Six Cents Vingt Sept Jours a Sceaux (627 Days in Sceaux)

This has been a wild week. That is not to say it has been a good week, just a wild one…

Monday started the week as Monday's often do, with its fair share of being Monday. The biggest thing for me was the final preparations for a global webcast I was to give my team the next day. Getting all the data correct, building up the PowerPoint presentation so that it flows well, making sure the message is concise and clear and accurate, and at the same time meeting the fires that erupted throughout the day. I arrived at the office early on Tuesday, having decided to make a few tweaks to the presentation I'd labored over the day before (as everyone else does). And I delivered the first webcast to Europe, Africa, and Asia that morning. The rest of the day went normally until 4 PM, when it was time to do the webcast for the Americas. Again, everything went well, message delivered, the troops exhorted, and it was time to go home.

As you may know, and if you did not realize, I am here without a car. I'm close enough to the office to either walk or take a bus, which I have been doing since I moved into the apartment in May of 2010. It has been a cold winter here, especially the last couple of weeks, and for the foreseeable couple of weeks. They tell me it has been the coldest winter since 1985. Temperatures range from the mid teens Fahrenheit to the upper 20s Fahrenheit. For those of you more familiar with the Celsius scale, -10 C to -2C. I felt very cold going to the bus that afternoon, and never warmed up while on the bus. The coldness persisted for the 8 min. walk back to the apartment, and I was developing a bit of post nasal drip. Things only got worse from there. I went through about a half a box of Kleenex that night, so very tired and weaker as I went to work in the morning. I did not make it until noon. I went home, feeling tired, head completely pressured up, and cold to my bones. When I got home, I put on the long underwear I put on the long T-shirt, I put on the heavy socks, and got into bed with all the covers on top. I shivered and shaked for the next 2 to 3 hours. The body could not get warm, or feel warm. After that episode, I fell asleep. When I woke up, I knew I needed to hydrate and eat something. I do pretty good job of keeping track of my hydration, and soup was the only thing that I could think about eating. Now please keep in mind, I am all but a feral male, so when I say the word "soup", we are talking about a packet of stuff in boiling water. I know, not really the high nutrition of the real stuff, but it is what I had. I was able to go back to sleep until the fever came. Ironically, the body still felt very cold.

I will not bore you with further details, except to say that the next day I was getting better. I forced myself to stay awake through the afternoon until my normal bedtime, but then I found it impossible to fall asleep for the whole night, leaving me completely exhausted for Friday. I needed another day of rest and recuperation. It has been years since I've missed more than two days of work in a row due to illness. And I really hate being caged up by being sick. I'm not into medicines, I've seen the adverse toll they have taken on family members. I believe we are fearfully and wonderfully made by an omniscient creator God. I believe he has given our bodies the tools that it needs to survive these common maladies. If anything, we simply need to facilitate the body to let it do what it was designed to do. Rest is an underrated ally in our fight against illnesses.

Today is Saturday, the rest is paying off. The head is still a bit stuffy, but it is on the mend. Tomorrow, I will try to run. The very cold weather and my upcoming travel will cut into my training time substantially, and I do not think I will be ready for the Paris half marathon in early March. I'm disappointed, but I have greater training goals in mind, and will run it next year, the Lord willing.

Thanks for coming along, I will share more later…

Mark

Six Cents Vingt et Un Jours a Sceaux, B (621 Days in Sceaux, B)

OK, I know this has been a "machine gun" delivery of blog updates, but it seems I just have stuff to share...

I ran today, at -8C (18F), the coldest temperature at which I have every run.  Obviously, I did not have a heart attack, and nothing is frost-bitten.  I tried something new today, something to which I was introduced by a colleague at work.  It is known as "The Maffetone Method", a method of training, and very successful training as evidenced by champion triathletes, which says controlling the heart rate during training is the key to endurance development.  I am reading his book "The Big Book of Endurance Training", and you can find out more about him at  http://www.philmaffetone.com.  

