Roland Garros 2008 - Day 7

Woke up in a really bad mood.  Not being home has really taken its toll.  I need to be with Colleen.  I'm too far away to be there for her, with her.  I am eaten alive with guilt over the possibility that she'll go into labor and I'll have to scramble to fly home to get there in time to see my daughter in the birthing room.

Today was laundry day.  I don't know if they have service on the weekend, and Friday is risky enough, but I did need to get it done.  I realized that I didn't have enough bags to hold all of it, so I called down for some additional bags.  I took a different approach this time and put one form in each bag with the counts that were in each bag.  That was a lesson I learned from Wimbledon.  If they got separated, they'd all have accurate counts of what was in them and all tagged for my room and hotel.

With that, I went back to sleep.  I wasn't tired, just annoyed with myself and thought maybe some extra sleep would shake the mood.  Oddly, the hour and a half of extra sleep only served to annoy me more.  I'd overslept free breakfast and most restaurants in the area aren't serving lunch until after 11:30.  ARGH!  Oh well, I decided I would get cleaned up and go into work early.  At least sitting in front of my laptop I can lose myself in work.

Calling Colleen at 1:05 is pretty nice.  I know she's giving up part of her time in the morning which is of course important for her, but I do appreciate the chance to hear her voice. :-)  We chat about nonsense.  What is going on there, what is going on here, how the dogs are, how the walk to work is, etc.  Really just trying to make it seem less like I'm several thousand miles from home.

I learned something interesting today.  The cafeteria for media has been serving what they call a galette, but the English translation says pancake.  Now, I know that a true American pancake is most commonly known as a crepe in France.  So, what gives?  Leave it to the Internet to help me find out.  I actually like the ones they serve and I chose to have dinner here at the venue and it was a galette and some sort of whole grain with corn, carrots, and peas.  Very tasty.  I just didn't want to go out anywhere and I was a bit nervous about whether or not my laundry would be there.  Not only was it a risk because it was Friday, but it was a risk because I was running out of clean underwear, shorts, shirts, and pants. :-(

I got back to the room and yes indeed all my laundry was there.  Having done it with three sheets, one for each bag I sent out was the right way to handle it.  Now for the annoying part.  They stapled on some clothes, pinned on others, and just stuck on yet others the tag to indicate my room and last name.  Can't leave that on there, and so I spent a bit of time peeling, unpinning and staple removing.  Of course, it left some spots on a couple of items that could be construed as damage, but overall I was pleased.  One of the pair of socks were very threadbare so I won't be bringing them back to the US with me.

Colleen was still working when I got back to the room so she couldn't talk much.  We tried to work out me calling her cell phone, but had to wind up playing a little phone tag.  Of course, she also misunderstood where I was calling her from and called my cell number.  We may have played a $1.99 per minute version of it while I worked out calling her back using the French cell and International calling card, but that was OK.  Of course, with my bad mood, I probably was a bit more uptight than I should have been and I hope I didn't take it out too much on her.  She's having to be strong for two right now, she doesn't need to have to be strong for three.

It was a bit after 12:30 when I asked Colleen to let me go.  I was still tired, feeling emotionally exhausted due to my sour mood.  I can only hope things clear up or it will be a long week and a half.

Cheers!

Roland Garros 2008 - Day 6

Woke up feeling much better than I had the day before.  I didn't do any drinking to speak of (seems 2 beers at dinner isn't drinking in venue terms) and other than the chronic hip pain I still swear the bed is causing, I was more than ready to go for my run.  While it isn't a sequential part of this day's entry, later in the day I found this site that allowed me to see how far I was running.  It isn't quite a mile around the perimeter, mostly because it isn't quite the perimeter.  Still the map shows that if I do 5.5 laps, which has been my current pace, I am getting in just under 5.4 miles.  Not too shabby, honestly.  I did walk for 3 minutes on the third lap again, but it truly was a fairly solid run.  The only thing was once again it was a run that managed to keep my heart rate fairly low.  I need to figure out how to push the rate.  Supposedly, the virtual fitness trainer I signed up for at LifeTime will help me do more and more intense interval training, but for now I just take what my body gives.

Walked in with the threat of rain overhead.  Sweat on the metro like I was a drug dealer at a police convention, but when I got to the surface again, the rain had held off.  Surprising, considering every news channel and Web site we looked at swore we were facing 100% chance of rain.  Truthfully, there was about one hour of rain but it cleared off and play resumed with little interruption.

