I woke up early today (ok...9:30, but give me some credit, it's Sunday), walked down my street, which is really the main artery that goes through my little city (population around 20,000) and joined the raging crowd of 6 to cheer on the runners in the Paris Marathon. Somehow I thought it would be easier to spot my friend who was running, but there were thousands of them! All making me feel guilty that it took all of my energy simply to walk down the street to watch them run by. But seriously, I was so proud of my friend. She even managed to yell out my name as she went by! AND she told me that after the marathon, she would love to run with me and show me the ropes. I have a running trainer! Perhaps next year I will participate...although I will probably wind up like this dork I saw today walking and yelling "So, where are you from again?...Well, it was nice talking to you. I'm done!" throwing in the towel at Kilometer 11.

But more than anything, I was just glad to be up and out of the house relatively early to experience an absolutely divine April morning in Paris. And this year, I have to say that springtime in Paris is all it is cracked up to be. Yeah, my lungs are on fire from the pollen and I have absolutely no capacity for speech (screaming for my friend as she ran by was pretty much the last straw for my already feeble vocal cords), but that's because where I come from (lovely Rochester, NY) there is no spring. We go right from winter to summer, sometime in late May, so there is no time for pollen allergies to develop. I have absolutely no immunity to spring. But how great is it to be able to come out of hibernation nearly 2 full months before! Oh, I am just overflowing with springtime exuberance! (cough, cough). Sorry, excitiment tends to exacerbate my ailments...I am off to take some more fine over-the-counter medication. And so goes the life of the old lady Mandounette...