Chasing the rain, or it's chasing us? In Paris it's all about the sky. The beautiful architecture constantly pull your eyes upward. And the sky even on days like today rarely disappoint. It's dramatic. Clouds of every shape and color are continually rolling by. Ok so I waxed poetic long enough...forgive me, it's Paris I can't help it. Weather sucks, not so poetic? I am a fan of the hourly forecast(means water will fall from sky). Today it was deemed to fall around 2pm. My goal was to get us out early. Skip school until later when we'd be stuck. We headed out to the Pompidou center but on the way I realized it was Weds. On weds there is no school here so museums(especially ones with kids stuff) are generally packed. I decided to push that to another day. The sun was poking out temping us to the Arch du Triumph which we could spy at the end of the Champs Élysées. So up it we headed. It a long street which is nothing more than the Stanford Mall spread out. That's it. I was unimpressed last time I was here and was not impressed this time. But I hate shopping(may have something to do with the company I keep ages 3-10?). Anyhow other than the too expensive shops and hordes of tourists and teenagers its beautiful. And the arch is something that must be beheld in person. It is a useless structure, serves no purpose but is about the most bold, deep rooted structure I've seem. It's not that big but it dominates everything around it. But the real amazing thing that must be seen is the traffic around it. Driving here is unreal. As a pedestrian you absolutely do not the the right of way. They drive amazingly fast. Every car on the road would get a ticket for reckless driving at home. The only honking I hear is for when people go too slow. Now you make a 8 lane(no actual lanes) circle around a huge ah inspiring arch, give 5 large streets 2-3 lanes of traffic coming into and going out of it, have NO traffic lights in or out, and have everyone drive like its the Indy 500 you've got a good picture of what it's like. The truly amazing thing is there are no break lights. The solution, as far as I can tell to avoid collision is to accelerate. And though we sat there for 10 minutes amazed watching this seemingly choreographed dance of cars there were no accidents. We walked back home just in time to catch the first drops of rain.

Kids did great I believe we walked 5 miles...I brought candy bribes to stave off whining. We got home and a few minutes later Todd showed up...having been on a run. Funny I thought when we left that morning he was going to work(he normally works weds). Apparently my husband thought keeping his non scheduled day quiet would serve him well. So while I pushed and pulled the kids around Paris he enjoyed our quiet clean apt, ate in peace, and went for a run. When I got back and "noted this" his defense was I didn't ask when I left what he was doing. Not that I blame him it's totally something I'd do.

I got to run again and discovered more of the city and all I can say is it's the most amazing way to see this city. Forget the tour busses and boats, grab your sneakers. :)