The good and the bad

It is officially less than one week until I leave the city of Paris and head back home to my normal life, including those 2:30 a.m. wake-ups and the busy fall sports season.

So, it felt like as good a time as any to write about some of the things I have liked and things that maybe I don't like as much about this time around.

What I like: The ability to see multiple sports and venues in one day. While I was apprehensive of using the public transportation in Paris, mainly because I was afraid of getting lost, I have found it pretty easy to navigate and the trains have made it easy to get from one side of Paris to the other and see numerous events.

What I don't like: The crowded trains. This doesn't always happen, but after a contest at a larger arena (soccer, track), the train is usually so packed you can't turn around. I don't particularly care for huge crowds, but it is usually not a long ride.

What I like: The Paris organizers have done a great job of keeping traffic moving after those big events. Near the Stade de France, where I have left each of the last three nights at just after 10 p.m., the Metro station has been a crowded place, but there's tons of employees/volunteers in each station guiding people in the right direction and there seems to be extra trains, as there's usually one ever few minutes.

What I don't like: The random changing of rules/directions. One day they tell me to go in one entrance, the next day they tell me I can't go that way. One day we walk one way around the media center to the entrance, the next day we can't go that way. I am not sure of the logic, but it can be a tad bit annoying.

What I like: The cool cups they give you when you buy a soda or water at the concession stands. Most of them have different sports on them, so it's cool to see how many you can collect. However, there is an extra two-Euro charge for each cup as a deposit. If you so choose, you can bring the cup back to the place you bought it and they will give you the two euros back.

What I don't like: There are way too many vegetarian options on the media center cafe corner menu. If you show up at the end of their day, you may only find those options, which tells me that nobody is eating them (or fewer of them than other stuff). They've been promoting the veggie options all over the place, but sorry, I prefer meat and chicken.

What I like: For the first time since PyeongChang we have the ability to move around freely, which allows me to go to the store or a restaurant to get something to eat or drink. I don't know that I appreciated that before the last two Olympics limited us so much.

What I don't like: My hotel. My room is so small that I literally can not walk beside the bed, I have to slide around it. I also can't turn around in the shower without hitting the faucet and turning the water from hot to cold. And the breakfast that is provided is almost literally just grains. There's croissants, baguettes, regular bread and cereals. And there's dried apricots and prunes plus coffee and juice. I do understand that this is pretty much standard for French breakfast.

What I like: The venues are spectacular. From the Eiffel Tower beach volleyball setting to the Stade de France where they host track, from Bercy Arena to the Place de Concorde where the urban sports park is located, from Palace de Versailles where they host equestrian to the velodrome and BMX track, from Golf Nationale to Invalides where they host archery and from Pont de Alexandre III for triathlon to the Grand Palais for fencing, the locations are stunning and these are truly some of the most incredible places I've had the pleasure of covering games.

What I don't like: There's a lot of walking. I don't mind walking, but the public transportation or the media transport buses don't always leave us near the venues, so I spend a lot of my time walking. There's also plenty of time walking around underground, as the Metro system has an incredible network of underground tunnels between stations.

What I like: The saga of Snoop Dogg has been entertaining to see. I've only seen him in person once, though I know he's been at a couple of different events I've been to. I am not sure how it's coming across on NBC back home, but online it's been kind of funny how he's become everyone's favorite uncle.

There's plenty to love about these Olympics, but there are a few things that are a bit tougher to deal with. That can be said with every single Olympic trip I have made.

I got to see Snoop Dogg at the women's soccer game the other day, as he was doing a spot for NBC a couple of sections over.