Bonjhola

Ep26 - What is it like to Live in Paris During the 2024 Olympics?

• Rebecca West

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Welcome to Bonjola, a podcast about two women, Amy and Rebecca, who each moved from the United States to Europe to become expats, Amy to Spain and Rebecca to France. We're here to share the highs, the lows, and the logistics of this adventure, encourage you to follow your own move abroad dreams, and remind you that you're not alone when the going gets tough. Enjoy.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

Bonjola, Rebecca.

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

Amy.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

I am dying in the heat. It is, uh, gonna be 38 degrees today. So over 100 degrees here in Northern Spain. And I'm wondering if things are faring any better for you up

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

No, summer has finally come to Paris. We had the most amazing January and I loved every second of it. And it lasted well into July and it is finally over 90 degrees and I'm on the seventh American floor, sixth, the European floor using my shutters like a good girl.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

Oh my goodness. We fortunately have air conditioning, so we have a respite that we can escape to.

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

Nope. Air conditioning is a very. Uncommon thing in, well, it's basically not a thing in Paris homes. It's an uncommon thing in Paris shops. Um, so we're, we're re remembering how to live natural using fans and hydrating and taking cool showers, just a sheet on the bed, and none of that would be bad if I hadn't discovered that there's mosquitoes in Paris,

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

Oh.

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

on the windows.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

Right. Yeah, they don't believe in screens here, which I find fascinating. I don't know why that

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

And I never in my life thought about mosquitoes and Paris, like I just somehow, I mean, it makes sense. Mosquitoes can live anywhere. There's stagnant water and there's plenty of that in the city, but I'm terribly disappointed.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

You didn't think to bring your deet.

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

Well, you know, me and chemicals, the whole part of France, I like living here, the whole, you know, whatever. It's fine. I'm finally getting to break out my cute little summer dresses and all the women are walking around like. little flowers. So it's a nice season and I look forward to fall. It'll get here soon enough.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

Yeah, you were very lucky to have January expand into July. I don't think that happened here. I was in the States for most of July, and the first heatwave hit Spain while I was away, so I believe we're in the second now. It certainly feels like a heatwave. Um, and running in it is I was up this morning and by the time I got out the front door it was already 80 degrees. The humidity is over 50 percent and I took a shower and stepped out and continued to sweat as though I had not, like it was just I'm not, I'm not excited. Not excited.

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

sitting here laughing because my counter story to your it's hard to run in the heat is yeah and my husband made me this cake today with chantilly cream and I had to take the metro home so it wouldn't melt in the heat because my poor life.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

It sucks to be you, Rebecca.

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

This one's raspberries and cream. You would not believe the pastries that he is making. You know, when we chose the cordon bleu, um, it wasn't really a choice. It's what he'd always wanted. It was since he was eight. It's the one where all the Americans knew it is a private school. It is expensive. And we're like, just hoping that he'd get his monies out of it. And he's only four months in the program and he is bringing home Michelin level food. And he has been since day one. And it is. If anybody's thinking about going to Le Cordon Bleu, we have been nothing but pleased with our experience.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

That's amazing. I cannot wait to come and visit you again and maybe have some Chantilly cream and raspberries.

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

speaking of visiting me, you're coming here for a marathon, which is completely unrelated to the Olympics, which are happening right now, right? Those are totally different things.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

Uh, yes and no. I actually originally bought my tickets for the In the hope, in the hope that, and now that we're, you know, a couple weeks out, I'm like, Amy, it was really naive of you to think you could just go to Paris and stand on a street and see the Olympic runners go by because half a million other people are probably going to try and do the same thing that morning. And you're five foot two and can't see shit on a good day. So how adorable of you to think it would just be like the Boston Marathon or something.

