1 October 2024
This was almost the definition of a perfect, if too constrained on time, morning biz-trip swim. I had managed to find a rather unique "hotel" just outside of Paris that met three requirements:
Under my company's miniscule nightly $150 room rate budget
Convenient (~30 minutes on Paris's excellent public transit) to my clients' office
Less than a 30 minute walk to a new pool
The Villa Medicis is primarily a seniors, independent living residence that appears to rent out unoccupied rooms to travelers. While I had a horrible night of sleep - sheer curtains facing the street and my sleep mask left at home - if you bring a face mask and want a very large, clean (if a bit antiseptic smelling room), this is a very economical choice with welcoming service.
Like so many pools in Paris, the opening hours for anyone who wants to swim before work are ludicrously late - 7am. While living in London and traveling around Europe is an experience I'll never regret, I wish the continent would adopt the 5am or 5:30am pool opening hours that are very common in Arizona and California. With that gripe said, the walk down the slope toward the Seine was serene, with the streets devoid of people and almost empty of cars until I emerged from the quaint & quieter streest to Quai de Dion Bouton along the river ...
The Palais des Sports sits on the Île de Puteaux, a thin long island that starts a bit northeast near La Defense and Neuilly-sur-Seine. This island seems devoted to sport, with a large tennis facility at one end, the pools and fitness center in the middle, and two football fields with a running track around one. I definitely need to make it back here on a sunny, summer day to walk around the entire island.
The pools were impressive, boasting an outdoor 50-meter and an indoor 25-meter pool. I only swam inside, making this pool #704 on my #1001Pools list. It was all awesome until the end of the 2KM workout: not crowded, with 1-2 other swimmers with me in the lane, perfect water temperature, very wide lanes, brightly lit and just beautiful. I could not get good pictures, but trust me when I say this is beautiful.
Alas, the beauty was ended with my clumsiness when I pressed out of the pool at the end of the workout. As I pressed out to my feet, I slipped on the deck and went crashing down. 195CM of height and 85KG of weight make for a big impact zone and quite the sound. It could have been much worse as I think I was mere centimeters from cracking the back of my head on the raised ledge at the water’s edge. Fortunately, I escaped with just a bloodied elbow … and very wounded pride. A very attentive Parisian lifeguard bandaged me up so I didn’t spend all my work meetings bleeding through my dress shirt.
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