Totally Frenched Out

From the blogger formerly known as Samdebretagne

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Hallelujah, I have use of my computer again! This thing is my lifeline, I still don't know how I managed to forget the charger for it. But thank God for the blackberry - it gave me access to the internet, my emails, facebook, twitter, etc. Though I am now suffering from a mild case of Blackberry Thumb after a week of constant use. As a side note, anyone else find it funny that "blackberry thumb" has its own wikipedia page??

I wanted to post some pics taken during my trip, but for whatever reason, I can't find my camera cable. Nor can I find the library book I was supposed to return last week. Oops. I don't know what's up with me lately, I seem to be forgetting things à droite et à gauche. Maybe it's because I've been coming and going so much, who knows.

I took advantage of the nice weather today to finally go sign up for the gym. I was wanting to wait until I was done traveling into order to make it worthwhile financially, but then I remembered Karina 2 had given me a free month pass to a gym on St Germain. So I pulled out my old gym clothes and headed out the door. I made it about a block before I turned around and walked back - I felt absolutely ridiculous walking down the Boulevard Saint Michel in gym clothes and tennis shoes. Oh how things have changed from the days when I would wear my pyjamas out on a grocery run! Not that I'm any kind of fashionista, but the French have influenced me at least enough to keep me from wearing gym shoes in the streets.

So I went back and changed into my normal clothes and then off I went. Once I got there, I handed my pass to the woman at the front desk. She took one look at it and handed it right back to me, saying "This is not you". I was speechless for a second and then realized that in the picture I'd glued to the pass, I was wearing contacts, make-up and a nice outfit. And that in person, I had my hair pulled back in a ponytail, no make-up and glasses on. I actually do look like two different people. I assured her that was indeed me, but she wasn't having any of it - she accused me of trying to cheat and use the pass of my friend named Samantha. I finally pulled out my passport and to physically show her it was me - except I'm completely blond in my passport photo, so that didn't help much either. I was about ready to say "Sod it" when she finally waved me through. Without any indication of where the locker rooms are or what was on the three floors. I stood there like an idiot for a few seconds, looking around, and then went back to ask "Can you at least show me around a bit?" I got a death stare for a few seconds, but she finally picked up the phone and called one of the trainers down.

He showed me around the club, which was big, clean and had a lot of modern equipment. There was also a sauna and a hammam in the locker rooms. I've decided I'll keep going there for the next month, but after that, I'm not sure if I'll stick around or not. There's a much smaller, woman-only gym just half a block down the street and the equipment is older, but the staff a lot friendlier.

Either way, I'm just happy to have some kind of physical activity. I've always enjoyed working out and I could use some of the exercise-enduced endorphins right about now. It's just too bad it's going to come at a price - Parisian gyms are expensive! I wish I was a runner, especially since the Luxembourg gardens are right next door, but I'm not - I absolutely hate running. And rollerblading is going to become more and more complicated as the tourist season approches. So the gym it is - I figure with how low my rent is right now, I can justify this extra expense, at least for now.

7 Comments:

Blogger Justin said...

Oh gym memberships, I had almost forgotten about those! I may need to look in to that once I get there... my town has one but it is a joke and not worth the money. I do like to run so I try to do that when I can. I still need to find a pair of rollerblades so I can go out... I was stupid and left mine in the states and refuse to buy just any old cheap pair of crap at Carrefour.

April 11, 2009 at 7:21 PM  
Blogger Starman said...

Perhaps you could look into learning yoga. You can do that anywhere you like.

April 11, 2009 at 7:33 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

So I'm guessing there aren't any $24 a month gyms in Paris? I'm moving this Fall and was excited about the American style gyms, but not if the price ain't right. NYC also has no cheap gyms, unless you want to go off hours, in the 'hood, and sweat with crackheads.

April 12, 2009 at 7:51 AM  
Blogger Megan said...

A big hip hip hooray for French customer service!

April 12, 2009 at 8:45 AM  
Blogger wcs said...

What's a gym?

April 12, 2009 at 10:51 AM  
Blogger Ksam said...

Is anyone else wondering what crackheads are doing at the gym?

April 12, 2009 at 11:15 PM  
Blogger jonnifer said...

Perhaps swimming? The city pools are cheap, well maintained and partout.

April 12, 2009 at 11:54 PM  

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