I like the notion of calling Colleen right at 7:05 AM (1:05 PM CET) every morning.  The international calling card has made that entirely possible and exceptionally easy.  We get to chat about mindless things and I get to feel like I'm still plugged in to what she's got going on.  Damnit, I miss her.  This was a bad choice on my part, but since I really wanted to afford her the chance to not go back to work if she chooses, I needed to keep my employer happy with my work. :)  Still, it has put a pervasive gloom in my mood that I should be at home and with her, not in Paris with these people. :-(

An early day and I actually take the chance to leave.  I know I could stay since it is only a couple of extra hours, but it somewhat belies the notion of shift work.  Besides, I wanted to leave, just starting to feel the blues.

I took a different route back to the hotel.  Some of the folks here take a different metro route that puts them out directly in front of the hotel with only one train transfer, so I thought I'd give it a shot.  Franklin Delano Roosevelt station is busy, massive and aggravating.  The train I needed was packed, so I chose instead to walk back to the hotel.  A stroll down the Champs-Elysses isn't a bad idea, and it was just a little over a mile walk.  It was interesting to see all the people.  Walking through the really densely populated areas listening to my iPhone play list is awesome.  People watching to my own world soundtrack.  I even bent to pet a pug in a pink sweater, though her owner was most displeased at either my forwardness with her dog, or her dog's willingness to be so friendly with a stranger.  Dogs love me, what can I say? :)

The circle at the end of the Champs is without question one of the most terrifying things I have ever seen.  It is approximately 7 lanes wide as a roundabout but there are no discernable lanes marked.  Further, there seem to be only speed guidelines as opposed to limits as motorcycles, Smart cars, and anything willing to haul booty through the circle seems to do so.  I can't imagine trying to drive in it, and walking across it always manages to be the exception to my rule of "jaywalk like you mean it."  I refuse to go any further than the lights allow, I won't attempt to cross without a light, and I don't even lean out to see if traffic is coming.  I've been through it now three times and every time I just marvel at the symphony of chaos that goes on there.

I got back to the hotel and chose to have another 13 Euro Jameson.  Another marvel of French service industry to me, this time I was charged for my mixer separately, pushing the drink total to 18 Euros.  I was just feeling blue and a little good whiskey never hurt anyone, but I am NOT sure I can reasonably drink them any more while I am here.  The price is too steep for me to justify.  I quickly changed and started wandering.

I found a French restaurant near the Louvre that had English translations of all their items and a sesame encrusted tuna steak in a teriyaki reduction sounded really tasty. :-)  I wasn't disappointed, though it got cooked a bit more than I really had expected.  I also selected an appetizer of lentils in balsamic vinaigrette which were awesome.  Add in a half bottle of a very good Bordeaux (I find it fascinating, though obviously unsurprising that wine tends to be cheaper than ever bottled water here) and I was quite happy sitting looking out onto a section of Paris I can honestly say I hadn't seen before.  I got some interesting people watching in, though the traffic was really close to the table and I did get a couple of gulps of some sort of petrol fumes.  They gave me a card, but unlike London and Melbourne, it didn't list any form of Web site, so I didn't keep it and now I don't remember the name. LOL

Back to the room and watching some movie with David Duchovny and Julianne Moore, though I can't tell you the name of it as I didn't see it from the start.  It was funny as the movie was in English with French subtitles, so I didn't have to read the movie.  I literally was in bed and in a deep sleep at 10 PM.  I had to be tired.  I had planned to call Colleen, but maybe it was the wine, maybe it was the mood, or maybe it was just that my body feels beaten up by the bed, but I was out like a light and missed my chance to call her.  Have I mentioned how much I miss her?

Cheers!

Roland Garros 2008 - Day 5

Hangover does not begin to explain how I felt as I woke up this morning.  I felt ill and I almost bailed on running.  I even reset the alarm since I didn't have to be in until late but as the bed is not comfortable (I determined lying there that the cause of my hip pain is from an odd lump in the mattress and I sleep on my right side and my hip was right on top of it) and the room still is not cool.  I contemplate saying something to the desk, but I keep telling myself I'll try to ride it out.  Anyway, I told myself the hangover was my own doing, I had no one to blame and that it was a lame excuse to avoid the exercise I knew I needed.  So, with a small bit of trepidation, I got up, staggered around the room and got dressed for my run.

