Our day trip to Roland Garros
Trip Start
May 18, 2007
1
25
62
Trip End
Jul 18, 2007
Paris,
France
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Yesterday took its toll on us with lugging around the extra weight of the tripods for over 3 hrs at the Eiffel Tower and we enjoyed a long sleepy day, not getting up until 11am! Geez, that Ryan knows how to sleep!
Today was the French Open Men's final match so we were still hoping to snag some tickets for the match. What were we thinking? We had tried desperately to secure tickets before leaving the US but struck out but certain that we could get in here. We were told on SEVERAL occasions to be mindful of pick pockets and the unruly ticket scalpers at Roland Garros stadium so we were not sure what to expect. After getting a very long winded Metro hopping schedule, we hopped in a taxi for cheap 15 min ride to the stadium.
Roland Garros
On arrival we thought it strange that there were so few people hanging around and it was oddly quite. In fact, we saw some people on the top seats of the stadium but no cheers or anything coming from inside the locked gates. Weird! What we did notice extremely tight security around the rather small complex and we quickly realized that we were NOT getting in! It was a very sad reality for Laurie who was almost in tears, feeling the tennis fuzz around her and not able to get in to see a kick-ass match between Federer and Nadal! Ryan was most patient with Laurie as we circled the entire stadium, looking for a way in! Laurie asked a few guards and then went to the ticket office and to no avail! So very, VERY sad!
Sooooooooo, we lowered our expectations and set our sites on buying a hat or a t-shirt! That was even WORSE because there was no possible way to buy a souvenir without a darn ticket! One must have ticket in hand to enter the village where the souvenir items were sold and we did not have a ticket! We gave it a valiant effort though and got within 50 feet of the gate but finally, after Ryan pulled Laurie kicking and screaming, and crying, we put our tail between our legs (but not without a good effort) and took a taxi back to the hotel and watched the Men's final on the television. It was just as well as we were really tired and decided this was a well deserved day off for us, "at" the French Open
This is as close as we got to the French Open
. It was all quite sad but the match was close and both of us cheering out loud in our room! We were so desperate that we tried to find a Roland Garros souvenir shop open on Sunday - but EVERYTHING is closed on Sunday's! We thought Rick Steve's was joking as he mentioned in his trusty book about how things are shut down but we were in disbelief - it was true which only added to our frustration of not getting our French Open goody!After the match was done we had a nice dinner at a local Brasserie (one of only a few open in our neighborhood - it is Sunday remember), and prepared for a big Monday.
Tomorrow we head out extra early for an all day tour to Mont St. Michel.
Today's walk: 4.4 miles
Total for the journey (133 miles, 24 days)
Love,
Ryan and Laurie
Comments
Sorry
Oh honey, I feel your pain! I can just see your lower lip quivering......at least you'll never forget your effort!
Love ya, sammy
Big ol'bummer...
We know you were looking forward to this, but think about all the great things that you have already done and what wonderful things you will soon see! Keep the stories coming. They are great!
Lance and Marianne