The Innocents Abroad, 21st Century Version

The Innocents Abroad aka The New Pilgrims Progress by Mark Twain was published in 1867, after Twain accompanied a group of Americans to Europe and “the Holy Land.” Coincidentally, this itinerary was quite similar to our 9 month plan, starting in September 2023. I highly recommend reading the chapters on Paris; I was laughing out loud (this book is available as public domain so can be downloaded gratis).

Year one included Paris, Chamonix, India, Israel and San Sebastian and all posts are available.

Now my husband Andy and I are in year two. We are in Mexico City November and December, 2024 and will spend the winter in Saint Martin de Belleville, part of the Trois Vallees in the French Alps.

It continues to be quite a ride!

Faire de l’Exercice à la Française

Published by

Joan Taback Frankle

on

September 28, 2023

Today I will share how Andy and I are trying to keep in shape among so many Paris temptations. We automatically get points for not smoking. This city is still filled with smokers and so many smokers are young adults. Fortunately for us non-smokers, no-smoking inside restaurants. Outdoor cafes tables include ashtrays for the many patrons who continue this unhealthy habit.

Since Andy’s work hours start up around 3:00, we have done a ton of walking together early in the day. These excursions include stopping at cafes for cafe crème, wandering through the parks and window shopping (one of my favorite sports). And while I haven’t mentioned any museum excursions yet, I would like to report that we strolled over to the Rive Droite this morning, to the Hermès flagship at 24, rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, to select a gift for the wife Andy’s business partner in India (where Andy will travel on Sunday). We were successful with the help of Natasha, who patiently allowed us to sample many different fragrances. At the last minute. We realized most bottles would not be permitted in Andy’s carry-on bag but we quickly found a solution. We chose among our faves and put together a set of four travel-size scents, only available at Hermès stores (excellent shopping and/or gift recommendation). For me, this field trip was like visiting a museum (I am saving my legitimate museum experiences for my soon-to-visit friends and yes, I promise that we will include shopping on our itinerary).

Natasha was very patient with us
The Perfect French Gift (if one is not checking bags at the airport).

Here we are wandering through the Luxembourg Gardens and look who we spotted among the statues

My two running excursions have included these beautiful gardens. and My goal is to get to the Seine and do a few laps around both banks, over a few different bridges (there are 37 of them) in the coming weeks.

I ran to yoga one day and enjoyed a class with Katherine at RASA Yoga in the Latin Quarter (thank you Tracy) and today, I ran three laps inside the perimeter of the Luxembourg Gardens.

BEFORE
AFTER

After four miles, I wandered in my workout clothes, still a faux pas in Paris, but it was the perfect cool-down for me! At the entrance to the Gardens is a world-famous Angelina, known for its pâtisserie Mont-Blanc. No, I did not treat myself (but I look forward to bringing guests to this way-too-convenient salon de thé).

Since Andy is more of a gym-guy, with a new hip that needs to be exercised, we looked into joining a very convenient gym and have sampled a few classes. Le Studio Allsteps has individual and small-group ITC (Interval Training Connected aka cross-training) and pilates but one cannot just go to do a workout à la America. So we have taken a few ITC classes with Charly, a French Cup judo champion. I also tried a pilates mat class with Rose, a former French Olympic gymnast. Both fun and challenging. Since the gym is a stone’s throw from our apartment, there is a lot of incentive to work out!

À bientôt❣️

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