Visiting Vichy, France/Running in France
Once again I find myself making a trip to Europe and including France for a few days. Most of my time in France was in the countryside, making my base in Vichy, a small town of 200,000 that is known for its thermal waters.
Vichy is a nice little city that is surrounded by a beautiful countryside that is full of great roads to drive (I wish I had my Lola with me!), smaller villages, dormant volcanoes and lots of castles. This was August, a month in which the French like to take their vacations, so the area was full of vacationing French eager to enjoy some of Vichy’s many spas or the surrounding area.
Being in Vichy took a little getting used to for a city boy like me: most restaurants have limited hours so you better keep an eye on your watch. Unlike Paris, it is much harder to find people that speak a language other than the native tongue so I really had to work on my French. Sometimes I would get lucky when I mentioned my French was limited and offered English and Spanish as alternatives and I would get someone that knew both of these languages: we would communicate using a combination of French, English and Spanish.
Aside from the thermal spas, there really is not much else to do in Vichy besides enjoying the countryside and relaxing. But, it is very quaint and I could see how it could be a great place for a family. My last night in Vichy I joined the locals for a movie on the beach. I had heard of such presentations in small Italian villages and I had always wanted to join in. This was close except that it was on a “beach” instead of an Italian plaza. During the movie, I would glance up at the night sky every few minutes: it’s been a long time since I have seen so many stars and so clearly.
Money
Despite warning my bank that I would be traveling and not to put a stop on my debit cards for use outside of the USA (which I use to get Euros at ATM machines) my bank froze my debit cards! I was worried I would run out of cash and decided to convert some cash for Euros. With the introduction of the Euro, finding places to exchange cash is very challenging in a small city like Vichy. Furthermore, I found out that banking is a more sophisticated than in the USA (they all looked at my debit/credit cards as if they belonged in a museum and wondered if they would work): when I walked into a bank to exchange cash I was repeatedly told the staff did not touch cash – everything is done electronically. If you need cash, you have to use the ATM or make special arrangements. One bank did steer me to the post office and a bank that did exchange cash. Unfortunately, they both shared a common rule: exchanges were only done in the morning and it was now 3PM. Fortunately, I was able to get by with the cash on hand and my ancient credit card.
Travel
I have not been having much luck with trains: on my last trip I took the Eurostar (“chunnel”) from London to Paris. That trip is supposed to take about three hours but mine ended up taking almost seven hours due to problems with the engine. On my trip from Vichy to Paris, our train was two cars short. If you thought having to ride part of the way standing up was bad enough, imagine being in an over booked train without air conditioning in August!! About an hour into our trip we made a scheduled stop in Nevers where we picked up two additional cars, had the air conditioning repaired and were given bottles of water. Oh, since we were almost an hour late arriving in Paris, we were met by officials with the train company who were handing out forms for us to get compensated for our discomfort and delays. I had just received my refund from Eurostar for the London-Paris trip and I had yet to figure out how to cash the check and now I had another one to deal with!
Running
For this trip I decided to bring my running gear to keep my running up. Well, my interest was not so much in keeping in shape but experiencing something new and enjoying Vichy’s clean country air.
Vichy
About 300 yards from my hotel was a nice little park that ran alongside the Allier River. I was enjoying my run but I noticed people were not sure how to deal with me or what to think: I would get lots of stares and some people seemed to have a difficult time deciding on what to do when I came up on them: stay put or move to the side? Which side? I thought about this as I ran: I did see one jogger as I started my run so I should not be something foreign to them. I mentioned this to my friend and she thought it might have something to do with the time of the day (maybe people are not used to seeing runners working out in the evening). Or, maybe it was my pace, she suggested, that was strange to them. Hmmm … I am starting to wonder if they were not used to seeing someone as sweaty as I was. I have to admit, despite the stares, I really enjoyed my run: new scenery with lots of things to hold my interest plus a nice cool temperature (compared to Houston’s summers). I did not want to start doing loops so I limited my run to 5kms.