He starts with a well-researched formula for assigning one's aerobic heart rate: 180 - Age.  It is that simple.  There are a few caveats, four to be exact, and with that my target is 125-130 bpm maximum.  That, my friends, is low.  I normally run a 10:00 to 10:30 per mile, and have several miles logged at 9:20 or better.  I had to slow to 14-15 minutes per mile (yes, you read that correctly) to stay in the aerobic window.  Maffetone says that by training at this heart rate, I will gradually run faster and further at the same heart rate (which would be dead-lock-cinch easy way to run).  By running at the aerobic level, the muscles are developing more efficient means of processing oxygen, and therefor speed is a by product of muscle stamina, and not heart rate capacity.  Or something like that.  Got to admit, I did not breath hard at all, and I went super slow, I kept my heartbeat below 130.  I ran a total of 8km (5 miles).  I will keep doing this, as this guy is the guru of endurance training.  I will see if I can run faster with the same heart effort.  I do have a half marathon in four weeks....

As you know, I am a minimalist/barefoot runner, though not barefoot at all this time of year.  I have a pair of Vibram Five Fingers (http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/products/Five-Fingers-Flow-Mens.htm) that I use for temperatures below freezing.  The model is called Flow, and has a slightly thicker sole and neoprene uppers, and they worked well enough today.  The feet are still a bit cold, but not freezing and numb, as I ran in snow the whole way today.

(I supplied the links above for your convenience; I am not compensated in any way)

Today is Super Sunday, the game comes on at midnight CET here.  The NY Giants have too many connections to the South and my beloved SEC to not pull for them to win.

A bientot (again),

Mark

Six Cents Vingt et Un Jours a Sceaux (621 Days in Sceaux)

Woke up today to snow, our first of the year.  The temperature was -9C/16F/264K/475R (I want you to understand the temperature in your preferred scale).  The snow gently and quiet falls here; the Ile-de-France is not known for violent weather (it is not known for great weather, either).  The coffee tastes extra good this morning, and the fresh snow offers a change of pace.  The sun is supposed to peek through tomorrow, but until then, I will sit back and enjoy the winter blanket...

A bientot,

Mark

Six Cents Dix Huit Jours a Sceaux (618 days in Sceaux)

OK, I am breaking the pattern of waiting at least a week between posts...

Remember what I wrote yesterday?  You know, "live, learn, engineer"?  OK, a little more on that.  I noticed a couple of weeks ago how nasty my electric kettle had become.  You may not know it, but the water in Paris is VERY calcitic.  I mean it is HARD.  You do not know if you are being showered or sand blasted!

My electric kettle, a key component in the crafting of my morning coffee -- yes, I used the word "crafted", as Pam will tell you, and Shelby will affirm, it is more than simply "made" -- was looking pretty crusty.  I hand grind my coffee beans fresh each morning, because I have found that electric grinders, no matter what style, either grind the coffee unevenly and.or burn the beans too much by the mere friction of the process.  Besides, my grandson helps me hand grind, which is a worthwhile by-product of going "old school" on the coffee preparation.  

Well, I told you before I went "old school" on the toilet using bleach, and after a few scrubbing encounters on my kettle, which heats water to a boil faster than you can name the capital of your state, I went old school on cleaning again.  I went to good old Monoprix and found some white vinegar.  I have used this miracle cleaner before, but now it was really going to be tested.  The stainless steel of the kettle, and even its black plastic components were almost completely white -- OK, maybe just a strong shade of gray -- with calcite.  I mixed a 50-50 blend of the white vinegar and water -- all the kettle could possibly hold -- and let it stand for 45 minutes.  I poured it out.  The kettle looked completely new.  The cheap white vinegar had done what the expensive cleaners (like AJAX) could not even begin to address.  "Old school" is seldom a bad way to go, IMHO.

