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  • Hola Mallorca…Hace Caliente!

    Posted on by Carolyn Nichols 4 Comments

    Bunyola, Mallorca, Spain

    Today was another travel day. I flew from Bordeaux (did you know that in Europe, some airlines…looking at you Vueling…charge for bags by the leg, not by the trip?).

    My bags and I made it from Bordeaux to Barcelona to Mallorca. The flight from Barcelona to Mallorca takes about 30 minutes but we sat on the runway for a long time so arrived just a bit late. Vueling runs planes back and forth about every hour, so by the end of the day the planes are usually late. Flying early in the day paid off.

    I picked up a rental car, successfully changed the language from German to English and found both my airbnb and the tennis facility, which are only about 10 minutes apart.

    It was Sunday afternoon when I arrived so naturally most stores were closed, though I got water and sandwich makings at a gas station. And a very fresh baguette, something one doesn’t see in a gas station convenience store at home.

    Mallorca is a pretty island…lots of coastline of course but also lots of hills. From the “outskirts” of Bunyola (it’s a one street town) I could see the sea, and the mountains were back up against the town on the other side.

    It was really warm when I arrived, in the upper 90s at 2pm, but cooled off to the 80s by 8pm. I walked down the street and there were a lot of people at outdoor restaurants and cafes (not eating yet…too early), and quite a few bicyclists, motorbikes, and a few pedestrians.

    Bunyola has a small train station and I saw a wooden train stop. Hopefully I’ll have time to take a ride on it into the mountains later in the week.

    Tomorrow I’m off to train, getting ready for the worlds in Portugal which start in two weeks.


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  • Bordeaux Champion & Avoir Bordeaux, Hola Espana

    Posted on by Carolyn Nichols Comment

    Bordeaux, France

    Sue Bartlett and I played the 60s final today and finally played on Court 1, which was a good court! We were the 4th match after 9am (and not before 1:30). Fortunately, the three previous finals were straight sets, so we got on court not long after 2pm. And then we hogged the court for nearly three hours. The first set was very long, and had a rhythm till the end; we actually were on serve till 5-5 with no breaks which for 60+ women on red clay was sort of amazing. We had a lot of long deuce games though, starting with the first one which lasted over 10 minutes I think. I finally broke at 5-5, won the first point of the next game….and then lost 8 points in a row, then won 7 straight to win the set 76 (4). The second set was also tough. I got up 4-0 because Sue slowed down, then she seemed to get a second wind and won 3 games straight. I managed to close out the set 63, but it took quite a few match points. Sue played really well and I scrambled well. As one spectator told me, she volleyed well and I had good legs for running.

    Sue and I with our doubles prizes.

    Ross Persons had a tough match with Pierre Godfroid in the men’s 60s final, losing 76 75. Ross said he had some set points in the first set but that Godfroid came up with big serves on the big points and accurate volleys. Persons though won the men’s and mixed doubles.

    Darren Price fell in the semis of the men’s 45 doubles in a match tiebreak (navigating those is tricky) and Catherine Taylor (Mary on the draw) lost her first round robin doubles match, but has another tomorrow.

    I didn’t see much this year of Bordeaux. I had to play one match each day at an undefined time and also had smashed my toes at the beginning of the week; they were ok by today but I couldn’t walk a lot on them till today. But I had a nice time, loved the local food and club.

    There was a nice awards ceremony after the matches finished (they were waiting for us I think) with prize giving, and some food and drinks. I won a huge bottle of wine (see above) which I exchanged for a gift certificate at a local tennis shop which sponsored the tournament. And we received tea towels from the club for doubles (much more portable than wine!). So we all went shopping after the ceremony and I have some more tennis clothes and a RF hat!

    The Alles (Adrian plays in the 85s) are at a lot of these tournaments…always smiling and dressed to kill!

    I’m off to Mallorca tomorrow to train for the worlds in Portugal. It’s very hot there so hopefully I’ll survive the training Monday!

    Draws are here.

    Previous posts about Bordeaux


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  • Doubles Champions; Singles Final Saturday

    Posted on by Carolyn Nichols Comment

    Bordeaux, France

    It was another lovely day in Bordeaux. Sue Bartlett and I were rescheduled to the 6th match after 8:30 (not before 2pm)…we got on around 5pm. We played two Spaniards, Encarnacion Gomiz and Carmen Lang and won 60 60, (and there were 3 no-ad games we played). We played on Court 7, which is basically concrete with a bit of red clay on top, painted lines, dangerously slippery.

