Eventually, we found them: a group of about thirty French people dressed in various outfits (shirts and jeans, tees and sweatpants, actually yoga clothes) on a range of yoga mat interpretations. It was the least intimidating environment I've probably ever experienced in Paris; such a vast difference from the Lululemon-clad yogis of New York.
My new French friend and I were a bit late so we quickly set down our mats and entered the first posture. It felt amazing to stretch again. The sequence moved slowly and thoughtfully--each posture was thoroughly explained (fortunately for me, the French names are literal translations of the English ones) and held for longer than I'm used to. As such, it wasn't so much physically challenging as it completely tackled my otherwise racing mind. At the end of the hour and a half, I felt calm, quiet, centered.
I wished my friend a "bon journée"and exited the park a different way than we'd came. I wanted to walk through it a bit as it was first time there. I walked down to the canal, stopped at a market to pick up basil for this recipe, and made my way home. What a nice morning. It's definitely not my last outdoor yoga class! I'm hoping to return to Parc de la Villette one night soon as well. A date night at "the cinéma " with a boyfriend I've been missing (he's been traveling a lot for work) sounds perfect.
