Sunday at the Paris horse races

On Sunday, 7 October, Susan and I had the most pleasant experience of going to the horse races here in Paris. Diane, our friend from Oregon, metnioned the other day that she was going to a horse races at the Hippodrome de Longhcamp, in the Bois de Boulogne, the huge park in western Paris. She also said that it was reputed to be one of the biggest races of the year in Europe. So big in fact that thousands of British come over just for this one event. The idea intrigued us so much I went online and ordered tickets for us as well. (A simple matter really. Just go to FNAC.com, the city's largest electronics, music and DVD chain and you can order right online. Then go to any of the FNAC stores and pick up the tickets. Voila!) (photo: Susie and Diane.)

And what a gorgeous day for a horse race! The sun was shining, the temps in the low 70s as Susan and I left the apartment about 1:30 and walked to the Bastille where we got on the no. 5 Metro to austerlitz and changed to the no. 10, taking it almost all the way to the end of the line, getting off at Porte d'Auteuil inthe 16th arrondissement. We exited the Metro, planning to meet up with Diane at street level and sure enough she was already there. The three of us then boarded one of the free shuttle buses to the racetrack and off we went.

(Note that there are apparently two racetracks in the Bois de Boulogne, both called "Hippodromes," Hippodrome de Longchamp, where we were going, and the Hippodrome Auteuil.)

After entering the park, or rather the racetrack we wandered around the various stands, mostly boutique kiosks selling, you guessed it, T-shirts, caps, and other clothing items as well as horse-oriented books, photos, and the ever-present jewelry. There were also numerous champagne bars scattered everywhere it seemed, where they sold, that's right again, just champagne. Dom Perignon even had its own kiosks.

We found our way to the plebeian grandstands, marble steps really that people sat on when they weren't standing up trying to see who was doing what on the race track for sixty seconds or so and then back down on the steps to browse through the racing materials, down a beer or two, eagerly scouting out the next horse to lose money on.

There were plenty of folks taking this race quite seriously, too.

If you must know I lost everything I bet: €8 on four races. (That's the last time I bet on a tip that I overheard on the Metro.)

One of the big things is that at the horse races in Europe , or anywhere else for all I know, otherwise intelligent, practical women, lose all their senses and put the most outlandish stuff on their heads. Well actually some of the headgear was pretty cool, I have to admit.

You can see more examples of what I'm talking about. Just click here!

Oh, and for more photos of our "Day at the Races," click here.

Needless to say we had a grand time and it was plenty of fun to watch the people as well as the horses.

After the race we boarded the shuttle bus for the return to the metro but since traffic was slow, painfully slow, many people were simply getting off and walking. And so we did as well.

Once we arrived at the Metro we took the no. 10 to Austerlitz and changed to the 5 to Bastille. We returned to the surface and found a wonderful little Japanese restaurant right off of the Place de la Bastille where we had great yakitori, and some delicious miso soup.

Afterwards we said au revoir to Diane -- she heads home to Oregon Wednesday. We can't thank her enough for sharing some of the wonderful things she helped us see here in Paris.

Merci beaucoup Diane! In boca al lupo!!

Diane headed off to the Metro and Susie and I walked down rue de la Roquette, toward the Place Leon Blum and home.

Wish you had been there,

Steve