    Sue and I play the singles final tomorrow 4th match after 9am, not before 1:30pm but on Court 1, the first time either of us has played a match on the main bank of courts. It’s unlikely I’ll see much if anything of Bordeaux this trip but I’ve seen a lot of Villa Primrose, which is a lovely old club.

    Don’t forget to sweep the court after play!

    Ross Persons finds himself in three finals; he won the mixed 55 with Luisa Gouveia of Portugal; and he’s in the 60 men’s final vs Belgian Pierre Godfroid and the men’s doubles final with Fritz from the Netherlands.

    Darren Price from USA and Andrew Moraghan GBR are into the QF of the men’s 45 doubles, beating two Brits to reach the semis.

    And that’s a wrap on today’s action. Final tomorrow then on to the next stop Sunday morning.

    Draws

    Previous posts:

    Traveling…

    Bordeaux Doubles Day

    Bordeaux Thursday; Singles Success; Slippery Clay!


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  • Bordeaux Thursday; Singles Success; Slippery Clay!

    Posted on by Carolyn Nichols Comment

    Bordeaux, France

    I played my second round robin match today against Carmen Lang, who just won the Spanish closed nationals in the 60s. We were the 2nd match after 11am on court 7, the 4th match overall on that court. The 3rd match began about 11:30 but went three sets so we didn’t start till after 2pm. Meanwhile, Court 8 next door was open for hours, till after we finished our match, while many matches were waiting for courts. But I was told that it was not possible to change courts once posted on the schedule.

    Anyway, it was my only match, a pleasant afternoon and neither hot nor cold so it was not unpleasant to wait under the trees. I warmed up with Ross Persons who is in the men’s 60 semis after upsetting the #2 seed yesterday. He had the day off from singles today. We warmed up on the slippery fast indoor clay (picture a cement court with thickly painted lines and a lot of red dirt thrown on top and you get the picture…VERY slippery). It was a perfect warm up because Court 7 was also very slippery, very dry, quite fast and had painted lines and clay thrown over cement. It was also pretty windy at times.

    I won 61 62, and Carmen played a good second set. She really whacked her forehand any time the ball was short or mid court, and whacked it pretty well to the corners, but also made a fair number of mistakes, which helped me out. We again were given pretty water bottles (which I didn’t’ realize was in my backpack so I carried it home).

    I also caught up with some friends I hadn’t seen for a while, Andrew Moraghan, Catherine Taylor and Darren Price. Darren fell in three sets in men’s 50s, Catherine lost in W45 but Andrew won, to face the #2 seed next.

    On my way to the club I walked by my favorite Patisserie and sandwich shop for a “poulet aux crudités” or a chicken, veggie and egg sandwich on a fresh baguette. It was wonderful (and I have half left for tomorrow)…all for about $4. On the way back from the club I picked up some carrot salad which is so very good in France and had a wonderful dinner with that, some Tomme cheese and baguette.

    Tomorrow Sue Bartlett and I play doubles, our final RR match and then on Saturday we play each other in the singles final. It’s been a pretty spread out schedule with only a match a day starting Tuesday.

    Draws are here.

    Traveling…

    Bordeaux Doubles Day


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  • Bordeaux Doubles Day

    Posted on by Carolyn Nichols 2 Comments

    Bordeaux, France

    Today was a pretty relaxing one since I only had one doubles match, 2nd match on court 9 after 2pm. We started around 3:30 or so I think and played Sylvia Shipley and Fiona Walker, whom we’d played in singles yesterday. We won 60 61. Here the format is no ad and a match tiebreak in lieu of a third set. We forgot about the no ad on our first deuce and won the point (and game; we asked the referee and he said points played in good faith stood); we remembered it the second time and lost the point.

    Sue won her round robin group today while I still have to play my second round robin match tomorrow. I play fourth match on court 7, 2nd match after 11am. So maybe around 1, 2 or3pm. It depends on the length of matches earlier in the day.

    Here’s a photo of Sue Bartlett and me. She’s playing the deuce side and when she comes to net for some reason our opponents lobbed me. Hmmmmm. We don’t have doubles tomorrow so she has an off day to tour a bit. My touring day will be on Saturday.

    Draws are here.

    Traveling…


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  • Traveling…

    Posted on by Carolyn Nichols 2 Comments

    Bordeaux, France, Wednesday (WiFi was down Tuesday….)

