West of the Town

Saturday 29 March 2014

Massicois

It is good for a person to keep fit. Even the Bible says "bodily exercise profits a little" so I thought I had better take note.

When you take stock of my life, the exercise I get consists of walking. Monday to Friday I do walk for about an hour a day, in 4 bits. 10 min 20 min 20 min 10 min. But I am not sure this is enough!

So I spotted a 'piscine' (swimming pool) from the bus and I called in one evening to see when I could swim after work. The answer was "only Tuesday". There was a discount for locals, which I was not, but it put me in mind for a more local venue.

I researched the leaflets and a little booklet that came unsolicited through my letter box. There was a map and information about 'sports' in which was my local piscine. I visited. It is about a 20 minute walk and to my surprise I found it easily (my sense of direction is not great). There was a discount for locals. Here in Massy we are called "Massicois".

Open late on Friday. I bought some trunks. There is a discount for us Massicois but you need to prove it. My bill was rather old but did not trouble the man at the desk. He grinned when I tried to remember "Massicois" and said it for me. "First time?" he asked, and so he pointed me passed the children ("don't worry, they are leaving") and explained the rules. Shoes off in there. Use the door for men. Shower before swimming.

I pushed open the men's door, shoes in hand, and shut it again quickly. I checked the door. Yes this was the men's, but I had seen a woman just inside. Well, this is France, so I opened the door again and marched in confidently. The woman was dealing with a child and I heard her say "well I wouldn't have to but it takes you 3 hours to get changed". Men's changing is mostly communal, but for her sake I selected the only cubical.

My local pool is small and rectangular with 2 lanes of the 4 possible for swimming lessons. The rest of us swim up and down the other half. The lifeguard was eating his lunch and the pool filled a lot by half past the hour. I remember swimming being easier than this, I took lots of breaks!

After many lengths I squeezed passed the people near the steps and showered before changing to go home. The only cubical was busy now but the woman had gone and maleness was resumed. I will get a good night's sleep tonight I thought, but no, I had pulled my left shoulder so I tossed and turned more than I would like.

Still the shoulder is ok now and the next swimming night looks like being Tuesday. If I take it easy I will soon be fit!

Friday 14 March 2014

Paris in Crisis!

I thought it was a bit foggy this morning. When I got to the trains I found a notice saying something about them being free, and the barriers were all open. I walked onto the train. The 'free service' started off a little late today. When I changed for the bus, that was free too. From Friday to Sunday it said.

It appears the "fog" is pollution based and as a response to this "crisis" the minister of something had decided that public transport will be free for 3 days.

Presumably this was communicated on the news and media, but since I am immune to this things, the first I knew was when my pass would not work. I saw others receive a "berrrip" instead of a "ping" and give a puzzled look like I did.

As for getting cars off the streets, I can't say I have noticed. However, this lunchtime is a lovely sunny day. So perhaps it worked after all?

Cordialement
Terry
Envoyé de mon iPhone

Evening.
So I have a bit more information now.
It appears this is the first time France has ever taken this step. It was instigated by the environment minister because of the exceedingly high smog levels. In response public transport has put on more busses and made the trains longer. The cause? The 'Connection' newspaper says "A lack of wind and cold nights followed by balmy days have triggered rise in pollution".

More busses - 3 double length ones in a row
However there are still traffic queues, after all it is Friday. Here the traffic just started moving as I took the picture, but you get the idea. The busses have their own lane (usually).


And then there is the smog itself. It was most visible from the top of a double decker train as the sun set. Given that the train was moving at the time, this photo should give you an idea.


Sunsets never look big when taken with a camera phone, the light in the centre is the sun, honest.

The only difference I have seen is that there are lots of busses, and they are all full. I could not get on the first one that arrived, but the second was in sight behind it (with standing room only).

So here is a thought.

If reducing smog means getting people on busses, and if to get people on busses you need to make it free (or very low cost), then isn't it logical that it is in everyone's interest to make public transport very cheap?

Obviously it's a mad idea- but all the best ideas are!

Sunday

Still free transport. In fact they extended it so I travelled free to the airport on Monday too. So the following photo was taken in the middle of the "crisis". You can probably discern the amount of worry these Parisians have over the state of alert.

Luxembourg Gardens at about noon





Sunday 9 March 2014

UK Sun

It is a lovely day in England, and it has been a lovely weekend. As you can see from the picture, people are out in their summer cloths, or nearly so.

The iDBus allows me to blog if I want to and here at the tunnel crossing the only delay is the "Police aux Frontiers" who have taken all our passports and diss appeared into their office! It is a long time before they return and we can get on, but at last they arrive and we head for France.

Now all I need is to exit the tunnel so I can send the blog.


Terry

Envoyé de mon iPhone

Saturday 8 March 2014

Douane

On my way to celibate Clare getting older. The bus from Paris to London is a logical way to get there- if you catch the 11pm in Paris you can wake up at 6am in London.

And now I am at the channel tunnel and the authorities want to see our passports. Twice. It's 2:30 am.

See most of my readers soon.

Cordialement
Terry

Envoyé de mon iPhone
Cordialement
Terry

Envoyé de mon iPhone

Saturday 1 March 2014

Circles

When I said I went for a walk in Paris, I mentioned (previous blog) that it was for the exercise. So after blogging in the cafe, and when I had finished my wine, I emerged to find the clouds had gone that and the sun was out.

With nowhere in particular to go I wandered aimlessly. So for that reason, so I suppose, I kept ending up roughly where I started. Each time I tried to chose a road I had not travelled down.

The photo is a selection for you to see the choices! This is the Latin quarter. Lots of cafés, but there are book shops and art galleries too. And quite a lot of "odd things" shops specialising in the "unusual".

If you look at the photo closely you should see that the left edge joins up to the right edge. This is a 360 degree view flattened out so that your computer can cope with it.

Cordialement
Terry

Envoyé de mon iPhone
Click on the photo to enlarge it.

Paris Sauvage (Wild Paris)

It's spring, well nearly, and the 1st of March has everyone on the streets in Paris. Easter is nearly here (there are cards that say so), and even the wildlife is getting bolder.

I an out to rediscover Central Paris for myself, and for the exercise, and I am passing by hundreds of cafés all of which have people eating outside. It is here that I see how Parisians tolerate the wildlife. Not like the hunt in England.

This fellow appears to be enjoying this opportunity, and he is bold enough to let me snap him.

So now there is a light rain and I am blogging in a bar with a glass of red. So much for exercise.

Cordialement
Terry

Envoyé de mon iPhone