Run.  That's one way to put it.  I have determined that I can complete 5 full circuits around the garden in the 50 minutes I typically run.  For today, however, I hit a wall early and of course the booze was to blame.  I had to walk the third lap as I just didn't have the energy and was convinced at one point I was going to duck into a quiet area and barf.  Thankfully, I did not.  Still, it was a workout so I have done my level best to get back onto my regular routine of 5 per week.  I just wish I knew the distances I was covering.  I am not convinced I am die hard enough to buy the $120 add-on for my Polar to tie to my shoe and allow it to broadcast the distance.  Since most of my running is on a treadmill anyway, I can get it from there.  I will say that since the adjustments done after my last MAP (Metabolic Assessment Profile) test my watch does a much better job of determining the calories I am burning.  That's quite awesome.  Now, I have found a lot of Internet ranting about the efficacy of a MAP and whether Lifetime Fitness (the largest purveyor of this test) are just scamming idiots like me, but I actually like having the knowledge and in that respect it can't be much of a scam. :)

Because I was feeling so bad, I really didn't take advantage of my night shift.  I did manage to find a calling card and to find a small grocer where I could buy some drinks to keep in the mini bar.  I just felt too ill to go wandering around town, and really kicked myself for that.  I knew I wasted one of a very precious few days.  In the end, I went to work early instead so I could sit miserable there instead of wander town miserable.

I called Colleen using the new card.  I am not doing anything that couldn't be overheard, but I do prefer a degree of privacy.  The SIM we bought for the phones here apparently did not have adequate minutes for International dialing, so having the card gives me that option.  I can pop out in front of the building and call her and even if only for 10 or 15 minutes, I get to hear how she's doing.

The weather held and we had a full day of play across the venue.  I am not sure how far behind they still are, but it is catching up as many of the courts shut down with lots of daylight left so I am sure the tournament coordinators are confident we're in good shape.  I can only hope we're entering a quiet phase and play will advance without incident.

The call was made to have Indian.  I never pass up the chance.  The first restaurant they found I was told was not a good place, and this was a new one.  We didn't get out of the venue until well after 10:30 and had a 30+ minute train ride to the part of town where the restaurant was.  Le Maharajah claimed to serve nonstop until 11:30 so if we got seated before that we'd be solid.  We arrived just before 11 which was nice.  Their menu offered a "prix fixe" option.  That's a multi-course meal for a fixed price.  I opted for the 29 Euro option, and I wasn't disappointed.  I highly recommend the place if you happen to get into Paris.  Including the two beers, the check was 41 Euros per person.  We left the restaurant just after midnight, and realized that for most lines, the last train would leave the endpoint at 12:30 AM so there was a slight chance we'd wind up somewhere away from the hotel and no train to get back.  In the end, we made it back without incident.

Got into the room just before 1AM.  Nightly routine and I became acutely aware that the room was hot.  That settled it, I was going to complain at the desk the next morning.  Never managed to find a spot where my right hip didn't hit that odd lump in the mattress.  I'll have to work on that.

Cheers!

Roland Garros 2008 - Day 4

Today was a day of rest.  That means no morning run.  I woke up and was glad of it.  I've managed to tweak my right hamstring/hip relatively well and it doesn't feel very healthy.  I still couldn't sleep in, mostly because the room decided the air conditioning really wasn't working anyway and it was stuffier than I had expected.

Rain started the day and it didn't look too promising.  I got to the metro station just as it started raining and by the time I got to my stop, it was raining hard enough to require the umbrella.  That means play started late.  It actually wound up there was only 90 minutes of play all day. :-(

I worked the early shift, so I took the opportunity to leave early.  It meant I'd be going to dinner alone, as everyone else had to stay, but I wasn't about to pass up the chance anyway.  I got back to the room, shed my venue tee shirt and headed out looking for something to eat.  I found a French restaurant that said it specialized in French Wine and had English menus.  I had a red while I looked over the menu and then switched to white for my goat's cheese and cucumber appetizer and salmon on a bed of pureed what I still swear was lima beans.  It could have been like mushy peas, but not nearly as salty.  I ended the meal with a very good dessert wine.  I don't care for port, but I do like fortified white wines.