    After a long weekend watching my nephew getting married (The Carmel Mission Church is beautiful as was the wedding), I drove to SFO. I had a stop in Scott’s Valley (bear Santa Cruz) for a tennis match. We interrupted the match several times to listen to Wimbledon Radio as the men’s final kept going…

    I flew Tap Airlines to Lisbon. It arrived late but I made my connection. Neither flight left from a gate. We were bused to the terminal a long way. There were only stairs, not ramps.

    I cleared passport control and security and made my flight where we waited for quite a while, 20-30 minutes outside on steps for a bus, then once again were driven to the plane.

    The flight to Bordeaux was smooth and my bags came pretty quickly. I arrived at my lodgings on time. After a walk to the market I went to the club, only 10 minutes away by foot and hit some balls with Sue Bartlett, with whom I am playing doubles this week. The courts, red clay of course, are very very dry and quite fast for red clay.

    I won my first round on Tuesday over Sylvia Shipley from Great Britain. Sue had a tough match with Fiona Walker, winning 75 64. The second set was pretty topsy-turvy. Sue led 30- 40-15, Fiona leveled at 4-4, redlining her ground strokes. Sue was up 5-4 but down 40-0 with Fiona serving and won five points on the trot to finish the match. Sylvia is shown below.

    I play the #1 Spanish player tomorrow, Thursday, but we play Fiona and Shirley today in doubles.

    Ross Persons from the USA, a member of the men’s 60 Cup team is here, one of the few Americans in the draw.

    Draws are here.


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  • Rainy Friday in Munich

    Posted on by Carolyn Nichols 2 Comments

    Today I bid adieu to Robin, going with her to the airport and seeing her off (after a too long wait at check-in…Lufthansa has the baggage check-in completely automated, but not for people who booked with an airline other than Lufthansa…for them there’s a long line and one person checking people in). It’s worth mentioning again because the line was over an hour long I think when we left it.

    I took the train back to the hotel and after a workout and lunch, Erika and I went into Munich and visited the Residence, a huge palace/museum full of opulent rooms and also the Treasury which did contain a lot of treasures, silver, gold, tiaras, jewelry, porcelain and items necessary for running such a huge palace.

    We also visited a couple of churches, St. Peter’s, since Erika hadn’t walked in yesterday and the Frauenkirche which was pretty plain though very large. It was rainy but people were waiting in the rain to see and hear the Glockenspiel…

    I searched for peanut butter afterwards and found this selection (I chose chocolate, naturally).

    Next up is Paris…taking the TGV train tomorrow early. The European adventure continues….tennis will resume on Monday.

    d


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  • When Air Travel Goes Awry

    Posted on by Carolyn Nichols Comment

    Today started off well. I woke up early and went to the club to run wind sprints. I almost didn’t since I was supposed to get to Frankfurt at 4pm and there’s a gym at my hotel. In the end I am happy I went. And happy I picked up a nice sandwich after (even if there were no madeleines available).

    Today I supposedly had an 11:45 flight to Frankfurt via Brussels. I checked in and was informed of a 15 minute delay. No problem I thought. I missed the turn to the star alliance lounge and ended up going past the secondary security into an austere waiting room. But hey it was only 45 minutes, no problem..except it was a problem.

    There was no one from the airline downstairs by the gate, other than passengers. The 15 minute delay had turned into 3+ hours. And we couldn’t go back into the terminal as there was no one from security, or the airline to help. One woman had 2 kids including an upset 2 year old. After a long delay we were finally escorted out of the airport. Anyone who could not navigate a lot of stairs was out of luck.

    I called Lufthansa and was told I was rebooked on TAP airlines, a Portuguese airline, to Frankfurt via Lisbon, 5 (vs 2) hours of flying. Next I had to go get my bags from baggage claim though. At least I had lots of time, and it took a while.

    Next I had to check in and go through security a second time…fun! Bordeaux airport is NOT where one wants to get stuck, especially with bags. It’s small, and uninteresting. One cannot check in till 2 hours before the flight is scheduled to leave. And of course one cannot go through security to the airport lounge or to the shops post security without checking big bags.

    About 2.5 hours before a flight the airport displays tell passengers where to check in. About 30 minutes later a couple of airline employees drag posts to cordon off 2 lines. An electric sign changes to show the airline’s name. I was lucky since I have star alliance gold and apparently no one else did. There was still a wait since Tap didn’t have an electronic ticket for me. But eventually the ticket was retrieved and my bags are checked.

