Day 8: France

Today was all about the French countryside. It was chilly and overcast, which, coupled with the absolutely gorgeous French landscapes, made for lovely running indeed. Team Yellow took on the late-afternoon shift, which allowed them a well-deserved sleep-in, departing the hotel at 1 p.m. This was the first day Team Yellow's fearless van driver had ever driven a car outside the U.K. — and on one tiny country road, the van gave quite a shock to a French driver when it headed up to her car, nose to nose, on the "wrong" side of the road. It took some yelling from the runners to orient the driver back to the right side.

Laurel talk to local kids during her segment run through the village of Nanteuil

The team's lone French speaker, Laurel Dudley, put her linguistic skills to the test when she ran into two curious French motorcyclists at a small roadside gas station and had to explain a "run around the world" in her non-native tongue. (One indication that the moment was, perhaps, meant to be was the "Rudy" tattoo sported by one of the cyclists; Rudy is the name of one of Laurel's teammates.)

Laurel talk to local kids during her segment run through the village of Nanteuil

Laurel also confounded a local barkeep when she asked for bag of ice (for her sore ankle) in a small tavern — given the quizzical reaction from the bartender, the French apparently do not have their drinks on the rocks. Despite the fact that we may have passed more sheep than people today, leave it to media-darling Paul to be the focus of the sole small-town newsman who came out to the Run; Paul was photographed for a good chunk of his 10-mile leg by this intrepid journalist, who followed along beside him.

Another day coming to a close . . . this time in the City of Lights. It's Paris tomorrow — Vive la France and the Blue Planet Run!