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

But I don't know, maybe it will be. I've never tried to do what you're doing.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

I, I never have either, and I'm not entirely sure what will happen, but I was second guessing my wisdom, um, when I, you know, landed back in Spain and, you know, realized the clock was ticking. So, originally, I booked the tickets in the hope to catch the Olympians Zumbi. The men's marathon is on the 10th, the women's marathon is on the 11th, and the evening of the 10th. Paris opened up the marathon course for the common man to be able to run a marathon. And I think it was actually, I want to say it was by invite only. So I know someone who's running it. My running coach is running it and she's coming. She lives in Florida, but she'll be running that race in the evening. And it starts at nine o'clock at night, which is very Spanish. Um,

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

still this hot, they're going to be grateful.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

yes, precisely, precisely, uh, they probably couldn't, they probably realized quickly they couldn't start it any earlier than that if they were going to prevent people from, you know, passing out from heat stroke 10 miles in. So I'm gonna aim to see her towards the start because it is, you know, 26 miles, which even when you're fast takes a couple hours to do. And I don't have intentions of being able to stay up late enough to watch her cross the finish line, but I can see her out of the gates.

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

Exactly. And who knows? Maybe we'll have a wild party that whole night and we'll just wander our way towards the finish line. Stay tuned listeners.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

That would be super fun,

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

Well, I will have to say that having just turned 47, I had my first birthday in Paris. Um, I'm a fan of an early bedtime and anything that is something that ends at dusk is, is my friend.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

right?

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

Still want my parties. I just want them earlier. So did you watch the opening ceremonies for the Olympics?

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

I did not, but I've made the mistake of hopping onto Facebook to, um, Watch the Americans in their self righteous indignation, freaking out about how it was a personal assault against Christianity, which I found really amusing because I, my perception of the French that they don't give a flying F about That and would not go out of their way to intentionally insult a religion. And then I guess the guy is blue, which is more Hindu than Christian to begin with, and you don't see the Hindus freaking out that they've like. Insulted Vishnu or whatever. So I'm a little confused and I honestly don't even know if I'm talking about the right ceremony. Cause there was also the Marie Antoinette like beheading thing going on. I've only seen random little clips on the internet. I try and stay away from pop culture because it, it really erodes my faith in humans, the species. I

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

intention of watching it. I, I stayed home and Damien had his gray zone pass cause of his school. So he's like, well, I'm going to go see what I can see. Kind of like you with your marathon. Um, it ended up being a very rainy night. So I was worried about Damien that he's standing out in the rain, but it turns out he was watching it on a plane. So he was fine, but it was definitely a ceremony to watch on TV. It was. Basically a Cirque de Soleil performance, which makes sense. Cause Cirque de Soleil, I believe is French. And yes, it was, um, Oh, what's that word licentious. I think is a word, um, that we should.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

like that

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

I think everybody can use their SAT word today. Licentious. Um, it was sexy. I am damn sure that this is the first menage a trois ever alluded to slash featured in an Olympic ceremonies. Um, the Marie Antoinette scene was, um, heavy metal, a very famous heavy metal French band alongside opera alongside

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

Wow.

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

it was, it was, and that was amazing. Many beheaded Marie Antoinette's apparently in the building where she was convicted or killed or something something historical there And they burst red streamers from it and it really did have the effect of like blood and guts going everywhere So think of it what you will the performance and production level was off the charts It was absolutely phenomenal Lady Gaga showed up. I thought that was a little odd. She's not French. Um, it was a French song at least, but I will say so many times watching it. I, all I could see was the pearl clutching of my whole family in Kentucky. I wasn't on the phone with them or anything, but I know, I know that they were mortified and they, they thought I had already gone to the devil. When I moved to Seattle. And now I'm pretty sure that they think I live in actual.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

The depths of hell. You went from hell to the depths of hell in licentiousness, evidently.

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

it was, it was, it was very, it was a very sensual opening performance, but it was remarkable. It truly was incredibly well done except for. I will now be a judgy non French Parisian. The can can was not very well synchronized and, um, they needed a little more practice. Sorry, girls.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

That's kind of embarrassing,

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

I know,

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

coming out to Paris and not have your can can nice and tight.

