My Parents’ Paris Training Programme

My Dad’s Paris bucket list item was very specific: sit in a café on the Champs-Élysées and do a bit of people-watching. With this goal in mind, we boarded the TGV in Zurich on Monday morning and headed for Paris.

Armed with my eight-page itinerary, I felt confident that I had everything under control. I was particularly pleased with our hotel, just 800 metres from the Eiffel Tower.

Those 800 metres had been the goal of my “Paris Training Programme” with my parents. For months, we had been training to walk the distance without a bench stop. They did brilliantly, so naturally I thought we were prepared.

But, as I was about to discover, walking isn’t the only factor to consider when travelling with parents in their eighties.

Regular meals are another.

On our first evening, we checked into the hotel, unpacked and, according to my carefully curated itinerary, set off for the Eiffel Tower. The plan was to walk the 800 metres, get our first glimpse of the tower and then find somewhere for dinner.

We got closer and closer.

But then Mum stopped. She was done. Seeing the Eiffel Tower was no longer a priority. In fact, it was the last thing she wanted to see.

She was hungry.

Negotiating with a Ferociously Hungry Mother is generally not advisable, and I’m ashamed to admit that I attempted it.

“But Mum, it’s literally only a few metres! It’s just around the corner!”

Nope.

She was not moving another inch before she had a crust of bread. So we abandoned the Mission: Eiffel Tower, sat down in the next restaurant and ordered dinner instead.

And yes, the Eiffel Tower remained unseen that evening. We had somehow travelled all the way to Paris, walked to within 100 metres of one of the world’s most famous landmarks and still managed not to see it. Clearly, there was a flaw in my eight-page itinerary.

The next day, we made up for it and saw the Eiffel Tower in all its splendour.

And from then on, Paris (and the upgraded itinerary with plenty of stops) delivered. We took a boat ride on the Seine, did a bus tour, visited Montmartre, wandered through little cafés and shops, watched the Eiffel Tower sparkle and, most importantly, Dad got his coffee on the Champs-Élysées (he opted for a non-alcoholic Spritz instead).

Meanwhile, Kai and I went running every morning along the Seine, with the Eiffel Tower providing a rather spectacular backdrop. My coach had kindly given me a special Paris training plan with only 30 minutes a day.

By Friday, we had successfully navigated Paris for a week and were ready to head home.

We had allowed ourselves an hour to get to the train station Gare de Lyon.

However, our Uber got stuck in traffic and our carefully planned margin quickly disappeared. I looked at Kai in the front seat, frantically checking Google Maps.

Trying to sound calm, I asked the driver if we would make it.

“Mais oui, Madame.”

He then proceeded to demonstrate that Parisian Uber drivers can perform miracles. Through a combination of gap-jumping, creative manoeuvring and some impressive swerving, he somehow got us to the station. We jumped out and ran for it.

That’s when all those months of Paris Training finally paid off: I’ve never seen my parents move so fast. They literally sprinted across Gare de Lyon.

We made the train with seconds to spare. We had barely boarded when it pulled out of the station. I have never been so happy to catch a train!

Somehow, the slightly dramatic departure was a fitting end to our Paris adventure. We came home with a bagful of memories, a successfully completed Champs-Élysées coffee mission and, most importantly, everyone très heureux.

• How do you look for running routes in a new place?
• Ever missed a bus, train or flight?

I am linking up with Jenny from Runners Fly and Jenn from Runs with Pugs for Tuesday Topics as well as Runners’ Roundup with Coach Debbie Runs, Confessions of a Mother Runner, Mile by Mile, and Runs with Pugs!