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afkc, american, château de vincennes, election, expat, france, Francois Hollande, French election, Girl, international, jogging, journalist, kenya, Marathon, paris, paris marathon, place de concorde, running, Socialist, sport, stanley biwott, tra, travel, travel writing
Today, Paris is exploding with events. With the first round of elections only a week away, Nicolas Sarkozy is holding his biggest campaign rally yet at the place de Concorde. On the same métro line, but on the other side of the city, Socialist presidential hopeful François Hollande is holding his own rally at the château de Vincennes. And, if that wasn’t enough… let’s add in the 36th annual PARIS MARATHON on the very same day.
It’s wild!
So, I did what I often do in cases such as these… I decided to run right into the thick of it. Literally.
I am an avid runner and running gives me a special view of the city. On my early morning runs during the week, I see a different side of Paris then in the daylight: workers cleaning up the trash left by tourists at the most-well known sites or prostitutes leaving chic hotels.
But on the weekends, I usually sleep in and run later. This has advantages (sleep is good, plus I, too, get to revel in Paris’ top sites in the sunshine) and disadvantages (I have to dodge the hordes of Japanese, Chinese and American tourists milling around the streets).
Still, whether running during the week or on the weekend, both keep me up to date with Paris’ doings. And like I said, Paris is doing a lot on today.
Funnily enough, still groggy, I had forgotten about all of the events scheduled for this spring Sunday, but I hadn’t been running for long when I heard cheers and saw French flags waving.
Two minutes later, I found myself running next to, but in the opposite direction of, the colorful stream of international marathoners. The atmosphere was fantastic. People lined the streets, shouting encouragements and waving flags. Pretending they were cheering for me, I continued on my course will a new burst of speed.
A few minutes later, I looked up, and who should I see ahead of me but an enormous Nicolas Sarkozy. He was frozen on an giant screen dominating one side of Paris’ central place de Concorde. I skirted the place and the masses of French conservatives I knew would be gathered there, but that didn’t stop me from seeing police barriers and waiting security getting ready for the event and the 80,000 people expected to show up.
I might be a long distance runner, but I didn’t make it all the way out to the château de Vincennes and Hollande’s huge rally on my Sunday run. Too bad, because the atmosphere was supposed to be really festive with a huge organized picnic and the Caribbean rhythms of zouk singer Jacob Desvarieux. I would have loved to run in beat.
Instead, while Paris buzzes, I returned home post-run to spend a chill day catching up. Cozy at home, I don’t feel left out because I most definitely got a taste of the excitement this morning.
I don’t profess that my run was anywhere near the standard of Kenyan Stanley Biwott, who finished this morning’s marathon in a little over two hours, or Ethiopian Tirfi Beyene, who set a record for the women. But hey, it was great all the same.