All that calcite experience prompted me to buy one of those "new school" Brita water pitchers, and I can finally drink a glass of water here without cringing or adding G2.  The coffee is better, too...

a bientot,

Mark

Six Cent Dix Sept Jours a Sceaux (617 Days in Sceaux)

It has been a long time since I've updated. Christmas vacation family back in Texas with my family, we rented a beach house and had a family reunion with my side of the family. It was a wonderful time, a great time to reconnect. We had not done such a thing in almost 10 years. We all decided that we will not wait that long before we do it again.

I flew back to France, departing from Houston on January 1, 2012, and I arrived on January 2, 2012. The flight was uneventful, as all truly wonderful flights are, and yet I had mixed feelings as I landed. I know how dreary it can be here, during the months of January and February, and how cold it can get. I was not looking forward to long, dark weekends alone. I would be able to stay that sentence a little longer, as I was expecting guests within the week. One of Pam's friends had a daughter and her friend who were traveling through Europe, and wanted to pass through Paris and use Chez Mark as a staging point for further adventures. 

Immediately upon their arrival, or at least the next morning, I had the three of us on a high-speed train to Geneva, Switzerland. The French Alps are all my list of things to see, and they were interested in adding the French Alps to the list of things that they had seen. It was only a three-hour trip, conducted at over 200 miles an hour, and was very comfortable and very pleasant way to see the countryside. We found our hotel, which was right across the street from the train station, and did a quick walking tour of Geneva, which always leads you to the lake. Our target the next day was the town of Les Gets, a quintessential French Alpine ski village. Thanks to GPS and a rented car, we made the trip in about an hour and a half. The village was bustling with activity of skiers; they had just had a fresh 60 cm of snow. Laura and Shelby had never been on skis before in their lives. My plan was to learn to cross country ski, no instructor was available that day. We were not going to leave without skiing. We signed up for early afternoon lessons, and after an hour lessons we were off to the bunny slopes. The French love to ski, and are very accommodating in their ski schools, and train small children by the dozens. That was probably one of the most fun things to watch while we were there: lots of small children under 3 feet tall in full ski gear navigating the slopes. Yes, we were envious of their ease on skis. 

Our target for the second day was Mont Blanc, which required us to drive about an hour to the town of Chamonix. A big cloud was sitting on top of Mont Blanc, so the tram that would've taken us to the top was closed. The town of Chamonix had a very traditional Alpine center of town, including the bakery that served hot sandwiches and quiche. We did a lot of window shopping and dropped in on a few traditional shops to capture the ambiance.  Before we returned to Geneva, we stopped at the bakery again to get three piping hot baguettes to enjoy on the drive back. 

Despite the fact that I did not get to cross country ski, despite the fact we could not get the top of Mont Blanc, we did ski the French Alps, we had lunch in a café run by an Australian, and we thoroughly enjoyed a classic French bakery. That is not a bad weekend. Laura and Shelby were perfect guests, and it was nice to have somebody around as I transitioned into life in Sceaux again.

A couple of weeks after my guests departed, I was off to Scotland, Aberdeen specifically, for business. I had a rare experience: I flew to Aberdeen in the wintertime on a cloudless day. It was the first time I've been there when the sky was not overcast. The view of Aberdeen and the bay was beautiful. The daytime temperature was just above freezing at the nighttime low was just below freezing -- the humidity was 98%. I ran 3 miles to the office from the hotel and back, for a total of just over 6 miles, the next morning. It was a labored run, as my body never felt like it warmed up well, and the hills were not steep, but long. Nonetheless, it goes down as a good run. My meetings there were quite successful, and productive. Those of you who have ever conducted meetings know what a rare and satisfying feeling that is. It was nice to be in a country where communication was easy, and the accents and idioms were thoroughly enjoyed.