From there I wandered back to a place I saw on my first day.  It caught my eye mostly because the bar had a Guinness sign hanging in front.  How bad can any bar be that sells good Irish beer?  I was not disappointed.  The bar was full of nothing but Americans either expatriates, or people studying abroad or just tourists.  I saw Kilkenny on tap and I was in heaven.  Of course, that means my fourth alcohol, which likely means I'll be in trouble the next morning.  Three (four) pints there and I was cooked.  I staggered back to the hotel (thankfully very close) and collapsed into bed.  I considered calling Colleen, but I managed to get back only by closing one eye so I didn't have double vision, so I figured it would be better to just pass out.  I miss her, and I know calling would have been nice, but I just couldn't do it.

Cheers!

Roland Garros 2008 - Day 3

Another holiday sitting in a venue instead of at home with my wife!  The challenge with many of the tennis events is that they fall on 3-day weekends quite often.  Roland Garros is over Memorial Day, Wimbledon over July 4th, and US Open over Labor Day.  So, instead of cooking out or hanging out with friends, I am in Paris and trying to settle into some sort of routine.  At least I got up early again and went running.  I could tell it had been a while since I'd worked out two days in a row as I got gassed very early.  I walked a couple of times during the early laps, but kept that to a minimum and still ran almost 48 minutes.  I consider it a good workout either way.

I still do not understand French cooking.  Would it kill them to cook something a little longer?  For God's sake, the country has been around twice as long as the U.S.A, surely they'd have grasped the concept of fire??  Anyway, loose (read:  runny) scrambled eggs is tough, but I of course manage to push through.  The run leaves me hungry and since breakfast is included with the room, I'm not about to go pay for something cooked longer. :-)  I have small pangs of guilt about coming straight from my run to the breakfast room (I am probably pretty RIPE and definitely drenched with sweat) but at the same time, the French are not exactly fresh as a daisy, so I figure they just ignore any odor I might emanate.  At least it is good coffee, though I haven't quite worked out the logistics to bring my Splenda down and have actually used real sugar since I can't find anything other than saccharine in the restaurant (I can't stand the taste of it, honestly.)  I had a banana as well, and they would kill Colleen.  There were almost more bruised spots than edible looking banana.  I wonder if it is because importing from South America to Europe keeps most if not all of those kinds of fruits from ever truly being fresh?  I'll never know, mostly because Wikipedia doesn't seem to know. :-)

The walk to the metro was predominately uneventful.  I walked with most of the guys.  Since it was Josh's last day working, I let him decide which side of the split shift he wanted to work.  He wanted to work the evening.  I didn't pay very close attention to how we walked in, and that will prove significant later.

Paris has done a decent job cleaning itself up.  Or, maybe it is because we're in a more tourist driven part of town.  Either way, there were no evident signs of litter, dog poo, or graffiti down around the hotel.  Metro stops are still tough, but those are centuries old, so I give them a free pass.  Besides, I learned with my cats, you never really can get rid of urine smell. :-( [As an aside, every underground train system I have ridden on has at least one stop with a urine smell.  What is it about humans and being underground that gives them the belief they can avoid a restroom?  Hopefully it isn't as prevalent on elevated lines.]

Play ended early due to rain.  The group wanted Italian, and I was not about to have it three nights in a row.  That meant I was going to head back to the hotel on my own.  I wasn't worried, I can find a metro stop and was sure I knew where I was going.  YEAH RIGHT!  I got lost less than a mile from the venue!  It wasn't critically damaging.  I called (swallowing some pride) and had them explain where I'd lost my way.  I got to the right stop and managed to make the right connection and get out at the right final stop, mostly.  The station at Concorde has like six exits and I chose one.  It wasn't the right one, but the recovery was minimal to get back on track.

Bolstered by my freedom and successful navigation, I simply turned left off Rue de Rivoli and wandered into the heart of the neighborhood.  Unfortunately, I hadn't considered the time I left and arrived there.  It was well after 10 PM and that meant many restaurants would be closed or closing.  Ironically, the first three places I passed that were open were Italian!!!  I was not about to do that, prepared to wander as long as it took, potentially onto the Champs-Elysses if I had to where I knew Planet Hollywood and Hard Rock would be open well past 11.  Fortunately, I got to the street where the hotel is and there was a Chinese restaurant across the street still serving.  Well, he may have been trying to close, but seeing a table for one and that one being an American (Europeans are notorious for sitting at a table for hours after a meal not even ordering more beverages) he was willing to seat me.  It was quite tasty though not as spicy as I would have hoped.

