Outing in Paris by MOTORCYCLE!!!

WOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

I had my first ride on a motorcycle today and it was incredible!!  I was really quite petrified at first, but it was awesome and I'm alive and had no run-ins with anyone or anything.  Props to Jeanot.  =)

Imagine: me sitting on a motorcycle with a white helmet.  =)  Hopefully I'll be able to get pictures to load soon.

 HOOOORRRRAAAAYY!!  I feel like a tech pro!  I figured out my camera!  =)  Here's the picture, as promised:

 

Plus a bonus picture of one of the pieces of art in the Modern Art Museum (this was one that made me laugh because I think it's pretty ridiculous to frame this and call it art, but it was still pretty cool).  The title is Dishrags and Napkins:

 

 

Today, Tuesday, June 5th started off with a decadent bit of sleeping in.  Once up, I started the day with a run (whopping 4 x 8 minutes) and have been really excited about the way my ankle has been feeling the last couple of days.  Then I found a different park for TRX (I feel a little dubious about the woods now) but this park was perfect in an island between small neighborhood streets.  After getting ready and eating breakfast at 12 pm (the downside to sleeping in) we headed into Paris.

Jeanot proposed taking the motorcycle as driving in Paris is 'la galère!!' (roughly translates to 'pain in the ass').  He was specifically referring to trying to park a car in Paris.  I totally agreed and was intrigued about the idea of riding on a motorcycle, while simultaneously feeling a wee bit terrified.  Should I voice my fears??  I decided that he knows what he's doing when it comes to driving motorcycles in Paris as he's done it for years, and he's been super protective about me since the day I arrived, so I figured he'd be conservative.

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwww!!   I'm sure he was super conservative, but considering that even going 50 km/hour (which we reached in the neighborhood)  felt exhilarating for me, the rest of the ride was indescribable. Tons of fun and overall relatively worry-free as I had no control anyways.  

At first I worried about leaning into the turn (as I've heard you're supposed to do), but it did come completely naturally.  I was a little apprehensive every time we went through crossroads that some driver would run us over, but this was where I just had to let it go and trust the driver.  A good trust exercise indeed.

We found a parking spot ridiculously easily by the Trocadero and took more classic pictures of the Tour Eiffel (I do believe I have pictures of the Tour Eiffel from every trip I've taken to France.  Does this incredible monument change every few years??  Nope.  Yet I still feel the need to capture it on my camera whenever I'm here). After the photo shoot, we strolled to the Musé d'Art Moderne and spent a good bit of time admiring, commenting, and ridiculing the art.  How some things become art is beyond me.

On the way home, we took the Champs Elysées (definitely a unique experience by motorcycle).  This of course spit us into the Place de L'Etoile and all the insanity that runs rampant in the traffic circle around the Arche de Triomphe.  Holy Shlamola.  I've been in a car there before, several times actually, as my dad thinks it's incredibly good fun to drive in circles around the Arche, but this was my first time feeling so exposed.  Oh my goodness, I thought we would die or get run into about 15 times in the 2 minutes or less that we spent there.  But there were no problems.  He is indeed, an experienced Parisian driver.  On the way back, we passed through the Bois de Boulogne which rightfully has the reputation for being able to easily find hookers, and in simply driving through for about 10 minutes, I counted 4.  Kind of a bizarre experience. 

The last exciting moment of the day to share: I got my debit card for my French bank account.  We barely (unknowingly) made it as today was their first day closing at 6 pm instead of 6:45 pm.  So glad they post these things on their website.  I had no idea until I saw the sign on their door.  I got there at 6:02 pm but the lady was super nice and got me my card so I am good to go!  Onward to further adventures!