Waiting &Walking

I keep waiting for it to feel like I'm in Paris. Maybe it is because this is part work and part vacation. The first thing that had to be done on arrival was to get the athlete credentials for my sister. Which meant we walked to wait for her to get the name badge and gift bag.  The next day we waited for some team mates to show up for the opening ceremonies. Once they came it was standing in line for another hour, in the sun, with 200 close packed strangers.  We almost lost the fancy metal water bottles, but managed to get them through the final security check.  Unfortunately the water had to be dumped, the stadium had no water fountains we could use to refill, the bathrooms only had hot water and were a little gross, the concession stands opened late and wouldn't accept money or cards.  Then it was another wait to see her walk into the stadium. It was worth it   The team had matching black jackets, but that didn't make them stand out - the gold fan that my sister brought as her secondary weapon did.

The team is practicing in a small Roman coliseum until the competition facility opens. Yes, it its pretty cool. (Also, if you do come to Paris make sure you are here on a Sunday - the church bells are going off all over the place!). I left them to practice and wandered vaguely in the direction of the Rodin museum. On the way I ran into the Luxembourg Gardens (nice), got my first real glimpse of the Eiffel Tower, and had a fruit tart from a farmers market. I just have to say that The Thinker may be his most known work with the Kiss close behind, but if you haven't seen the Burghers of Calais you are truly missing out.

I had planned on walking back to the apartment straight after the museum, but I had bought a six day pass and decided to see if there was anything else in the neighborhood.  It's Paris! of course there was something, unless you consider Napoleon's tomb to be nothing. Then it was just a simple walk along the river back to the apartment.

Sorry, but I still can't get the photos from my phone to the blog. Thanks a lot Google!