France

We just returned from a two week vacation in France. Our youngest daughter, Laura, studied in Paris this last semester and we decided to visit her and bring her home!

We took our workout stuff with us and managed to get one swim and a few runs in. We walked for miles each day and ate wonderful French food. It wasn't quite an equal amount of calories burned for the amount ingested but it was all worth it.

Here are some pictures from the trip with as few words as I can manage :)

This is looking onto the Place de Clichy from Laura's apartment.

Notre Dame

The Lock Bridge. It was only rainy our first day and our last day.

Le Arc de Triomphe

Montmarte

Laura, Dave and I on top of the steps leading to Montmartre.

I love you in many, many languages.

We went to a fondue restaurant that served wine in baby bottles.

Lunch in Giverny.

Monet's Gardens in Giverny.

The flowers were absolutely beautiful!

Monet's Garden

Laura was trying to teach Dave how to sit on a bench and relax like the French do :)

Versailles

Inside Versailles

We are so cultured.

Looking down into the gardens of Versailles.

Lunch at Versailles.

It is art!

We went to a restaurant where they only asked you how you wanted your steak cooked. Simple menu of steak and fries and it was incredibly good.

One of our favorite desserts. Little cream puff shells filled with ice cream and covered in chocolate.

Chateau Fountainbleau.

Cool door knocker.

Breakfast in old Lyon.

Yes, a pastry shop!

Looking over the river in Lyon.

Notre Dame in Lyon. I think there is a Notre Dame in every city.

Old ruins dating to 13BC.

Lunch in old Lyon.

The French countryside.

Bad girls.

Les Baux de Provance. A hilltop village you have to walk up. No cars!

Ruins of the old castle in Les Baux.

Neat walkway.

Street in Avignon.

Another favorite dessert. I think we liked them all!

Le Pont d'Avignon. There is a French song about dancing on this bridge.

The Pope's Palace.

Crypt of a couple that obviously liked their dog.

Beautiful old, old carved door.

Fountain in Aix en Provence.

My cousins Beatrice, Helene and Brunella.

We climbed up the Sainte Victoire mountain to reach the cross on the top.

Part of our climb.

We had to follow trail signs. See the red dots?

We made it to the monastery.

Some other hiker left a box of wine, glasses and cheese. So french!

Standing on the cross. We made it!

The views were amazing.

The wind was blowing like crazy and I could hardly look at them standing so close to the edge.

Another meal, another feast. In Aix.

Every meal had to include good french wine.

Great salmon!

My partner in crime.

Oh look, it's another dessert.

Road trip from Aix to Paris has to include some reading time. 

We stopped in this cute village for lunch.

Back in Paris for dinner.

Another great meal.

More great desserts.

Laura's roundabout at the Place de Clichy.

The street door to Laura's apartment.

Laura's apartments tiny elevator we used to haul the luggage up to the 4th floor.

The Seine on our last day. 

Lunch in a park :)

Laura has become her father and loves her some maps!

The Pantheon. We climbed up to the upper dome.

View from the top. The church was in the movie, Midnight in Paris.

Our Paris girl.

I'm not a big fan of heights but this was worth it.

Venders along the Seine.

Laura's living room.

Her kitchen.

Sad face because we're on our way home.

First American meal request? In n Out!

We had a great trip with lots of adventures and good memories. Now, back to our regularly scheduled training.

Los Osos & the Diva 1/2 Marathon

This past Wednesday I took my horse M down to Los Osos for an annual ladies & horses weekend. When we started going on this trip, we went camping locally. Then we went to Pt Reyes for a few years and stayed in this great Bed & Breakfast that has a stable. Last year we decided to go down to the central coast of California to explore the trails there. This year, we had 5 ladies and horses going on the trip. It's always a great time that I look forward to. I love being able to take my horse somewhere new and having him show me by his behavior what a great horse he is!

Hooked up, loaded up and ready to go!

When we get there we like to take the horses out on a short ride to stretch their legs. We can ride from the hotel where we stay, right down the street to a dune trail and over to the beach.

There are also some beverages consumed. Nunzilla, in the middle, comes to all of our ladies trips ;)

My horse gal pals!

Good food is always part of our trips.

Nunzilla approved dessert.

Can't beat this view. We rode in Montana del Oro State Park. There are some great climbs and beautiful views.

I drove home Saturday morning so I could go to the race expo for the Diva 1/2 marathon I was racing on Sunday. My friend Barb was also racing and this was her first 1/2. This race was a woman's race with all sorts of girlie stuff. Lots and lots of pink, boas and princess crowns at the finish, shirtless firefighters handing out medals and champagne. A little too girlie for me but it was all in good fun. I didn't really have a plan for this race other then to enjoy it. There were other people I knew racing too including my niece, Molly and friends Mary and Meredith.

The course was an out and back along the San Francisco Bay. It wasn't nearly as scenic as I was expecting but I liked the flatness of it. The worst part of the day was the bay was in a low tide and it was really smelly. 

I went out at an easy 10:45-11:00 pace for the first couple of miles to warm up. About 45 min. in I took a walk break to take a Gu. After that I decided to take a minute walk break every 15 min. After a couple of those, the breaks were every 10 min. until the finish. 

There were a couple of skinny girls and another girl that was wearing a shirt that said she was 25 years old that I ran with most of the race. Not with but they would pass me and then I would pass them. When we got close to the finish line I decided I had to beat them :) Mary's husband Gerard took this picture of my final sprint. I won! Well, I beat those 3 anyway!

Barb and I after the race. She did so great and despite cursing my name at different points during the day, I'm sure she'll sign up for another 1/2. 

Mary is second from the left, I'm in the middle, Meredith is to my left and Molly is on the far right. Fun group of girls!

I finished with a time of 2:19:59. I took 1:15 off my best time so a PR!

Overall place: 920/3558

Age group: 48/247

Fun race and I was happy to get a PR without having that as a goal for this race!