    I am hoping that both my luggage and myself make the connection in Lisbon to Frankfurt. We should in an hour…fingers crossed 🤞 since I have a noon flight tomorrow to the USA.

    All in all nothing earth shattering but flying and traveling in general takes some patience and flexibility.

    Lots to drink in this lounge!

    made it to Lisbon, Portugal. Does an airport layover count as visiting a new country?

    Next stop Frankfurt. I am very happy my legs are short on this 3-hour flight!

    14 hours after I left my hotel in Bordeaux I reached my hotel in Frankfurt. Back to the USA tomorrow, hopefully with fewer delays.


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  • Bordeaux Doubles Success

    Posted on by Carolyn Nichols Comment

    Lyn Mortimer and I played the 2nd seeds in the doubles yesterday and won 61 61, but the match was a bit closer than that score would indicate. We had several long deuce games during which the lead changed hands a few times. We played Beatrix Mezger Reboul of France and Ayse Sevtap Akdere of Turkey.

    After the match I had some massage from the physio..because one can never have too many massages, then the tournament director gave us our prizes. I got 2 bottles of wine, a big one and a small one. Lyn drove from Germany and so ended up with a double prize.

    In the morning and early afternoon I walked around Bordeaux along with what seemed to be half of France. The shopping streets were packed and there were sales everywhere.

    I walked by the Cathedral and went by the Opera House and Intercontinental hotel. The doors on the old buildings are painted various colors and are pretty.

    I did some clothes shopping and never saw any yoga pants. In fact, most of the clothing was pretty fitted, not much stretch to them. It was warm and most of the French women wore dresses or skirts. That’s the end of my fashion report.

    Off next to Frankfurt then back to the USA.


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  • Bordeaux Champion (not Champignon) in Three Sets

    Posted on by Carolyn Nichols 1 Comment

    Today was all tennis in Bordeaux (as opposed to other days which were 90% tennis). I played Lyn Mortimer from Australia (whom I played in the Essen final). In France, the tournaments schedule differently from other countries…we were third match on Court 1 not before 11:30. The first match started at 9 am. This means two quick matches can result in match #3 starting about 11:30…or a long one, such as the three-setter on Court 1 which finished at 11:30, can delay the start of matches on that court all day. We started around 1pm, following Roger Taylor.

    (Roger Taylor from Gr. Britain is a former Wimbledon semifinalist and US doubles champion who plays now in the 70s. He injured his left (playing) shoulder and rather than give up tennis, he learned to serve righty and then switches to hit groundless and volleys with his left hand. He lost today in the 70s semis to a swifter player, but still has lovely strokes and demeanor. )

    Lyn came out playing well, aggressively as always but with few errors and a very high service percentage. We went on serve to 4-3, but then Lyn broke and held, winning the last 10 or so points of the set and the set 63. I played a little more aggressively at the start of the 2nd and went up 4-0 before Lyn fought back to 43. I dug out the last two games to even the match. The third set I won 61 after dropping the first game but the games were long and the points were too. It was a good 2 hour final and I’m sure we set the schedule back a bit more. Several hours later we teamed up for doubles though and won through to the final which is tomorrow afternoon/early evening (second match after 3:30).

    Champignon means mushroom by the way in French.


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  • Wednesday Final

    Posted on by Carolyn Nichols 1 Comment

    The Bordeaux tournament doesn’t fool around..Lyn Mortimer (Australia) and I are already into the singles final, and afterwards will play doubles together.

    I played Sylvie from France today. She’s a pretty good player, won the Cognac Grade 2 last week, and is fast. However she was erratic and I won 61 60. Lyn played Sylvia from Austria and put down a double bagel on the #11 ranked 60s player.

    These courts are a bit quicker than Essen though the balls are similar to Essen, heavy and hard. I had good hits with Chris French (GBR) and Shirley the TD today so should be ready for tomorrow.. fingers crossed.

    After playing I went to get laundry soap from the Carrefours Cite down the street. Walking down the street one would never expect to see a grocery store till suddenly it’s there, full of Baguettes 🥖, cheese, carrot salad, chocolate and more.

    My clothes are washing for hours apparently as I found the washing machine confusing to use. Hopefully the come out ok as I am out of clothes!

    Draws are here


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  • Bordeaux!

    Posted on by Carolyn Nichols 3 Comments

    My third and last tournament on this trip starts tomorrow at the Villa Primrose in Bordeaux.