Sometime between Les Gets and Aberdeen, I discovered that Monoprix, my supermarket of choice, carried "paella in a bag". I had been buying little individual dinners of paella, and though they were completely edible, they were not quite as rich and tasty as a real paella. I decided to take a chance on "paella in a bag (a frozen bag, that is)" and bought some. Being a man, I did not read the instructions first, before I bought the bag. When I got home, I read the instructions which clearly stated that I could cook this in the microwave. I soon discovered I did not have a large enough bowl, nor any bowl that could endure the microwave for 6 minutes and not be too hot to handle when done. Not a problem, I thought, I will cook it in one of my Cuisinart stainless pans, or maybe a pot by the same maker. The instructions clearly said to use a nonstick pot, but I figured that was just a sneaky advertisement for Teflon. I successfully cooked the paella in my Cuisinart stainless pot. I spent the rest of the day scraping the bottom of the pot and wondered how soon I could get my hands on a new Teflon pot. Just to have options, I now not only have a Teflon pot big enough to handle a kilogram of paella, but I also have a couple of bowls that can be used in the microwave safely. Live, learn, engineer (the "paella in a bag" was excellent, BTW)

I am now preparing for a business trip to India and the Far East. I decided to make one trip to visit India, China, Indonesia, and Japan. I figure in this way, I only need to get over the jet lag once.

Thanks for coming along…

A bientot,

Mark

Cinq Cent Soixante Jours a Sceaux (560 Days in Sceaux)

The bus stopped at the place it always stops for me on my way home from work. I stepped out of the bus, and turned to my right, after all, that is the way home. I noticed the Christmas lights hanging across the street and realized I had not been in the marche de Sceaux since the Christmas lights were up. I turned around, and headed eastward toward the market. The Christmas light displays here in Sceaux are not spectacular, but they nevertheless signal that the festive season has arrived. As I entered the market, I came upon one of my bakeries. They were making crêpes outside, and I could not resist. A piping hot French crêpe to enjoy as I stroll through the open market lit up by Christmas lights, nice.

This past weekend, I actually entertained guests. They were not French, but American expatriates like myself. I provided five different cheeses, and serve spaghetti with marinara. The pressure was on, as they were of Italian descent. I had seen the Godfather many times, I know how to make a good marinara. Good time was had by all, and the fact that they were using the French bread to soak up the marinara, I took that as a good sign.

The weather is not nearly as dreary as it was a year ago. There has been more sunshine, and everyone is grateful. We are, however, coming up on the one-year anniversary of the "big snow" in Paris. They say that 30 cm fell in one day, and for those of you not familiar with the metric system, that is about 4 1/2 feet (not really, I'm just joking, it is really about 12 inches). So far, there is no indication that the weather is coming get that cold or that we have that much moisture moving in. All that really means for me, is that my flight to Houston on Sunday is likely to get out on time.

And now for the running update: my running us back to where it was before my massive head cold and and injury. It took about six weeks to get up to speed for being off about six weeks. I'm running with the metronome regularly now, leaving it on the entire trip. Running and proper cadence is important, it helps me to focus on proper form. My form is improving, but I'm not even sure I can say I maintain good form for half of the run at this stage. There are periods during the run when I feel my form is nearly perfect, and I do feel like I could go on indefinitely. This great sensation will go on for a quarter to half a mile before my concentration breaks down and I have to refocus. The whole purpose and perfect in the form is to be able to run without any prospect of injury, regardless of the distance or the terrain. I am progressing, and small increments of progression do add up.

I wish I could say my mastery of the French language is progressing as well as my running, but I cannot. I do not get enough immersion in the language to train my ear. I can quite often articulate what I want to say, but once they begin responding, I am lost. I will keep trying, because I feel it is an excellent learning opportunity, and one should be a student all of his life.

I'm looking forward to going back to Houston for Christmas. My side of the family is gathering at a beach house on the Gulf of Mexico during Christmas. The beach house sleeps 26 people, but there were only the 16 or 17 of us, so we will have plenty of room to enjoy one another. If I did not get to post again before the holidays, I want to wish you and your loved ones a very Joyeux Noel et Bonne Annee (Merry Christmas and Happy New Year).

