So many things to learn in Paris

There's no question that having 6 weeks to yourself gives you a mountain of random opportunities to learn things you may never have learned at home.  Take for instance, tennis. My brother-in-law Jeff, and now by extension, my sister Janette, love the sport, but for the life of me, I've never been able to figure it out.  Then came Paris.  Of course you say, that's exactly what I'd expect Char to learn about on her soirée abroad, tennis, isn't that what everyone goes to Paris for!  And you'd be partly right, at least in May.  Next week is the French Open, just a few miles from where I live, but unfortunately we will be traveling and I won't be able to go. But fortunately, they have "warm up" tournaments for the players, and I have Kelli who has played tennis her whole life and was dying to go, thereby making it possible for me to follow Jeff's instructions to watch some tennis while I was here.  It actually turned out to be quiet easy, because one of the biggest tournaments was one metro stop, and a short bus ride away.  So today, I spent the afternoon learning about tennis, and I may have finally broken it's elusive code.  Jeff, I may even sound sort of intelligent next time you bring it up!  I also learned that many of the tennis terms have french roots, so I'm feeling like this was a necessary field trip.

This is just a small piece of the beautiful country club where the matches (not games) were played.  It was incredibly fancy, and thank heavens I was wearing a skirt, because it helped me blend in!

This is Kelli when we walked in and she realized that Andy Murray was playing.  

And since I took pictures of everything that Kelli told me was cool, here is a picture of Andy Murray and his new haircut!  Unfortunately, like Sampson, he must need his long hair, because he lost this match.

One of the things I love most about Kelli is that she REALLY gets excited about things.  Sometimes I can't tell if she's going to cry, or pass from hyperventilation when she gets excited. This is her, still trying to believe that she was really there; she really loves tennis!

We hadn't been there long before I quickly went in search of sun screen, because after being wet and cold for most of the last 4 weeks, the sun decided to shine today, and sunburn was happening all around us.  You could just see people getting red.  On my way to the club store I passed one of the dining areas that had these great citrus trees growing in pots.  I thought they were so charming.

(For future reference though, take your own sunscreen, they charge a fortune when they have you hot and  trapped!)

Okay, for those few of you who don't know, this is Verdasco on the right.  We were very excited to watch him play also!  It was such a great day!

Enjoying the heat!

Me and Verdasco!  Very cool!

Cultural moment:  I haven't seen such an orchestrated group of teenagers since watching a high school dance company!  This formation above you occurred every time the players changed sides of the court.  The players would sit down, have a drink, wipe their faces etc, and those kids would hop to!  The umbrellas came out, they stood at attention with one arm stretched out holding the shade, and the other arm folded ceremoniously behind their back.  Notice the kids standing next to them-also arms folded behind the back.  And the court was ringed with maybe 8 of these kids in position.  They all had very clearly defined assignments that even a novice like me could identify.  They would gather loose balls (in formation) hand towels to players during their small breaks, make sure balls were evenly distributed around the court, etc. And always on the run, they didn't do anything slowly.

Then, when their "shift" was up, they would gather mysteriously and run in a straight line off the court, while the relief team ran on.  It was a show all by itself.  

This is me, up close to a real clay court,  and I must say, it was interesting to be educated on the differences between a hard court and a clay court.  You should see them slide on the clay!!

Now, if I could only get the verb conjugations down, I'd be set!