So you get to Paris and now you have to get around. The good thing is you have options. Light rail is one of them that’s brand new. Also *** really robust bus system that’ll get you around. But if you want some pedal power bikes, just like at home, you can rent. We though will start underground. This is the second busiest metro in Europe and during the Olympics, it might just teeter near first. All right. So the map is your best friend. This is familiar just like New York, Boston. Also, they have the app city mapper type in where you wanna go takes you there tells you everything, you know, foolproof. They say that the subway covers more than 600,000 miles *** day. And fortunately, I just needed less than one. All right. So that’s not that bad at all. If you just follow *** map or just an app, it’ll get you through. But you have options. Maybe what you want is *** bicycle or throughout the streets, they make it so easy to get around. Going green is big in Paris right now and biking, the city of Light is quite popular. We can see all of the monument and uh it’s *** friendly and uh good, uh, good activity to, uh, to visit Paris. It’s busy but not intimidating because we’ve seen it all before New York. Except that here saying *** town or downtown, it’s just *** name. So you need to make sure that you’re in the right way or around and around town at the Arc De Triomphe, which can be dizzying but it all ends well from bikes to trains to cars. See there’s so much hustle and bustle in life going on that you just, you get to point *** to point B in *** snap.
Aptos native Nikki Hiltz aims for Olympic gold while advocating for LGBTQ community
Aptos High School graduate Nikki Hiltz is breaking records on the track and making an impact off and on it as they prepare to compete in the Paris Olympics.”It is something I am still trying to process, but I do think overall I am just really excited and ready to race again,” Hiltz said.Hiltz’s journey began in Santa Cruz County. They shone on the Aptos High School track and field team, winning six Central Coast Section titles and a state championship. “I am just really grateful, I think, for coaches who instilled belief in me. I think they believed in me before I could believe in myself,” Hiltz said.Hiltz took this bit of coaching advice into the U.S. Olympic trials.”Something Gruber, my high school coach, always said is ‘don’t take the lead until you know you won’t give it back,’ and I think if you watch me run, you’ll never see me leading a race until the very end,” Hiltz said.Hiltz didn’t just qualify for the Olympics. They delivered a record-breaking performance. With a personal best of just over 3 minutes and 55 seconds, it’s the fastest time ever run at the U.S. Olympic trials.”At the end of the day, it is another track, and I have been doing this for like over half of my life now, and so it is exactly the same as when I was 15 years old lining up at a CCS meet,” Hiltz said.Off the track, Hiltz shows the same passion. They are a dedicated advocate for the LGBTQ community, identifying as non-binary and using they/them pronouns.”If I can just even help one person see themselves in me, then it will all be worth it,” Hiltz said.Hiltz credits their upbringing in Santa Cruz for their confidence and advocacy.”Being raised in Santa Cruz, California, you know, coming from a very liberal progressive family and town and city only helped me in taking up space. Realizing and having that support, I feel so privileged to know that I am loved and supported, and I know that not every queer person has that,” Hiltz said.The first round for the 1500 meters is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 6. The Olympic Games get underway this week, with the opening ceremony scheduled to start at 10:30 in the morning our time. You’ll be able to see it right here on KBSW NBC, your home of the Paris Summer Olympics.See more coverage of top Central Coast stories here
