were McDonalds, which was disappointing but they were typically full of tourists. It seemed that the meals were very different than I had expected. I was expecting what I had heard…heavy creamy food. What I found was small breakfast, which consisted mostly of bread, juice, tea or coffee. Lunch was a salad, cured meat and/or cheese and a baguette. Dinner almost always included mixed greens and was an appropriate proportion. Of course there is always wine with dinner but our wine glasses in the U.S. are HUGE! We can typically finish a bottle of wine with 4.5 glasses in Paris it took us 8 glasses. It seemed most Parisians ordered a half carafe with dinner. In the end, I think they do a better job of the cliché, everything in moderation. They also take their time eating and really enjoy their food and company. Dare I say it…maybe we could learn something from the French.