    I flew early to Bordeaux from Barcelona on Vueling, a discount Spanish airline. The checkin process was pretty much done without interaction with humans…check in, get bag tags and put them on bags then scan the bag tag, and if all is ok the belt starts moving. Not super efficient but cost efficient for the airline I imagine. The seats were tight…My knees touched the seat in front of me and my legs are short! But so was the flight and it arrived on time.

    I rented a more civilized apartment this year only a few minutes walk from the club. And it’s hot here but the AC works. There are lots of nice older buildings on my street. 😊

    I walked to the grocery store then to the club to try and hit a few balls. However the skies almost immediately began growling and sparking and eventually it poured. However the courts went from being under water to playable in under an hour.

    I play tomorrow not before 2pm, weather permitting (good chance of thunderstorms).

    Draws are here. Not all divisions have draws posted.

    World Cup, France 🇫🇷 vs Croatia 🇭🇷 was today….I heard lots of cheering during the game.

    Bon soir, a bientot. (Good evening, see you soon).


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  • Saturday Success in Spain

    Posted on by Carolyn Nichols Comment

    The Barcelona tournament came to an end yesterday, with finals played in most divisions followed by an awards ceremony.

    I won my singles over Carmen Chilleda from Madrid and was successful. The tournament had pretty glass trophies to go with prize money for the winners and losing finalists. For doubles three was a trophy.

    I watched Heide Orth play Michelle Bichon (Bichon won) with Ellen and Lutz Neumann, then packed to get ready for an early flight to Bordeaux where I play Monday.

    Adios Barcelona, Bon Jour Bordeaux.


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  • Playing into the Night Again!

    Posted on by Carolyn Nichols 1 Comment

    It was a beautiful day in Bordeaux. We took the bus to the club midday and began a day of waiting to play. I was a “2nd match after a not before 11:30 match” and the fourth match on Court 1. The matches went fast…one was Heide Orth’s match and one was King Van Nostrand’s, both of whom were efficient. I got on before 1pm against Dagmar Anwar. Dagmar is pretty short, maybe around 5” tall and in warm up the ball was hopping over her head a lot (I blame the wind).We had some good points but I won 61 61. I play Hildegarde Bruggaber from Austria  in the final on Saturday. It’s been hard to get a match rhythm here…I played Tuesday then Thursday and next Saturday, and there are no practice courts (well there is one indoor court but it’s pretty dark, slippery and hard). After my match the 50s doubles draw was posted and Erin and I found out we had a doubles match today, the last match of the day as it turned out. We started the match, on an unlit court at 8:15pm and managed to finish it before it got dark. We play the semis tomorrow against the top seeds late in the day again. I even hit an ace, my third on this trip. The other two were in Barcelona and were slow wide serves that bounced twice before our opponent could make contact, but today I hit a kick serve that bounced over our opponent’s head! Erin said it hit the line…Erin also hit an ace, a wide slider which was pretty impressive. The doubles match had a lot of kooky points which left us laughing. We finished the match just before the sun set, after 9pm.

    We all hit the sandwich shop before we played. It’s just down the street from the club and has great French baguette sandwiches and pastries…the baguettes here are terrific and cheap! The food at the club is good too.

    Erin played well in singles and won her match to advance to the semis against the #2 seed. The consensus is that Erin will win this match and I think that’s a correct prognosis.

    King Van Nostrand, pictured below  is in the 80s singles final. Also pictured, an old house in a block of newer buildings and a view from the gym of the courts.

    IMG_7652Thursday (2)Thursday (3)

    Photos from Bordeaux: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ty4X78LOmIxqKDnv2

    Draws: Bordeaux: http://www.itftennis.com/seniors/tournaments/tournament/info.aspx?tournamentid=1100039294


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  • Bordeaux Was Sizzling Today!

    Posted on by Carolyn Nichols Comment

    Today I played my first round match and our apartment adventures continued.

    My match was not before 5pm, but due to temps in the high 90s my 5pm match was pushed back to 5:45. I played Sue Winters of Great Britain. I played a decent first set but Sue played better in the second, but I managed to win 60 63. It was pretty hot on the court and dusty, but cooler weather is coming tomorrow. In fact I think I see it coming, it’s getting really windy outside and seems to be raining. The rest of the week the weather is supposed to be nice, in the 80s, and 70s. The heat is bearable on the court but waiting to play is not so nice, because there is no air conditioning in the clubhouse or the nearby patisserie, only in the grocery store (but it doesn’t have seating). Waiting in 90+ degree heat is draining. (Spoiled American alert). They needed to water the courts a lot today but it was hard to keep the dust down in the heat. One thing about the French courts that is different is that the lines are painted, not a tape that’s nailed to the court. And here there are just brooms to sweep the lines…who knew floor sweeping skills would come in handy in sport?

