Staying Fit in Paris

When we left the US, I belonged to the Poulsbo Athletic Club and Brenda used our Nordic Track and took pilates classes from Jo Carter. We were relatively fit and were interested in staying fit in Paris. At first we had a fitness center at our hotel, but once we moved into our apartment we needed a place to work out.

We ended up joining a chain of health clubs called Health City. We needed to have a local bank account before we could join. That’s a winter photo of me – the weather is getting warmer believe it or not. Every other day we head off to the club, about 5 blocks from our apartment. As you might expect, Health City costs more – a little more than twice as much as Poulsbo Athletic Club. It has more machines and types of machines, as well as free weights and more treadmills and eliptical machines. It doesn’t have an exercise pool, a physical therapy center, or racquetball courts. It does have free exercise classes, sauna and steam room. On good days I can run outside – Paris is great for that – of course so is Poulsbo. The staff is professional – everyone there is really into fitness. Our orientation one day was by a member of the French national water polo team. Many people use personal trainers. It seems like most people working out are training for something, not just trying to stave off old age like us. The place is often very busy.

We haven’t met too many new friends at the club. One trainer who was from Iran speaks pretty good English and always talks to us when we see her. Her core fitness class was a killer, by the way. Along with walking more and eating a better diet here (it helps to have more time to focus on these things), the health club has made a difference. I can’t say exactly how much weight I’ve lost, but I have to buy a waist size 3 inches smaller now, so it must be making some difference.