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

it was so rainy. Like the whole time I was mostly just worried. There was a fashion runway, so I'm worried about the runway walkers and I'm worried about the dancers and the BMXers. And, um, there was, uh, some parkour and some zip lining and. It was, it was all quite, like I said, quite phenomenal, but I was so worried that somebody was gonna fall and break a leg. And for all I know they did and didn't tell anybody. But you know,

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

There are those who say that art is meant to evoke emotion, and if that is true, Then, by, you know, for all intents and purposes, it was a phenomenal success all

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

and my understanding is they wanted to represent French, French people and French history, and they really did a great job, whether you like what was represented or not. It felt very sincere and very honest. I just think it also probably felt out of place, inappropriate, and personal to a lot of people I know, even though I don't think it was. And there's a really good book out there to read called The Four Agreements if you want to work on not taking things personally that aren't actually about you. Which is something that I spent a lot of time working on myself.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

Yeah. I do have a very, um, harsh judgment that Americans, myself included, have a knee jerk habit of making everything about ourselves and the media, Twitter, Facebook, whatever uproar really just kind of proves that and oh, well.

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

think this is, you know, it's a human condition to want to be tribal and have your people and win, you know, so that is normal, but it does feel like Americans think everybody else is thinking about them at every moment and guess what, guys, they're not thinking about us, Everybody's been asking if it's been really disruptive. Really, it was only the day of the opening ceremonies where they had the gray zone red zone thing. So other than that, the city just feels like it's set up for a great big convention. So if anybody's been anywhere near a big convention, it feels like that with badges and arrows and signs and shuttle buses, uh, we live very close to some stadiums. So we see it every day on the commute. And then they've definitely changed the Metro routes. So there's Metro's that aren't running at all, which I'm guessing is from a security point of view. They don't want the opportunity to have bombs go under important buildings or whatever. And then because we live so close to the stadiums, our Metro after 4 PM simply does not come all the way to our house. So if we're out after 4 PM, we have to walk. Um, one, one mile to the next Metro, which is for, for us, for how good we are at walking at this point. That's not a big deal. Aside from the heat.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

Right.

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

it. It's been really straightforward. They did jack up the price of the Metro tickets. So anybody with a monthly pass, like a local, no change, but the individual tickets are all four euros a piece and they're usually closer to two

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

Mm

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

significant hike on that one.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

Yeah. Well, I mean, I guess there's probably quite a lot of expense that they'll need to recoup from all of this, so I can't fault them too much for

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

Well, they're going to need a ton of extra workers because they really will have a lot more volume. You kind of think that a regular ticket would cover a regular person, but they also, I mean, they, they really have rerouted a lot of the metros. They've got attendants in a lot of metros who obviously speak all the languages and it's and the police are all out and they're mostly, you know, they've all got their weapon. But really, they're just a whole lot of signposts and tour guide helps. Like, yes, the Metro is right around the corner. You know, like I see that that's like their whole job all day. The Metro is right around the corner.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

The only other thing that I really heard about the Olympics is there was, um, I don't know A friend of mine had shared an article about how the Olympians are not, like, the food situation in the back is not up to par, that they've been shorted chicken and eggs, um, and they were, I guess, I guess the, whoever was doing the planning was wanting to make it more plant based. And also keep things very local. And so these athletes were not getting the protein that they need to

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

Like locals one thing. Okay, great. That's, that's super. If you can do it, you still have to make sure you have enough. Um, plant based that's a stretch. I'm sorry. Like I am a plant based person, but to ask an entire Olympics year's worth of humans. No, that's, that's

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

you don't change your diet right before you compete. Like that's a horrible idea. Yeah. So that was a thing. And I was like, Oh gosh, I mean, again, and that's like an aside from the can can, what else is French known for their food?

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

Yeah.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

And that's not an area where you want to be leaving people, particularly Olympians, right? Like, feeling a little upset with you.