Back to the room.  I called Colleen from the hotel phone.  Put it on my bill!  I miss her, and the 6 hours sucks.  There's no easy way to communicate with her with this time shift.  I am up at 2AM EDT, she's coming home from work at midnight CET.  She's doing well, physically, which is a good thing in my book.  I took a major risk coming here this close to her due date and if she goes into labor and I have to rush home missing the birth, I'll never forgive myself.  I should mention that for the first night since my arrival, there is air conditioning in the room.  That allowed me to drift off to sleep in a comfortable room.

Cheers!

Roland Garros 2008 - Day 2

Play began on Sunday here, which is an unusual thing for any tennis tournament.  The French Tennis Federation believes it a way to get more people to the event which is important to them.  It basically means we've got an extra day here of work.

I woke up feeling really rough.  Headache, stuffy, and just out of sorts.  Still I wasn't about to allow myself to be slack and much like I did during my Australia trip, every day I woke up hung over I told myself my penance would be to job anyway.  Sweat out the booze so to speak.  We're staying adjacent to Jardin Tuileries and that means I have a picturesque run if nothing else.  I have no idea what the distance around it is, so I just ran laps around the perimeter for my 55 minutes of running requirement.  Maybe someone can tell me how to convert 2500 acres into some measurements I could use to tell real distance.

During the run, my iPhone clip broke.  That means it won't clip to the arm band or my belt clip.  Disappointing, but not the end of the world.  I got lucky and as it broke my arm was moving forward so it came up and off in front of me.  I was able to stab it in mid air (cat like reflexes I tell ya!) and not have it bounce on the gravel.  I stuffed it into my pocket and kept going.  When I got to the hotel I saw the shattered plastic and knew it was done.

I am mildly disoriented because of the new hotel.  I am not familiar with the commute to the venue, and everyone here seems convinced that I should "just know" how to get here as they've all been at least once before this year and since the move to the new hotel.  Because we're taking more trains, the suggestion this year is a NaviGo card from the Metro, but that means I need a picture I can have put onto it, and it is supposed to have a light background.  I'll have to keep working on that bit, but in the meantime, I have my carnet, which was 10 tickets at a slightly discounted rate, to get me onto the trains.  There is still a bit of a walk, which is nice because it means I'll be getting in double duty from running and walking for my exercise.  Combined with the lame French food and I am sure I'll shed pounds quickly :-)

Rain off and on throughout the day.  Not significant amounts, but enough I am concerned.  Tennis tournaments depend on weather and I hate the days spent watching nothing going on.  Maybe I'll get lucky.  Having 15 days should help with scheduling, so I'll reserve any judgement for now.

I called Colleen from the venue.  Not quite the best way to have to speak to her, but I don't have the one cell phone yet.  I hate having to talk to her in this big cavern with people on every side.  I know they're trying to not listen in, but how much can they truly ignore?  Anyway, it was good to hear her voice.

Since Josh is on his way back to the US, I took advantage of his time here to leave before the end of play.  We had to walk back in the rain, but I didn't mind.  It wasn't raining hard.  A quick change for dinner (our venue wear is literally a T-shirt) and down to the lobby.  What?  Fuxia again?  May I curse profusely?  Of course, I had no real alternative to suggest so I typically won't say 'no' if I cannot offer a counter suggestion.  It was packed for some reason, and we had to wait on a table.  I think part of it was that they truly depend on the outdoor seating, and their awning was broken which left it exposed to the rain so a significant number of tables could not be used.  Veal Scallopini was OK, but nothing to write home about.  Hopefully, this will have gotten the restaurant out of everyone's system and I won't have to eat there again.  At least it isn't terribly pricey.

