It's been a long time since Pontois and a lot has happened; I'll run through some highlights and share a few stories. Also, here are some random pictures and video I've taken along the way.

In some of the best tennis I've played while in France, I won the TC Houilles tournament, a 860€ tournament capped at the 0 ranking spot. The prize money for the winner was 200euros. I beat two 1/6 players who were decent players en route to the victory. I've gotten some strange match times and in the quarterfinals I played a 1/6 on an indoor hard court at 9pm. I played really well to start out and took the first set 6-1. After a major line call dispute in the second set, my opponent went nuts and made the rest of the match miserable; he hooked me on like 3 balls that weren't even close to the line and was talking shit each change over. We were literally the only two people in the building and tensions were definitely high to say the least. He won the 2nd set 6-4. In the third I really found my strokes again and, stepping up my serve and volley game, took the final set 6-3. In the final I played great and managed to win 6-3, 6-3 against a 1/6 named Mathieu Moriot. It's been great stepping up my backcourt game and being able to control points from the back more and more.

I played a tournament in Versailles, about 30 min train ride outside of the city and where the famous WW2 treaty was signed at the massive Chateau de Versailles. I won my match in the morning at a really nice clay court club and then decided to use my 5 hour break before my next match to do some sightseeing and check out the Chateau. Some random guy at the club drove me to the palace and I spent about two hours walking around the famous gardens and checking out its ancient statues. I eat lunch at the Chateau using some salami i had with me and a baguette i bought in town before making it back to the club in time for my next match. I played well and made a really key stride with improving my forehand but lost to a 1/6. Versailles is a really fancy place and the club, the Tennis Club du Grand Versailles, was an amazing clay club with 7 indoor clay and 7 outdoor clay courts. Definitely not a bad place to spend the day.

Some off court news: Paris has been great. I've had lots of nights out on the town with my housemates and have gotten to know my way around pretty well. I took my camera with me one night when we all went out and took some pictures. We didn't end up getting home until about 7am that morning but had a great time. Probably one of the most fun places at night in the city is Pont Neuf. It’s a bridge crossing the Seine right in front of the Louvre that becomes a party and hang out spot on a warm night. Its got drum circles, drinking, and is filled with mostly students. I’ve gone a couple times with my housemates and have had a blast.

While walking around the city one day after playing a match earlier in the day in Velizy, I met an old guy in his 70's who has lived in Paris his whole life. We started talking and he asked if I'd want to meet up one day to practice english and we could work on some french. I agreed not really knowing what to expect. A couple days later I get off the metro at Saint-Michel expecting to meet him on foot; he pulls up in an audi sportscar and the first thing he says to me is "want to drive in paris?" So I've been hanging out with this guy maybe once a week, learning more french and cruising around paris a bit with him.

I leave on Wednesday for Bath (just outside London) to stay and train for a week with the British guys I met at the TC Pontois tournament. Thanks to the high speed trains between the cities it's only about a two hour train ride to London. Rich, Pete, and Richard all play for the University of Bath tennis team and invited me to join their team's practices in October while the French tennis season takes a one-month break. The French Tennis Federation reviews all the results and moves your ranking accordingly. The federation gave Colin and I an assimilated ranking of 2/6 when we first got here in July but I'm hoping, based on my results, that I will be moving up to a 1/6. I'll find out soon. Looking forward to getting a taste of the tennis scene around London and will report back soon!

Until next time, peace.