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

do have to say, so as the warm weather was coming and my birthday was coming, you know, I started thinking about my body, my age, whatever. And I'm telling Damien, um, Or we're pointing, we're like doing people watching. And he points out some very cute little outfit that shows off this lady's abs. And he's like, would you wear an outfit like that? And I was like, yeah, I mean, I don't have those abs. And I was like, there's a lot of abs in Paris. And then he looked at me and he's like, Rebecca, it's the Olympics. And I was like, Oh yeah, there's X abs here right now.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

Yeah. It's extra toit, as one would say. Yeah.

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

Made me feel a lot better. Cause then I started looking at the back muscles and the broadness of the chest and everything. I'm like, Oh yeah, these people. Our athletes for a living. I'm going to go back to feeling good about myself.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

Yeah. You know, I could imagine that would, that would kind of throw you for a little bit. When I was in the States traveling, we went through Eugene, Oregon while they were doing the Olympic trials for, for the

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

cool.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

Yeah. And so I popped into, I mean, I didn't know it was happening and I popped into Whole Foods and there was, there was, uh, an Olympian there buying Something, you know, she had the little Olympics necklace on and, you know, abs that went for days and, you know, it was very clearly a next level athlete. And so, you know, so it was, there was that little, that little connection to that as I was traveling and we also had a very serendipitous opportunity to watch Spain win the world cup for football. Yeah, we happened to pop in to lunch, at my son's favorite burger place while we were back home, and it was during the last half hour of the Euro Cup. So we watched Spain, uh, spank the Brits pretty, pretty fully, and that was really exciting.

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

Oh, that's fun. It is. There is, um, like we love our sports in the United States. Nobody would deny that. And I can't say that it feels different here. I wouldn't say that it feels different. Their habits are a bit different, right? They're not tailgating. There's no hot dogs and beer. It's still at a cafe with wine. Um, but the camaraderie is very, very similar. And the caring about your team is very similar. And I think it just stands out a little bit to me more once I live in a city. So you're always right next to all the parties. Like you just walked on the street and you see what's happening, but also the sports are so weird to me. That it's, it stands out. Like, just like hearing French stands out. I still wouldn't say I'm a sports aficionado, but it's been fun to get used to it. I did play, um, did I tell you I played Pétanque?

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

I don't even know what that

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

That is classically thought of as an old French guy's, uh, It's um, played with balls that are about the size of a tennis ball, but they're made of metal.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

Oh, I've seen that. I've seen people playing that. Um, I think I've seen them, people playing it here in, in the park in our town, if it's a European thing. And I also have watched people do that at the grounds of the Louvre, um, when I went to Paris, like, 175 years ago.

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

And it's, it's sort of like a cross between I'd say pool and horseshoes.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

Mm hmm.

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

It was, it was actually great fun. It's it's as fun as pool is where you can just play it and have a good time and everybody can be crap. Somebody can be really good and it doesn't matter. That was a really fun. event, and I'm hoping to do a little bit more of that. I think Petanque and, and Boule, I think people call it Boule as well. I, there might be a difference between those two versions. So that's me at 40.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

Did you just walk up to a bunch of old men and insert yourself into their game, or how did that, was it licentious like that,

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

No, no, it was not. Remember I got told on the plane by that 90 year old man that if I approach a man, he will assume I want an affair. So I was like, no, I wouldn't be doing that. No, it was Damien's school friends. Two of them had bought sets of the balls that you use to play. And so Damien said, let's go down and play. And I said, of course, that sounds amazing. So we brought a couple of bottles of wine. Of course we did. And glassware and sat on Parisian park benches while we taking turns rolling balls.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

I love it. I love, that sounds so perfectly delightful.