Paris
I had debated whether to stay in Vichy until the date I was scheduled to return to Houston. But, that would mean having to get up early to catch a 6AM train to Paris (9AM arrival) and then switching to an Air France bus from Gare de Lyon to Charles de Gaulle airport to check in by 11AM. With the luck I have been having with trains, I was a little nervous about trying this. And then I got this idea that it would be cool to run from the Arc de Triomphe to the Louvre and back. I had walked this distance many times but I was not sure about the distance or if I had it in me. But, I had my GPS watch to help me decide during my run if the distance was more than I wanted to go. Having decided on the run, I was back at my home away from home (Regence Hotel in Paris – where I have been getting great treatment thanks to my repeated stays).
The weather in Europe had been perfect if a little warm during my trip. The day of my run, I look outside to see grey skies. I walked to the Champs-Elysées and started my run just a few hundred feet from the Arc de Triomphe … just as the rain starts. Rain does not bother me – I am used to running in the rain. During the month of July in Houston this year, it seemed a great deal of my runs were in the rain. What did have me a little concerned was running on slick surfaces especially when crossing some of the streets like at Place de la Concorde. I decided to take it easy and enjoy the sights as I ran.
As I ran along the Champs-Elysées. I could not help but think about all the history that this stretch has been witness to. And I was not just thinking of world figures and events like Alberto Santos-Dumont and his flying machines, the American soldiers victorious march at the end of WW II and the Tour de France. I was also thinking of my personal history: I thought about past love interests with whom I had walked down this street and I also thought about being here with my family earlier in the year. I thought about how this city that is so far from my current home is so familiar and comfortable despite the different language and culture. Paris, especially this area, is more familiar to me than my own city of birth!
I have to take care of my old knees but I knew that I would be running a good part of the run on dirt. I just did not expect to have more than half of my run on the softer surface – this was especially nice since I was also worried about running on the slick, hard surface.
I started my run around 7:30AM so most of the people I saw were rushing to work, cleaning the sidewalks or preparing the cafes. But all were very polite and reacted as hoped when they saw me coming. If anything, I have to say they were very respectful (even the cars), always giving me the way. I also spotted a few joggers out there so I guess seeing a runner is nothing new to them. Once I entered Tuilerie Gardens, I saw a lot more runners and almost all gave a friendly wave.
Running in Tuilerie Gardens on my way to the Louvre was really a treat. At this time of the day, it is just waking up: the cleaning crews are out making the place pretty, the joggers are out and the ducks are just waking up. You also have a great view of the Louvre and the Arc de Triomphe. Crossing the street between the gardens and the Louvre, I was reminded of the video Rendezvous – the scene where the Ferrari races thru those arches at high speed. I looked twice before crossing the street. I circled the glass pyramid and started my return to the Arc de Triomphe. I looked at my GPS running watch: distance covered 2.11 miles (3.39 Kms), pace 7.33 minutes/mile. The distance would be no problem.
My pace was faster than I had intended but it felt so easy. I think it had a lot to do with being distracted by the scenery, the history and the cooler air. The rain was not an issue – it had either stopped or almost non-existent. My run continued to feel easy up to mile 3.25. At this point, I felt like I was doing a little more work. And I was: I never noticed the slight elevation change heading toward the Arc de Triomphe – I was running uphill. It is not noticeable when walking but you do feel it when you are running and near the end of you workout.
I finished my run across the street from where I started but at the same point. Distance covered: 4.22 miles (6.79 Kms). Average pace: 7:30 minutes/mile. I was feeling great. I looked around and admired the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, Place de la Concorde.
Additional notes:
Once on the plane, I connected my running watch to my Mac to check out the stats and to see how the watch’s data compared with the real thing. Looking at the map generated, it was off in that it had me running on the Seine for a good part of my run. I have noticed that my GPS has become more accurate with repeated use back home. Maybe it did not have enough satellites for reference? Maybe with more runs on the Champs-Elyses it would be more accurate? (For data on the Vichy run click here. For data on the Paris run, click here.)
For reference on the Paris run: I started on the first block (south side of the Champs-Elysées) from the Arc de Triomphe using the second lamp-post (counting from the Louvre back). I tried to run evenly on both side of the street. In the end, I ran most of the time on the north side of the Champs-Elysées (the side with Lido on it) because it was easier to deal with traffic especially around Place de la Concorde. The north side of the street also offer more of the softer surface to run on.
