Tam & Peg’s Excellent Adventure

Men’s Finals, Last Day in Paris

Father’s Day is next week. Got it.

Sunday at Roland Garros and Monday in Paris

Today we have two days to post about… we’ll start with yesterday’s Men’s Finals Event which was the shortest match since 1973 and so was a huge disappointment for the fans who wanted to watch more tennis,and, well, for Roger Federer too. Nadal crushed him in three painful sets, but it was still great fun to be there.

Before the match, we were guests for lunch at a very special venue for this last day. It was very exclusive, very luxurious and maybe a bit snobby. In fact one older gentlemen actually came up to us to ask us if we play tennis and, if so, where? He clearly thought we’d made a wrong turn somewhere, and, sadly, being of slow mind, we had not a cleaver comeback, but Tam set him straight.,

As we sipped very good wine prior to the luncheon, several former tennis stars stopped in to greet us, including Nicolas Escude (Davis Cup ’93, ’97 and more), Arnaud Di Pasquale (Bronze Medal, Sydney Olympics), and Amelie Mauresmo (won the Australian Open and Wimbeldon in ’06, Semi Finalist at the US Open that year also, and is currently ranked #21 in the world) were all there to say Bon Appétit and to provide a photo op.

This was one magnificent luncheon followed by an even more magnificent dessert creation. What a treat!

After the tennis match, about half of our group split off and headed in a different direction for part two of their tour, which was a 1-week barge trip down the river. We returned to our hotel where we had salami, cheese and bread, watched CNN sports and retired early so we could set out early this morning.

Today began as a lovely, sunny day and it has stayed just lovely. We had an early breakfast so that we could start our day of exploring early. We bought tickets to travel around on the Metro (underground train system) and we headed out for Notre Dame. Even though we were there early, the lines to enter and tour were very long, so we were happy to encircle the entire cathedral, which, of course is breathtaking.

We then crossed the rest of the way over the Seine (Notre Dame is actually on a small island in the river) and we walked without a particular destination for several hours, looking into shops and happening upon the University of Sorbonne, Jardin du Luxembourg (Gardens of Luxembourg), and all around the Left Bank, including the textile, and antique districts. We stopped for our usual ham and cheese baguette and sat beside two very fashionable and chic young ladies here from Amsterdam, sales representatives for an exclusive lingerie line, here to make a call on a nearby shop. (No, we didn’t ask….) We enjoyed their chatter and they seemed to think we were, well, quaint. (Did I mention Tammy’s chartreuse tshirt and plaid Bermudas?)

We crossed back over the Seine and headed north to see the Opera House. Wow! It’s HUGE, MAGNIFICENT…. Well, we’re out of adjectives. Behind the Opera House is the only shopping “mall” we’ve seen, “Galeries Layfayette.” I should have brought some jeans, so I thought I’d see about finding a pair. Couldn’t find my size (or my price range)…. what we did find was €430,00!!! We quickly decided that we could better spend our time elsewhere and headed out for our return trip to the hotel, via the Metro. OH! Forgot to mention a stop along the way…. for a Starbuck’s! (I even managed to communicate my order without Christy to interpret Starbucks-eze” for me).

We’ll be up very early tomorrow to get to an early train for Milan where we will see daVinci’s Last Supper. The following day we head for Venice.

We’re having a magnificent time and we love sharing via our blog. We’ll be back online as soon as possible and we hope to see lots of messages.

Love to all.