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This trip was really amazing – in many ways. I was pretty
apprehensive about going by myself, not knowing a lick of French, (heck, I
thought the word for yes “oui” was spelled and pronounced “we”), hearing all the
horror stories of how the French hate the Americans, not having anyone there I
knew, etc. I was also concerned that I would get hopelessly homesick, as I miss
Lorraine intensely when I’m away. But, while I did feel lonely from time to
time, the excitement of the tournament, and the way the Lord worked out all the
details I couldn’t take
The train ride from London to Paris was delightful. It was 2.5 hrs of countryside, and then under the English Channel in a very comfortable and affordable first class cabin. This train ticket also included a voucher for a free cab ride to the hotel – excellent start. My hotel room overlooked a park in the direction of Rolland Garros, and it came with a refrigerator, which allowed me to keep a lot of “comfort foods” for the week.
My first day was a bit overwhelming. The grounds are pretty big, with three distinct and huge stadiums; each near the size of any major league sports team. Everything is in French, with no subtitles (unlike we do for them in Canada), so trying to figure out what was what took a while. However, once I asked someone to speak English, they would, and language became less and less of a barrier. Something funny about the language though is that I heard expressions that I thought were just “jokes” or for “cartoons”, not something real French people would say in real life – like “wala!” and “ooh la la”, and some other sounds that really made me laugh. Anyway, I heard very little English spoken while I was there, and that made me feel just a little more “isolated”. But again, I wasn’t there to socialize, and so it really didn’t bother me.
After day one, my first priority was to find a way to play some tennis each day. Besides being inspired by the play I’ll see at the tournament, I would miss playing even if I was at home. The hotel did some research for me and found two clubs that permit “visitors” to take lessons, and both were more than 20 minutes away by public transportation. I decided to walk around and see what I could see within walking distance of the hotel. The first place I went there was a locked gate, and when someone came out, I went in and looked for the court with the “obvious pro”. I found it, but he did not speak English. Someone shortly thereafter came for a lesson, and that person did speak English, so they translated my desire to take some hitting lessons. This was simply not permitted at this club.
I then stumbled onto the Tennis Club of Paris – literally
right next door to the hotel. When I inquired with the front desk, they had
already called them and were told visitor lessons were not permitted. I decided
to inquire on my own the next day. So, at 9am the next day, I got dressed in
tennis whites, got my tennis bag and made my way to the club. I saw a member
headed for the key card access gate, and I followed him in. I then asked if he
spoke English, which he did, and he hooked me up with someone that worked in the
pro shop. Because it looked like I was “with him”, they treated me pretty nice
and introduced me to two pros who I hit with every day until the day I left. It
was fantastic. These guys really knew their stuff, were phenomenal players (we
played sets the last few days) and were a delight to visit with each day – both
spoke English with a heavy accent, but there were really no communication
problems. All of the above just sets the stage for how well the accommodations
worked out – I was also only a 20 minute walk from Rolland Garros, so I never
had to take any public transportation while I was there.
The tennis at the stadium was absolutely remarkable. I watched at least 3 matches each day, with some of them going 5 sets. Thanks to the clay, the rally’s were long and the shot making ranged from raw power to the softest touch and finesse you could imagine. This was tennis as an art form, not just as a sport. I got to appreciate some new pros I had not watched before, and got to see my favorites (Federer, Nadal, Henin-Harden) as well. I now have added Puerto (who made it to the finals), Kiefer, and Gonzalez to my list of “favorites”. I enjoyed their games immensely.
My seats were also tremendous. At first I was pretty upset because I couldn’t go into one of the three stadiums I was interested in – since it was not what was on my ticket. My ticket was for the main stadium, where the best matches were to be played, but the other two stadiums were also for good matches, but they had all assigned seats. I thought I had been “hoodwinked” with the tickets, but I soon found out that I would get to see everyone I wanted at the big Chatrier stadium over the course of the 6 days I’d be there. While my specific seat was 20 rows up from the private lodge boxes, I was able to sit in the first row every day. This was quite common for people to move around almost anywhere in the section – especially if they were alone or with just one other person. So… I sat in the front row for every match. It was so close I could spit on the court (which I didn’t of course J ). Seeing things from that level made the experience that much more incredible.
As far as the restaurants and food goes, I got my only true “French food” from the French chefs that cooked at one of the outdoor restaurants at Rolland Garros. It was good, but not my favorite cuisine. However, their deserts are amazing. Their pastries were certainly world class, and they did lots with soft ice-cream an fruit and all sorts of combinations with different pastries. I hate to admit it, but I ate deserts several times each day, they were so good. The pastry shops are also on virtually every corner – they are small “mom and pop” shops that typically have lines coming out of them with locals each morning.
All in all, it was a fantastic trip that I would do again in a heartbeat. After I see Wimbledon and the Australian Open, I may return to the French for another week of “tennis mania”. All I can say is that “God is Good!”.
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