Trial and Error - My first week in Paris

What a trip! I have met many new friends and have also spent lots of time roaming and touring around alone. I am learning more and more about the French tennis system everyday, but have still not successful found a tournament that I can play. I think tomorrow is the day! The process of finding out how this works can only be called trial and error, and mostly by error so far. I finally got my license and ranking, went to a French doctor for a “Certificate de aptitude,” learned how to read the schedule, and have been emailing, and calling tournaments. I’m going to call two tournaments in the morning, both in Normandy about a half and a half north by bullet train. Hopefully tomorrow I will be on my way to play!

Sites I have seen in paris:

Pantheon, Notre Dame, Louvre, Bastille, Rolland Garros, Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysees

I have been taking the METRO out to a tennis club called Lutece on the fringe of Paris to practice on their indoor ‘resin” courts. They have a wood base and then a top layer of cement that makes them feel very hollow and slow, but actually really fun to play on. They are the most similar to clay out of any hard court I have hit on. Still waiting to play on the red clay… I’m practicing there because I the other day I went to sign up for a tourney and asked to use the courts. The only person there to hit with was a 12 year old French kid, all fitted out in Nike gear, whose name was Rafael, the coolest little guy I’ve met this whole trip. We hit for an hour, and then ate lunch together. We could barely talk but tried and joked around, and it turns out his grandma is the receptionist. So I went back and hit with a few other guys around the club, and today I played the tournament umpire who is a good player and barely won in a set. His name is Stephane, super nice guy and he has been tutoring me on how the French circuit works. Still getting my rythme since I haven’t been able to play much. I CANT WAIT TO PLAY A TOURNY!!!

I have just moved out of my first hostel, named OOPS, which was a designer hostel that most of my roommates said was the nicest hostel they had ever been in. The desk was lit with neon lights, the common room painted with a rainbow mural, the hallways covered in animal print, the rooms with their own bathroom, and a view of the Eiffel tower from my bedroom. Despite having six people in the room, I felt pretty at home.

Tomorrow is the finale of the Tour de France, and so the town is BOOKED. I was still looking for a place up until the last minute, but found one in a seedy hostel in the heart of the Latin Quarter. There are eight to a room, and our room has a high school locker room style shower with no door, and I feel terrible for the two bunks closest to the smelly shower. The best part is that when I first walked in there were only two beds and they were both next to this dude who was sleeping with no covers on and only wearing a skinny red thong bikini speedo atrocity, and he is a very hairy and unfit individual. Blehhhhh I wanna puke just thinking about it. There’s no way I’m staying another night here, but atleast it’s a bed.

Wish I had more pics, but I accidently fried my camera battery by plugging it in without the adapter. More pics to come…

Best to everyone, miss you all