14.31.a - Paris continues to serve up firsts! Flexibility, resilience, determination and mastery: challenging ourselves...

Today we consider what personal traits are required to win or finish in unprecedented conditions +Are all le Bulletin readers up for enormous challenges? + The Haut Var, Annecy, & Grasse +++

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A personal note about France, life, passions, and more… Saturday 10.8.2024

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Bonjour special subscribers… readers, supporters, friends and family

Welcome, whether you’re a new, and long-time subscriber of le Bulletin, I’m thrilled that you are here.

This week I’m taken aback by the skill and also the fortitude of the Olympic competitors! Did you hear about the difficulties of those competing in the Triathlon? Wow, I’m impressed.

le Bulletin is the weekly newsletter of MyFrenchLife™️ Magazine specially written for you. It contains articles from ~80 collaborators and Magazine Contributors sharing their knowledge and passion about France. Plus you’ll read the updates about our Community activities. Enjoy.

Now let’s see what’s been happening at MyFrenchLife Magazine. Thank you for reading and your financial support, it means the world to me.

I hope that you have a wonderful week ahead.

Regards
Judy

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1. Paris continues to serve up firsts!

As I read reports of the Triathlon I was in awe of these competitors. Not only is a triathlon something beyond my capacity, but competing at the Olympic standard is impressive.

These competitors train for years to access this opportunity!

And then this year… another first.

The swim part of the triathlon was conducted in the Seine River. After some delays, the river was deemed safe for swimming and competition. Here’s what Australian triathlete Sophie Linn had to say:

‘‘It was truly the strongest current I’ve ever swum in,’’ said Linn, who finished 21st. ‘‘Just in the warm-up lap, when I was at the far buoy, I was like, ‘I don’t think I’m going to make it back to the pontoon, I’m going to have to get into the kayak.’ During my warm-up – it was absolutely nuts.’’

In an article by Hans Van Leeuwen in the AFR on Friday 2 August, I read:

But the river was only the start of it. Paris wasn’t done with them yet. It was onto the bike, for a treacherous ride on slick and sometimes cobbled streets that had copped a monsoonal storm overnight – the kind of conditions that landed Australian road cyclist Lucas Plapp in hospital at the weekend.”

‘‘It was definitely a really technical course: the cobbles, super-slippery, a lot of white lines. A lot of adverse conditions all around, I think. The cobbles take a lot out of your legs when you’re riding on them,’’ Linn said.

Both she and van Coevorden were just happy not to have crashed. The streets were dry for Hauser’s race, although he did take a brief tumble – which may even have cost him a medal.

And finally, there was the run – an excursion past endless incredible 19thcentury architecture, the Parisian boulevards, the Eiffel Tower visible in the background, and the thronging, cheering crowds. ‘

‘It was truly phenomenal and overwhelming and overstimulating,’’ Linn said. The whole thing was ‘‘like a really weird video game’’.

I ask you: How would you cope with these conditions?

Challenging ourselves:

As you’re aware I’ve recently written about the challenges some of the members of the MyFrenchLife community undertake, involving resilience, persistence, determination... life, passion, adventure & France, and I’ll be writing about this topic again soon. If you have a challenge you’d like to share, whether it be a serious challenge or a fun one… whatever, please do share it with me! I’d love to write about it, and I can do so anonymously if you’d prefer.

Share your challenge with me here.

2. Discover these superb articles that caught my eye from our #FranceStack library this week… An assortment, well beyond one theme!

[ ↓↓ Additionally, you’ll find new MyFrenchLife Magazine articles at the base of this newsletter ↓↓]

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