Running in Paris

I had big plans to run while on vacation.
Big flop.
I left New Orleans Saturday right after an 18 mile run which I crammed in that morning to make sure I got one last long run in. It capped off a pretty solid week for me: I had a very poor race on Sunday, but Monday I had a strong speed workout with the track group and Thursday I did what I think was my first tempo run ever - and it went quite well. Then the 18 miler wasn't bad, either. I saw many friends running the Jazz half marathon while I was in the park. I love that race, but I didn't want to run it and risk missing my flight if something went wrong. This miles I ran going against oncoming race traffic were slow - I was being careful to stay out of the way and off the course, and it was difficult. I did manage to throw some faster miles on at the end, though, and the run really felt effortless.
Twelve hours in a plane later, I wasn't really feeling up to running. I skipped Sunday. When the jet lag wore off Monday, I tried to head out of our hotel and do 8 or 10 miles, but we ran into a major problem. David had packed the wrong USB cable to charge my Garmin, and it was dead after my run Saturday. Without it, I was limited as to where I could run. I was as annoyed as you can be while on vacation in Paris, which isn't much.
There was a second problem, though. David didn't love the idea of my running off by myself with no way to contact him and no way to speak the language in an emergency. He made me drag him along.
Misery. I love that man, but he is so. annoying. to. run. with.
David loves to charge out of the house at break-neck speed, then begin complaining and barely jogging 2 miles in. Then I have to drag his sorry rear around after me for the rest of the run. I swear, this guy does it to me every time. Oh, and he acts like running is a punishment and often flatly refuses to do it.
And it was cold.
So the truth is that we only went running 3 times, for about 16 miles total all week. Like I said, big flop.

View from our hotel window: just run up the street to the Eiffel Tower

But when we did run, it was beautiful. We ended up just running around the park that surrounds the Eiffel Tower since we were familiar with the area and it was close to the hotel. There were other runners there, but most of them were Americans. We did see some adorable French old ladies running in jeans, though!

We ran around the tower at night but didn't do the Seine - too bad, look at that nice running path! 

I tried to jump right back in to my schedule when we got home from Paris and back to New Orleans, and that didn't go so well either. I had a long run on the books, and it just about sucked as much as a run can. I did an easy 1-hour warmup, except my heart rate was through the roof by the end of it. Perhaps a function of the jet lag, no sleep, and long flights and delays the day before? It had been raining steadily since I started running. When I switched to the speed portion, the rain became a downpour. I was soaked through, cars were splashing me, my shoes weighed 15 pounds, and I could not keep my speed up while dodging puddles. When I started chaffing raw I stopped and assessed. I was miserable! And tired and hungry! So I went home.
My shoes still haven't dried, and my running still hasn't come all the way around, but we're getting there.

What's your favorite place to run when traveling? I personally like runs in Atlanta, so I can get some hills in!