Paris Days 9 and 10

 

 Day 9, Paris, Sunday, Aug 4

Department of Memories: Way back in week 1, THB and KM met a woman trying to figure out how to make a reservation to get closer to the O torch (the cauldron below the balloon). She worked for a guy who was half of the favored tennis doubles team, that guy "volunteered" to play Novak Djokovic in round one of singes. The guy's name is Matthew Ebden. She got to sit in Ebden's players box to watch the match. Remember that story?

Today the tennis to tournament wrapped up and both men won gold. THB and KM were one degree of separation (or is it two?) from standing on podium twice: once with the GOAT and once with another Gold Medalist. And all you followers have met THB...that puts YOU somewhere else, scrolling at your device and basking in the mutual love and admiration we all share for each other.

As noted in the Day 8.5  post, THB and KB took a self-guided mini-food tour, had pastries for breakfast, came back to the Hotel Citadines, packed a lunch, headed to VB, then watched a very desultory match, USA Women (for the third time, a total fluke) hold off a French team that got into the VB tournament because the host country automatically gets an entry in every event. The USA team did almost everything to lose except it looks like a 3-0 romp in the standings. USA qualified for the quarterfinals, we'll find out tomorrow who their opponent will be. ed. note: Poland

USA

France

The USA coach is Karch Kiraly, a legend in the sport, starring at UCLA, winning Gold indoors VB in LA and Seoul and in Beach VB in Atlanta. He must have been confounded as the USA setters and hitters continually misread each other. Over and over again. The team qualified for the knockouts quarterfinals only because there were some truly awful other teams in what was a much smaller tournament than in the past. 

After the afternoon match, THB and KB strolled along the Seine (trying not to inhale); the weather was lovely and many others were strolling along as well. 

Not the real torch

A food tour enjoying themselves outside Plaq

Where's the Metro driver? That's the light at end of this tunnel

The Men's quarterfinal bracket, USA Men ranked 2nd after round-robin; Italy top ranked Note: both advance to semi's

For dinner items, we went back to the streets of this morning and bought Plaq chocolat bars for our glowing friends and family, and shared a concoction of espresso, chocolate iced mousse and cream - hey, that's a version of bicerin from Torino (hot coffee, hot chocolate, cold cream) - Killer! THB ate/drank 85%...

THB and KM went light at Monoprix: small box of veggie sushi for THB and noodle salad for KM. 

Our second late night in a row: the 9pm match is the last one of the Women's VB round-robin, Brazil vs Poland. What a contrast in styles: fast, big jumpers, great defense and (as it turned out) stamina vs height, power and strong net play.

Brazilians are here in large numbers

Some Polski fans

Senhor, your sombrero is banging into THB's knees

This fan was in agony, and it only got worse

Brazil survived the single most exciting set of the entire tournament, 38-36 (first to 25, win by two) with missed set point after missed set points for each team. Poland hit the limit of allowed number of substitutions per game except for the libero and the same 7 players were out there for 20+ minutes. Neither team had challenges left. Brazil hung on and won, then decimated the deflated and tired Poland women in game 3. 

note the yellow and green in the stands

What happened? In this group of 4 there were two very weak teams and Brazil and Poland conquered them easily. Now matched up, these two teams were actually untested. No way to know how good they were. Now both are in the quarterfinals, Brazil has top ranking and gets the weakest team of the 8 remaining, and Poland will be in the middle of the rankings. 

THB and KM don't get back to the hotel until after 11.

Day 10, Paris, Monday, Aug 5

told mostly in pics

sunrise

another driverless metro train

Heavy security in San Germain (upscale area)

the church is open, THB and KM don't go in

the church's location

Relai's de l'Entrecote. THB and DB ate at this location on a prior trip, it is a mini-chain with a very limited menu

TB and KM dine indoors, it hasn't changed much, $100

there's a salad course and baguette first and then steak/frites - the only entree choice - and the only decision: rare, medium, well

THB's on alcohol this week, a mini Heineken, THB has two

Lots of choices for dessert, KM and THB share perfect profiteroles

How can this be? An empty metro station!

Iced coffee...took four servers to make this cup and handle the payment (in cash): DELISH!

KM spots a real athletics tee and THB scoops it up, Along with kettle corn, this is dinner

A package for you, monsieur 

When did he order it, seems surprised at arrival

Noah qualifies for the 200 semi's, no photo finish this time

sunset 

Mondo gets gold, then goes for the WR (world record), misses twice (his only misses of the 4+ hour event)

It is the culmination of another great night of Athletics, Mondo saves the best for last. The honeymooners from Florida leave for a bus trip to Italy...he was a pole vaulter and misses Mondo setting world record

Book Review: Men We Reaped, Jessamyn Ward (read by January LaVoy, number 97 on NYT top 100 of the 21st C, pub'd 2021): A memoir of growing up in a relatively poor part of the South and living through the deaths of 5 young Black men in her cohort. A third of the way through, as Ward relates the history of the area and goes to parties, get wasted, and tries to get the listener  hooked on these 5 lives, THB got tired of waiting and stopped listening. Not Recommended