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

And that's the thing. About living here. And I'm every single time we talk, I've settled just a little bit more into it. We're just living, you know, don't worry. I'm going tango dancing tomorrow. Uh, you know, I've gotten salsa dancing on Saturday. So plenty of things to talk about. But my day to day life is full of living in a way that it never has been, ever, before.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

I really appreciate that you've been able to do that so quickly, which I can only think must be due to Damien being in school with people. Because we're not having that remarkable an experience in the day to day, we certainly have a much better social life here than we did in the States, but the day to day still tends to be a little bit more work oriented, but with a longer lunch. And sometimes a glass of wine at lunch,, but we have not been able to integrate well with the community outside of just the superficial relationships in shops and

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

And I wouldn't say that we are integrated with the community. If it weren't for the school, I don't think we would be having this experience. And the school is mostly expats. It's mostly expats. On French people. So of course we're always talking in English. That's one thing. Um, but it's something that happened for us when we were here for the immersion program too, for the three months. Cause we were in that school and we were there for 35 hours a week. So we saw the same people over and over and over again. And it's so in retrospect, I would recommend that people consider a program when they move somewhere that will be actually very immersive and social, even if you don't need to learn whatever it is you're learning. Like you could be an amazing seamstress, but go take sewing classes. As a way to see the same people over and over and over again for two, three months in a row. And then by that time, you know, you have something in common. You've had enough time to have small talk, which builds a relationship. And then you could like, leave the classes if you weren't having fun. But I. I will intentionally use this as a tool in the future, which it wasn't on purpose, but it's been amazing.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

Yeah, yeah, what, historically, when I've moved within the States, I've always used meetup as a way to get to know people. And meetup is actually very common here in Spain, but my town is small enough that there's not, there aren't any meetups here. However, I I should probably look again just because I haven't looked in a, in a year or so. And in my Spanish class, I don't know if it was that we only met twice a week or if the Russians keep to themselves, but I didn't have that experience of establishing relationships outside of the classroom.

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

And I will say, I am, like Damien accuses me of being a people gatherer. I'm not great necessarily at following up with people, but I like meeting new people and hearing their story. And so if me, that person or Damien If any of us take the opportunity to follow through, it can be a really great relationship, but I do drop that ball a lot. So I, um, at least I have that initial skill, but when you were just saying that, the thing that made me think of is there's a gal in Damien's classes that we just met because we had an early birthday chicken and waffles brunch on this gal's terrace for Damien's birthday. Oh my gosh. She has the best rooftop terrace. It's amazing. Um, but she has a two year old and I was saying to her, like, we haven't, I haven't met you yet. I've met so many of the other students and she's like, yeah, but I'm in school full time and then I'm a mom. And so, you know, it does depend on the responsibilities that you have and you do have a family to tend to. So that's going to change it.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

Yeah, that is a very good point. Certainly, if I was still single, um, or even, even yeah, parent or not parentless, childless, I would, I would probably be more initiative, take more initiative and go out more.

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

And obviously that's why a lot of parents become friends with the parents of their kids friends because that is the social group you can tap into. But you said that his Montessori is a bit away from where you guys live.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

Yeah. The Montessori, I mean, it's a, it's a 20 minute bus ride from where we live, but the school itself, because it is a private school, it's not hyperlocal. There are, they actually bus children in all the way. In kind of almost, almost province wide, but certainly all the way down to the coast, the Mediterranean coast. So some of those kids are taking like 45 minute bus rides one way to get into school because it's a, it's got a reputation. So whoever he makes friends with, They may not live so close and we've been lucky enough that the two kids that he's been closest to do live in town with us and one of them is a 10 minute walk away, which is fantastic, but it's one boy and He's one of three children. Mom is of course quite busy with three kids And she also has a lot of family and a lot of family, a lot of visitors come, so she's often hosting and entertaining. So it isn't, it isn't that, you know, I had hoped for him to have that, like, go out, find a park, make friends, kick the ball back and forth, spontaneous kind of upbringing. And he doesn't quite have that, but he certainly has much more freedom than I do. Then he did in the

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

Plus he's living in Spain, which is awesome.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

Plus he's living in Spain, which is not a bad deal.

