Tri en France: The daily run

On the first day I got here I told my host grandma I was a triathlete. I mean, how many things can you really tell people when you only speak their language pretty simply. Well, actually, yesterday I was talking to her about how scared I was of open water swimming and how much it freaked me out the first time and how much I hated Lake Michigan.... but that's beside the point.

ALORS, she immediately said "Oh yeah, all the French people run along the water here. You run out of here, take the second left, descend and then run right forever." (Except, you know, en Français.) However, the next day I was whisked off to Vannes (two hours away from Nantes) for orientation, where I ran twice. Then I came back and to my malheureusement the sun doesn't rise until 7:45 and I had school/orientation/French class everyday from 9-6 so that wasn't really working but FINALLY FINALLY yesterday I had some time between the end of school and dinner to courir. I was exhausted because I had just spent 2 hours talking a "historical tour of Nantes" by foot and I'm sorry but walking/standing is just so much more painful than running or, well, a different pain. It's bad pain. Still, I knew how bad I wanted to go, so I mustered up my last ounce of energy and went.

Oh. My.
I pushed myself to just exceed an hour yesterday and then went back again to take pictures this morning. You will now get the electronic tour of my run.

#1: This is the start of my run, right by a boat house for crew teams. The flash made it look brighter, but this was actually right around sunrise.

#2: This is the entrance to the trail that runs along the river.

#3: The start of the boardwalk aka the BEST part of the run.

#4a: The boardwalk. Don't be fooled. That thing on the right is a moss-covered platform and NOT the shore. You literally cannot see the shore, only the trees and folliage that lead up to it. It's breathtaking.

#4b: There are little gates in the boardwalk. I think they're to prevent cyclists from using it, but they're super cool and work on their handling skills by zig-zagging through them. Then there is a little hill which I find absolutely hilarious because I don't understand why it's there.

#5: The view of the land to the right of the boardwalk. You know, HUGE French houses. Whatever.

#6: A little entry for boats. Yesterday I saw two huge white swans, you know, just chilling.

#7: A covered entrance as you get back on the trail.

#8: The view across the river from the trail. More BIG French houses.

#9: There are lots of patches of wildflowers when the trail is a little more paved and park like. I love them. They often then run into little footbridges. Je les adore!

#10: This is the BIG SCARY IMPOSING hill that leads up to my house. Nothing worse then ending a run with a big scary hill. I'm proud to say I ran up it yesterday! Yeah that's right, knee drive. lol It was rough and I'm pretty sure my heart rate was like 192 once I finally hit the top. This may not look so big, but don't be fooled, this is literally one of the hardest, steepest climbs I've ever experienced on foot and it's deceptively long. I chickened out this morning though. Whoops. But tomorrow afternoon... it's happening!

I also found out (word to the wise), in France I have to have Civil Responsibility Insurance (l'assurance de responsibilité civile) to ride a bike. If I get in an accident, someone can ask for my insurance soooooo that's a little red tape I wasn't expecting. I went to the insurance company today but the line was too long and they closed in 45 minutes. Of course, since France is old and European, they aren't open again until Monday... so guess that's what I'll be doing next Monday at 10 a.m.

I hope you enjoyed your tour of my run that has literally left me speechless. If I get out a little further I hit a park with a garden, but I would've had to run for about 30 minutes out to find that and my legs were beaten up this morning. I hope I can get some pictures soon though and also... BIKE RIDES? THROUGH FRANCE?
I hope.
I also hope you enjoyed your subliminal French lesson. Did you even notice it happening?