Random thoughts and happenings.

This post is going to be just random things that have happened…not in chronological order.

Crossfit is the first topic, so if the sound of things like WOD, Rx, or HSPUs makes your eyes glaze over I suggest you skip to the next section J

Before I moved here I looked on the crossfit website to see if there were any affiliates close to where I would be living. There are two fairly close- Reebok Crossfit Louvre and Crossfit Original Addicts. On Wednesday I had the entire day free so I decided to go check them out and see which one I wanted to join. Crossfit Original Addicts turned out to be really conveniently located. It’s only a 5-minute metro ride from the train station so I decided to go there first.

The box is really small (compared to the three or four that I’ve seen in Colorado) and was packed when I showed up. I met the owner and sat and watched a class and decided that this was the place I wanted to join. Everyone in there was friendly, not that I would have expected anything less from the crossfit community…but in my experience Parisians are not typically the most welcoming to Americans. All of the coaches speak English too, so that is an added bonus! I never ended up visiting the other gym.

Yesterday I went to my first class. Like I said before, the gym is small. You have to sign up and reserve a spot online because each class is capped at 12 people. People sign up like a week in advance to get the afternoon/evening spots (last class starts at 9pm) but the mornings only have a few people. That’s perfect for me though because since I have practice at night, morning is definitely what I want. Anywhoo…There was a last minute opening at the 12:15 class so I signed up. I got there (dressed in real clothes…yuck.) changed, and checked the board to see what the WOD was.

3 rounds for time of:

-200m run

-50 sit-ups

-200m run

-25 HSPUs

25:00 time cap

bluuuuuughhhhh I hate long workouts. I ended up hitting the time cap with 5 HSPUs left to go on my last set. I was kind of okay with that though because HSPUs are a weakness for me, so I was happy to get 70 done. Also because running sucks.

After I finished I realized I forgot my towel, which was problematic for 2 reasons:

1. I was soaked. I don’t mean like “wow tough workout, I’m glistening!” I mean like it looked like I jumped in a pool. No part of my shirt was dry. I had to wring it out before I put it in my backpack. Ugh. Needless to say, my fellow train passengers would have appreciated a shower.

2. Like I said before, people in Paris wear real clothes. Not workout clothes. I chose to wear jeans and a tank there. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to put jeans on when your legs are wet, but it’s pretty much impossible. I was forced to wear lulu shorts home.

** Non-crossfit related side story that happened on the way home**

On the Metro ride to the train station this guy walked from one end of the car and stood near where I was sitting. He stood like four feet away and just stared at my legs. Not in a “hey there, wink-wink, like your legs, I’m hitting on you” kind of way…it was more of a “I’m going to chop your legs off and put them in my freezer because I’m crazy sort of way”.  There was a door next to me so I figured he was just getting off at the next stop (which happened to also be my stop) so when the doors opened I waited for him to leave, but he didn’t. He just stared at my legs. So I got up and left the train…and he did too. Bluuuughhhh creeper status. I basically speed-walked through the train station to get to my train home. I took a seat where I could see all the other passengers walking by to get on the train. Crazy creeper man walks by, sees me through the window and just stops and stares at my legs again. I stared back and gave him my best “I will beat your ass if you stop and look at me one more time” face and he walked off. I moved to where I could see whether he got on the train. He didn’t, thank god. So yeah….no more Lulu’s in Paris for me. Pants. Lots and lots of pants.

Back to crossfit. Today I signed up for a morning class that only had 2 other spots reserved. I was hoping with a smaller class I’d be able to have a little more space and get more instruction. One of the people didn’t show so it was just me, a guy named Steven, and the instructor, Clement (the ‘t’ is silent). The WOD was:

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1

-Power Snatch

-Power Clean + jerk

-Deadlift

@30 kilos (#66)

I was happy because I love lifting things and #66 seemed kind of light. In my head I was thinking “Yes, short wod! Woo hoo”. No. That #66 pounds kicked my ass. I ended up finishing in 21:38, once again looking like I had just jumped in a pool.

That’s the end of crossfit talk J Now more random ramblings.