Got back to the room reasonably early.  Just after 11.  I risked the TV and other than CNN international, there aren't any real English speaking channels.  So, I watched some French drama for a while that centered around a female prosecutor that seemed to be in some kind of trouble as she was meeting with gang leaders and being forced to allow some criminal element to go free.  It was tough to follow considering the language barrier.  So, I switched to an MTV Europe channel and watched South Park dubbed in German!  Having seen the episode before and knowing more German than French, I was able to follow it more closely.  At the end of the episode, I switched back to CNN International and oddly they were showing 'The Daily Show with Jon Stewart' on the channel.  I wonder if countries outside the US consider it real news?  Hard to say really.

Drifted off to sleep knowing I'd be up again tomorrow for another run.  The room is still stuffy, so I am sure I'll be up early anyway.

Cheers!

Roland Garros 2008 - Day 1 (Voyage et arrivée)

So, today, Saturday, May 24th was the travel and arrival day.  The flights themselves were uneventful, but the connections really were poor.  I arrived at 8:15 at JFK and they announced the flight would be late due to required maintenance.  The estimated departure time had been moved to 11:30.  So, I wandered to a bar and had more Crown Royal and Diet Coke.  At 11, they announced the repairs were taking longer than anticipated (not something you want to hear from an airline) and the new departure time would be 1:30 AM.  I guess technically that's when departure became Saturday. :)  I always prefer to fly out to allow one day of jet lag with no real work responsibility, so it allows me to compensate for days like this.

4 hours late to leave meant 4 hours late to arrive.  I didn't get to CDG airport until almost 3 PM.  I had slept the sleep of the dead (or maybe just the drunk) for 5 plus hours of a 7 hour 30 minute flight.  That in itself isn't bad, other than missing the chance to do some duty free shopping I was requested to do.  Oh well, we don't really need that many universal power adapters anyway.

The hotel is suspect.  It is in a gorgeous part of town, walking distance to Opera and The Louvre so the location is outstanding.  Unfortunately, that means the cost and amenities are at issue.  I arrived to discover that due to a power outage of some sort just before my arrival, the hotel has a generator providing some amount of power to the building.  This further means that there is no air conditioning.  Now, don't get me wrong, 70 degrees is not exactly the 90s I saw in Melbourne 4 months ago, but my only concern is air circulation.  Flowing air is far more important than refrigerated air.  We'll see.  For now, both windows in my room do open, so I'll give it a shot.  The second gripe was power.  The room had two open outlets.  One in the shower room (the bathroom is split into a toilet in one tiny room and the shower cube and sink in another) but it was for a razor only and it didn't actually work.  The second was right next to the bathroom door, but high enough that most of my charging cords would require allowing the device to dangle.  So, a quick walk to Monoprix and I picked up batteries (my Crest spin brush had apparently leaned against something in my suitcase enough to run the batteries fairly down) and a power strip.  Yes, it is likely expensive to pay 20 Euros for batteries and a power strip, but I just felt I needed the extra power.

While walking around, I managed to find an ATM that actually accepted American Express.  I did not realize that this was going to be an issue.  Of course, I hadn't been here since I had my Diner's Club card from IBM, so I would not have recognized the challenge.

I didn't have to go in today, which was kind of nice.  I just felt out of sorts.  So, what did I do?  I went to the bar and had drinks.  Of course, paying 13 Euros for a Jameson and Ginger Ale was probably pretty dumb, but I had nothing else to do.  I called Colleen from the bar on my cell phone (I am carrying the iPhone live this event so that if she happens to go into labor she can just call my cell number instead of remembering some cryptic International dialing requirements) and will likely pay a fortune for the roaming, but I really wanted to hear her voice and let her know I was safe.  I miss her already.  I dearly love her, have I mentioned that before?

Dinner was at an Italian restaurant near the hotel.  Fuxia is far more pretentious than most Italian restaurants, but it is in the 1eme so I was willing to let it slide.  I switched to wine, which likely was going to be a mistake, given the beer and whiskey I'd had to start the evening, but I was going with the flow.

From there, we went into the Montmarte area near the Basilique Sacre-Couer and stopped in for a pint at the first bar to strike our fancy outside the metro stop.  We walked down a bit into the Red Light district and so that I could actually see The Moulin Rouge.  We stopped at Le Chat Noir on the way back to a metro stop and had yet another pint.  I knew I was going to be struggling tomorrow morning.

Back to the room and in bed right about midnight.  That was a really long day, but I also knew it would be unlikely that I'd have much remaining jet lag and would be able to get up on Paris time for the first day of work.

Cheers!