A bientot,

Mark

Cinq Cent Trente Sept Jours a Sceaux (537 days in Sceaux)

It has been over a month since I last posted, but it has been a busy time and I got to spend two weeks in Houston on business. Of course, that also means I got to see the family. It is been a busy time at work, it seems that we spend the last half of the year setting the plans in place for the coming year. I guess this is the job of headquarters; look ahead, plan ahead, inform everyone else.

I will say that the expatriates at headquarters do miss one another when we are traveling. We are often traveling alone, and the one thing we share is that we are all a long way from home, and do not mesh 100% with the culture in which we find ourselves. I notice this especially when I return from Houston after my last trip. This is my first expatriates assignment, but for the two or three others in our little group, this is one of many such assignments. Yet, when we all find ourselves in the office together at the same time, there is a bit of celebration. We almost immediately began to plan our offsite lunch. The offsite lunch is something we noticed our French comrades and other European comrades do not embrace. We enjoy getting off the site to fresh in our minds, get a little bit of perspective, enjoy the culture, and let loose a little bit. The esprit de corps is refreshing.

I hit the big FIVE-OH last week. No, not in years, that happened some time ago (but I feel less than half of that, believe me). I sampled my 50th cheese since being in France. As I mentioned earlier, I was not into cheeses at all when I lived in United States, and only began my pursuit here as a hobby, something to do to avoid going completely stir crazy.


Les Fromages de France
Babybel
Vache qui Rit
Kiri
St. Agur
Reblochon
Brie
Compte
Emmental
Chevre frais
Chevre vieille
Camembert
Merzer
Gouda
Gruyere
Chausee aux Moines
Cousteron
Morbier
Bougon
Crottin de Chevre
Crottin de Chavignol
Brouere
Mimolette
Edam
Cantal
Saint Nectaire
Saint Felicien
Ossau-Iraty
Fromage pur chevre
Bleu de brebis (blue sheep cheese)
Saint Marcellin
Saint Paulin
Roquefort
Le Montagnard des Vosges
Chevre de Palet
Bleu d’Auvergne
Fromage de Brebis Corsica
Valencay
Sainte Maure
Galperon
Maroilles
Cure Nantais
Saint Andre
Saint Albray
Le Vieux Pane
Selles-sur-Cher
Rocamadour
Fourme d'Ambert
Bethmale
Bleu Gourmage
Tomme de Savoie  20111105

When I first began this cheese adventure, I was a little hesitant about all the wild and strong flavors I might encounter. Now, when I see a cheese I have not tried, I buy a small portion, knowing that if I do not like it, it will find its way into the trashcan. So far, only a couple of cheeses have met that fate.

I have signed up for the 2012 Paris half marathon in March. I feel like I am making a bit of a comeback on my running, after being sidelined by a severe head cold and the dreaded "top of foot pain". The combination of these two kept me from running for almost 6 weeks. I feel like I'm starting over again, especially when it comes to technique. Technique will be very important in the half marathon run, because it was at a similar distance that I discovered my technique was off and causing problems with my fifth metatarsal during the summer. It has been a bit of a challenge to get my wind again, but it is coming. I intend to conservatively manage my increase in mileage, based on my ability to hold technique during the run.

From the first of November to the end of March represents the dark season for those living in the area around Paris. We have, however, been blessed with a few days of sunshine, like today. Today is an absolutely cloudless sky, and the colors of fall which remain are vibrant. I went on a bit of a walkabout today, mostly in the Parc de Sceaux, and you can see my pictures here: http://twitpic.com/photos/lonewillheath

This coming week represents what should be my last week of travel before the holidays. I am traveling to Southampton, England on Monday and Tuesday, then off to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Wednesday through Friday, landing back in Paris early Saturday morning. The trip to Kuala Lumpur was unexpected, and cost me my trip to Marrakesh. But this is business, and that's why I'm here. I have a lead on another opportunity to go to Morocco in January. 

I'm looking forward to Christmas with the family; we are gathering with my side of the family at a very large beach house on the Texas Gulf Coast.

That's all I have for now, thanks for coming along.

A bientot,

Mark