Freestyle Friday: Flaneur

I walk a lot, an hour of more almost everyday.  Probably half of the time this is walking and going nowhere, plodding on the treadmill, 2.3 miles an hour, with between a 5 and 6 degree incline. I watch YouTube videos on my Ipad to fill the time. It is movement, just to keep moving even if I am going no place. But then most walks finish where I started, this one just covers less ground in between.  

For years I had a Nike running poster framed on my bedroom wall, showing a man running a scenic street in San Francisco. The caption read, "There is a fat man, he was born on your birthday, he is wearing you clothes, and he looks a lot like you, and if you ever stop running he will catch up with you." I shouldn't have parted with that one when we sold the other house. 

Other times I walk because I have someplace to go. Sadly many parts of our neighborhood are not pedestrian friendly. But I can walk to the subway station, or Aldi.  

Other times I flaneur, I walk aimlessly. I walk to walk, to explore whatever I happen to see. The photo above was a recent flaneur along the River in old town Alexandria.  I found a parking spot along Founders Park, and walked, with no plan, no goal, just to move along. I went south along the waterfront, out onto a couple of piers to see what boats where in, then further south finding that they are replacing some of the pavers at Robinson Landing, an area that was finished just a couple of years ago, in the place of the old Washington Post newspaper dock and warehouse. Then a block over the Union Street and back north, wandering through the Torpedo Factory Arts Center, and eventually back to the car. It was a delightful walk, with no aim or goal, a classic French flaneur. 

Tell us about your latest flaneur.