Roundabouts

Today,I rode my bike for an hour and a half to Hopital Trousseau and back.  For some reason, I couldn't get this song out of my head!

Haha - YES!!!!!!!!!

I'm not sure why, but in general - and for some unknown reason - I really do feel safer on my bike here.  In terms of circulation, there are lots of differences between here and the States...  Here's ten off the top of my head:

1.  Widespread use of roundabouts in lieu of stop signs (keeps traffic moving albeit a little chaotically)  :)
2.  Pretty much everyone drives stick shift
3.  Traffic signals appear BEFORE the intersection at eye level on the right
4.  Corners and intersections are yields because there's maybe like two stop signs in this whole country
5.  Roads are narrow and curvy for the most part
6.  Street names mostly appear on sides of buildings if they appear at all
7.  Signs are results based, so destinations are more prominent than street names
8.  Parking on the sidewalk, or halfway on the sidewalk is not only totally acceptable, it's encouraged
9.  Bike routes are super well marked (and cyclists observe red lights and traffic laws)
10.  There is no turn on red lights.  So, if you have a green, it's a sure fire thing you will not be run over!

Today, I had an amazing visit with a cardiologist!  I got an EKG (cool) and we talked a little about my diet.  I told him I've been crunching some numbers (nutrition post on the way) and it looks like I'm getting more than enough protein, but not nearly enough carbohydrates...  He said I should be eating more complex carbs (like pasta and rice) and then specifically recommended (wait for it...) CHOCOLATE!  That's right!  Not a piece of fruit, not a power bar, or a hard boiled egg, or a bagel!  Chocolate.  I thanked him and told him that shouldn't be a problem...  Haha!

Come to France to play volleyball and get prescribed chocolate and carbohydrates...  Life's not too shabby right now!  Seriously though, if you know me well, you know that there's no way I'm going to take any recommendation from any one (even a fancy French cardiologist) at face value, so I'm doing some research about diet and nutrition that I'll be sure to post about as soon as I've finalized my findings - wink wink!  :)

That's all for now.  More later!