Horseracing in Paris

This past weekend I took a much needed break from my studies. My good friend from Manhattan Beach - Wednesday (yes, her name is Wednesday), came over to Paris for a quick 4 day visit. We stayed in Paris and had a lot of fun shopping and sightseeing on Saturday. On Sunday, we had tickets to the biggest horseracing event in Europe, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in Longchamp just outside of Paris. My good friend Stu was able to get me 2 tickets thanks to his Dad who had a box of 6 seats.

On the way from our hotel, Wed. and I were on the metro.....I had a fairly good idea of how to get there, but I wasn't 100% positive. We had one change we had to make, from the #6 train to the #1 train. As we were waiting on the platform for the #1 to arrive, I noticed two good-looking "lads" who were dressed up and speaking "English", and I said to Wed, "Those two gentlemen are definitely going to the race....let's follow them." Much to our surprise, one of them, came over and started "chatting us up". Tom and Denver were from Manchester, England and they ended up as our superstar tourguides for the day....as they knew exactly which metro stop to get off at, where to walk to catch the shuttle bus, and how to get inside the right gate. They have been coming to the Arc race for many years, as it is quite popular with the Brits. Also, the famous horse "Sea the Stars" from Ireland was running on Sunday and alot of people from the UK came over to see him make history. He ended up winning the big race of the day and, according to Carl, our host, is the most decorated European horse in the last 40 years.

The odd thing about the races was that the horses ran the opposite way around the track as they do in the states. At first, I thought I had a little too much champagne, but then I realized I was right. They run clockwise instead of counter-clockwise. But, I didn't mind.....we had a great view of the Eiffel Tower in the distance!

So, all in all, it was a great day and a fantastic weekend......thanks to Wed, Stu, Carl, Susan, Tom, Denver, Parker, Val and Alister. It's back to work for me.......no more fun for awhile. It was good that I took advantage of the beautiful weather in Paris. It started raining yesterday on my way back to my apt in Cergy. Winter is just around the corner......