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

But it is something for our listeners. If they're thinking about becoming an expat and our parents, it's an important thing to think about. When I was Uh, really little. My parents moved to Germany as part of being in the army. And I was only two when we moved over. They had the opportunity to send me to a pre K for American kids, army kids, as an hour bus ride. Or to have me walk across the street to the German place. And at that age, you know, I was going to be a sponge with the language. And they're like, just walk across the street. That's where you're going to school. And it made a big difference, not better or worse, but this is definitely something because it's going to impact both this kid's social life and the parent's social life. And you want to think ahead about that. I'd say.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Our reason for choosing the school that we did was because he'd been in Montessori since he was about two

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

Mm hmm.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

and moving to a different country with a different culture and different languages. I wanted to keep his education stable since everything else was being uprooted. And I also. Didn't know enough about how education works in Spain to be like, okay, we'll just throw you in a public school and it'll be

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

Right.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

Um, so, and thus far I think it's been working out well.

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

That's excellent.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

Yeah.

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

I don't know how we ended up on this topic the Olympics.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

So there is another two weeks or so of the Olympics. So we're about halfway through

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

then the para and the Paralympics, uh, right after the main Olympics.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

Right. Right. So things are not going to slow down until September or so. Yeah.

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

Yeah, but we should see the worst of the, like, transportation disruption in the first two weeks of August, and then I'll, I think it's gonna be Nothing particularly noticeable. Like I said, just like a big convention. That's the nice thing about a city the size of Paris or Tokyo, these places where they keep holding it, is they're so big that even though it's a huge number of people, it can kind of absorb it. Oh, and speaking of which, It helps, of course, that half the Parisians have already left town.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

Oh, of

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

I'm walking past, uh, shop after shop after shop, and it's like, you know, on vacation, see you in September.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

Yes.

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

They're not kidding. They are literally just closed, gone. It's it. It's amazing.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

Yeah, I, I've, I've been seeing that a lot here too, that people seem to have shut down early, maybe because of the heat.

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

And the Olympics on our side. Yep.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

Yeah, of course, the Olympics on, on your side, if, if no one needs to make the extra money from people being around or it doesn't positively, in fact, impact them, then why stick around and deal with the clouds.

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

But I, I'm not, I'll be, I'll be working through this heat cause I'm an American. So just going to keep trucking.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

With the smile on your face and the fan blowing the air through your hair.

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

that fan. That was an Amazon delivery. It's the best one we've had to date.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

Excellent.

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

Things are good in Paris. They really are. It's the end of July. The worst thing or the thing that everybody was worried about was the Olympics. It has now come, it's not gone, but the worst part of, you know, how's it going to go is over now. It's just about settling in and enjoying, hopefully some picnics. Now that the weather has changed. It's the one thing that the rain was keeping us from was Parisian picnics. So I'm hoping to have a few of those. Are you actually going to enjoy anything about this hot weather? Cute.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

we are going to the coast this weekend to play in the Mediterranean. Yeah. Just a trip. Um, where are we going? I think it's, I think we're going to Plata de Joro, I believe. It's, I can't, I, we, we have done, we have gone to several different little towns along the coast and they all start to run together. And we're going to the place that has my son's favorite tapas restaurant. That's, and I can't remember which one it is. I think it's Plata de Joro. Uh, and then we are going down to Valencia for a week in the middle of August. Actually, right very soon after I get back from seeing you. To, uh, again, have some beach time and hopefully, even though it's further south than we are, being right on the water will, will keep us a little bit cooler, um, and see a little bit more of Spain because we've been quite negligent in touring our own, our own

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

And you have not been to Valencia yet, right?

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

I've not, no, we haven't been south of Barcelona.

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

you have a wonderful time. We really enjoyed Valencia, um, but it was kind of for some really random reasons. So I'm curious how your trip to Valencia is going to go, and it has random magic for you as well.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

Oh, I want to ask you all about that. And I also want to stay in the

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

We'll wait until after your trip and then we'll compare notes.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

Sounds good.

squadcaster-4cc4_1_07-30-2024_135450:

That seems like a good place to leave this conversation today.

aimee_1_07-30-2024_045450:

Well, and with that, then how about a hearty, what's, how do you say it? Hasta pronto.

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