On Monday one of my teammates, Sarah (emphasis on the “ah”…like sar-aaahhhh) showed me around Paris. We went to the Opera House, walked by the Louvre and Royal Gardens, and then met up with her friends to drink wine. Personally, I hate wine. But they told me if I’m going to live here I have to learn to like it!

At that point in time I didn’t have a phone, so I told her which train I was planning on taking and she said she’d meet me at the station. Of course things didn’t go as planned. My train had mechanical issues and stopped at a random station where we sat for about half an hour. They then told us (in French) to get off the train and take the next one that was coming. I had no clue what was going on, so I just followed the crowd. I ended up arriving an hour late, and on a platform that was underground where I had never been before. So to sum it up, I was late, lost, phoneless, and on top of that I had to go to the bathroom. Those who know me well know that when I say I have to go to the bathroom, I mean like NOW. Not 20 minutes from now when it’s convenient. So I went rushing around the train station and found a bathroom. When I got there I realized that you had to pay to use them. Luckily, I randomly had change in my pocket so I didn’t have to wet my pants in the fashion capital of the world J

After that was crossed off my list I went in search of wifi so I could facebook message Sarah and see if she was still waiting. I saw a starbucks and stopped to see if they had wifi, which they didn’t. Right as I was walking out I saw Sarah! She had stopped at an information booth and we happened to bump in to each other! Gare de Lyon (the train station) is enormous. So the chances of that happening are pretty slim.

On a less lucky note…I decided to call my dad from a payphone the other day and found out how expensive international calls can be. When Kelly and I were over here a few years ago we called from payphones and it was like a couple of bucks. This time, when it asked me if I wanted to hear the charges I pressed no…I didn't want to wait any longer- I wanted to talk to my dad!! We chatted, I hung up, and the cost left my mind.

Fast-forward to two days ago when I decided to call my mom. This time I wasn’t really in a rush so I hit ‘yes’ that I did want to hear how much it cost before the call connected. “the first minute costs 35…” In my mind I was praying that the next word would be “cents”. Nope, it was Euros. The first minute cost 35 Euros!!!! And then each additional minute after that was 2 Euros. Awesome. I hung up.

My dad and I had talked for 10-15 minutes.  I still haven’t checked my credit card statement, but that phone call was in the $70-$80 range. Next time I’m calling collect.

Last Saturday night I went to a party at my teammate’s boyfriend’s house to celebrate her getting a new job. There were about 20 people total and they all spoke varying levels of English. One of the guys had a huge NY Yankees tattoo on the side of his neck. He confessed that he loves everything about NY. And here I was thinking that all French people hated America.

Okay, finally volleyball talk!

Practices have been going really well. We usually do serve receive/defense drills for about an hour, hit for some portion of it, and do cardio/circuits for the rest of the time.

We got two new players this week. One is a middle and the other is an outside. I think we’re still expecting one more player, which will put our roster at 11. We also got a new assistant coach who used to play for the club years ago. The girls told me that she used to be a stud pro player.

We have our first tournament next weekend, and then the regular season starts the weekend after that. That’s pretty much all the volleyball talk there is!

Because I don’t practice until late at night, I have a ton of free time to explore. If anyone has any suggestions of things to see/do in the area please let me know! I have an unlimited train pass for the areas close to Paris and unlimited use of the public transport within Paris…so yeah, suggestions please!!

Here are a bunch of pictures that I've taken since I've arrived...not in any order. 

The Siene River...runs through the middle of Melun

The ice cube tray for my freezer

 Guy on the left is the one with the Yankees tattoo on his neck. 

My train station!

The Opera House

The woman in the striped shorts is like 60. seriously. 

More paris street fashion. Pleather shorts and pants.

The ethnic food aisle at the grocery store

Melun

melun

This is the prison...it's right in the middle of town. 

My walk home from the grocery store

random picture from inside Gare de Lyon

Kelly and I had lunch here 2 years ago. 

Crossfit Original Addicts

Lover's Bridge

Well it looks like I won't be buying mascara anytime soon. $15-18 for one tube.