When a Longboarder is in Paris...

If you have a son who is longboarder and is under the age of, say, 25, and you happen to be visiting Paris, France, you may wonder what you could do to keep you both happy and get the most out of the trip.


Here are a few suggestions:


Take in the Scenery in Paris:

Tour Eiffel, Wolf, Skateboard... of course

Arc d' Triomphe, Wolf, skateboard... of course

Skating in Paris:  You will notice right away that there aren't many skateboarders or longboarders in Paris at all.  We also noticed that there aren't many SUVs either; this is a good thing.  But the ratio of skateboarders to SUVs is about 1:1, not a good thing.  We counted 4 of each.

The likely cause for so few skaters is the fact that many of the streets are cobblestone and next to impossible to skate.  There are smooth paved areas, but they often have 10 lanes of cars on them.  One day per week from 9am about to 5pm on designated areas, cars are banned during the  'Paris breathes' program.  Roads that are typically open to cars are closed so that non-motorized traffic can take over, bikes, scooters, in-line skaters, and though they don't specify, this would also include skateboarders.  We will check out the scenic routes tomorrow.  I'll be on foot.

Try snails, speak French, eat baguettes:

Escargot & Rose... He tried one... I had the rest... not bad.

Eating in Paris:  After more than a week in France, my boy was needing a fix of Vancouver famed, Bon's, an all-day cheap breakfast joint. Unfortunately, nothing is cheap in Paris.  But you can find bacon, eggs and a bottomless cup of coffee that needs a load of milk and sugar to make it palatable. We found: Breakfast-In-America.  One happy lad.  A small chain restaurant that offers the standard North American Breakfast fare all day long.

Art in Paris
You shouldn't be in Paris if you are not going to look at art.  There are hundreds of museums and galleries and parks where you can find art.  There is art for every taste.  My son, it seems likes the impressionists, post-impressionists and gnarly renaissance art:

Coast Longboarding at the Louvre

When looking at art and artifacts, try to make it relevant to your longboarder... look closely and see the reflection of the Coast longboarding logo in the glass.   'Cool.... Coast in the Louvre...' okay, maybe I am desperate to find a link, but it's worth a shot.


Take the Metro
This is the easiest way to get around.  Today, we had a race to see who would get back to the apartment first.  I took the metro, he rode his skateboard.... guess who won... yup... by 40 minutes... Lunch was on the table by the time he rolled in, but it was a good experiment.  The lifts (elevators) are tiny and slow, the metro is big and fast.

Cathedrals
There are a lot of these in Paris, so there is no shortage.  Some of the biggies to check out are: Notre Dame (must not wear Bermuda shorts or bare shoulders), Sacre Coeur (many many stairs, both at the metro and up to the cathedral; worth the climb), but our favourite was Chartres. It is a little out of town, but crazy interesting.  A huge history an it has a crypt tour; it's all in French, so listen closely, or read your English cheat-sheets and try to follow along.  My favourite part was the tower climb where you can see over much of the roofline over to the village below and much of the countryside.  It was amazing, and I am afraid of heights.  Wolf took his go-pro camera on this one, hopefully it turned out better than our trip through the catacombs (also very cool, in a historic, creepy kind of way).

view from Chartres Tower

Wolf at Cafe across the street from Chartres

Wolf at Notre Dame, Paris, France

Bones in the Catacombs of Paris

Skull detail from Catacombs, Paris

Wolf in Catacombs, (yes with his board and go-pro camera...

Get a Haircut
When cultural overload sets in, get a haircut.  So that is what he did.
Tomorrow, onto Lyon.  The adventures continue.

Enroute to Toronto, To Montreal, To Geneva

Checked: One wheelless longboard, one very large very old backpack with a Canadian Flag stitched to it from my husband's journeys 20 years ago,  (a sturdy bag indeed) and a heavy micro-duffle bag stuffed with 10 sets of wheels, replacing the 30 dimpled field-hockey balls.

Carry-on: One blue wheeled bag containing all my attire for the next 17 days, one computer bag with camera, charger, laptop, travel documents, books, journals, extension cord and one european outlet converter, One purse (mine), one backpack containing one hoodie and one vintage notebook and power cord (without it would hold no charge at all).

Two excited travellers have checked in, all the way through to Geneva, but will wake in Toronto, and now lounge, repose, sip and sup in the very tranquil environs of the Maple Leaf Lounge... thank you aeroplan.

I have been looking forward to this trip for sometime, and finally... here it is and I could use a nap;(... but will wait to board the plane first.  no photos to report, and it is unlikely that wolf will let me take his picture sipping his sprite and tapping on his computer... I'll save the photos for something actually interesting.

au revoir mes amis!

The Journey Begins

We've had weeks to prepare, to gather documents, tickets, passes and gear.  My gear consists of computer and camera; his includes a virtual crate of wheels, a board, leathers, etc.  I have had some difficulty convincing my son that this is not the same as camping where one set of clothing will do for the week.  It is France. We will be a week in Paris.  Camp clothes won't do, not if he's going with me, and he is.  One pair of well loved and worn jeans and a set of three-year-old swim trunks won't get you smiles when you try to get a table reservation at a restaurant, or entrance into some of the cathedrals.  So as much as he hates it, I have convinced him to go shopping and to buy some new clothes.  Wicked, controlling mother, I know, but too bad.

Train Pass Mix-up

I was writing up my itinerary yesterday so my husband would be able to get in touch with us during our journey when I discovered a most disconcerting error.  I had purchased rail passes for me and Wolf several weeks ago, one adult 4-day pass and one youth 4 day pass, each clearly marked with the correct name, but when they arrived via courier, the tickets had been transposed.  I should have taken photos of them for humour: Lorrie Miller youth pass: ages 16 through 24 inclusive... just a few years out of date.  With much wrangling I managed to get it straightened out with Rail Europe (still waiting for the refund), and have new tickets issued and printed at a local dealer with the correct names.  Phew... close, I imagined the stress and embarrassment trying to explain the mix-up on a train in France, in French-- not fun.

Argonay, France (location of IGSA's Graveyard Call)

Lonely Planet Phrasebook French

I have been to France, but that was over two decades ago, and I was a poor French speaker then, and was determined to improve my French following that trip.  I improved some, but that was again twenty years ago.  I've been practicing with Wolf and my husband (who is rather fluent--despite his denial) and it's coming back to me.  But all the same I thought I'd pick up a language support, but not a full on thick dictionary.  I chose the Lonely Planet phrasebook French.  It is a thin blue book with a reasonable front illustration and has 3500 words and phrases with easy to follow colour-coded categories:

• rust: tools
• teal: practical
• olive: social
• orange: food
• aqua: safe travel
• green: sustainable travel
• plum: dictionaries 

The 'social' category, included 'meeting people, interests, feelings & opinions, going out, romance sports, beliefs, and outdoors.  This seemed very helpful to me until I began to read some of the helpful phrases to my husband over a glass of wine.  I could hardly stop laughing.  

Meeting people: " Tu es de quel signe?"  what sign are you?

" Est-ce que ta un fetiche?" Do you have a fetish?

Two phrases I will NOT be needing on this trip, but those and many others brought lots of laughter to our evening.

Shortly we will be on our way to....

Annecy Prison in Annecy France

(both images from Wiki commons as I am not actually there to take my own images... yet)