    IMG_7564

    The apartment adventures…well today Erin, Hannah and I all hit early since Erin and Hannah wanted to go to the beach which is an hour by train from Bordeaux (and the train station is probably 15+ minutes away by bus). We hit at 7:30 then got back around 9am to the apartment…and the handle to turn the door was broken. We could work the key ok, but not open the door. I sent Hannah and Erin off with a credit card and euros and waiting impatiently for a solution. The owner finally sent his friend over and he managed to get the door open,  but there’s just a pin to keep the handle in place…it’s going to break again. The owner, who we think is a guy in his late 20s, is very defensive…default responses are  “this has never happened before” and “it’s your fault”.

    Tomorrow I play Dagmar Anwar from Germany. She’s a good, steady player. We play not before 2:30, but realistically, since it’s the 5th match and matches start at 9am, I think it will later, maybe 3 or 4 if I’m lucky.

    Erin and Hannah had their own adventure…they went to the beach in Arcachon, but not before the two of them managed to lose each other at the train station…well Erin lost sight of Hannah who was racing to buy train tickets…and then each was trying to locate the other..long story short they missed the train, but got the second one and got to the beach which they enjoyed. They nearly missed the train back, not having checked the bus schedule to the train station…but a grand prix wanna be taxi driver got them to the train on time and back to Bordeaux.

    I just got an email that I don’t play tomorrow after all because one quarterfinal match was halted by a big thunder and lightning storm. So we are going to pick up a rental car tomorrow…another adventure awaits.

     

    Photos from Bordeaux: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ty4X78LOmIxqKDnv2

    Draws: Bordeaux: http://www.itftennis.com/seniors/tournaments/tournament/info.aspx?tournamentid=1100039294


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  • Bordeaux: Hot, Dusty Daytime Practicing on the Red Clay

    Posted on by Carolyn Nichols 1 Comment

    Today Erin Boynton and I had our first practice in Bordeaux, though it was not easy! First we (and by “we” I mean “I” since Erin would sensibly have been fine with Uber) decided to buy bus tickets for the week so we could easily go back and forth to the club. A bus ticket is about 10 euros for a week and includes bus, tram and a boat;  an Uber ride 6-10+ euros each way. We found a newstand that sold weekly tickets and that was the easy part…then we had to find the bus. We finally retraced our steps back to the apartment (Erin’s idea) and found tbe bus station. But I thought the direction the bus was going was wrong so we waited for another bus about 15 minutes. Then we tried to get off at the correct stop but the bus didn’t stop there. We later found out that due to road construction or something the bus wasn’t stopping there till the end of August. So we actually got off a stop early but found the club anyway. By this time it was 11:30. So we signed up for practice courts and went to get food and towels since there are no towels provided at the club. I gave Erin a tour of the store complete with one of the wine section and foreign food section (Erin is holding maple syrup). I don’t know bus routes but I do know store layouts!

    IMG_7556IMG_7559IMG_7560

    We were assigned a court and got on 5 minutes late for our 30 minute session due to a lesson (though actually we waited for court 14, and were supposed to be on 16…it was that kind of a day). We got bumped 20 minutes later by a kids’ camp. Oh…and the court was an indoor hard court covered with a slight bit of red clay, enough to be slippery. And it was really dry. So we went to court 16 and got bumped again this time after 5 minutes. Finally we were able to hit outdoors on clay since no one seemed to want to hit in the temperatures which were approaching the upper 90s by 2:30. We had an uninterrupted hit. The courts here are drier, not as heavy and very high bouncing. My shoes were caked with red dust by the time we finished. One unusual thing here is that all the chair umpires are young, junior tennis players in general, and they call all the lines! They do a pretty good job of it too. ITF White Badges in training.

    IMG_7561IMG_7565

    When we finished, all the courts were open as the referee paused play due to the heat. It only resumed after 5pm, when it was still very hot but the sun wasn’t beating down as much.

    We are staying in an apartment which is adequate but not as described. One problem was that we had only one set of keys. Hannah, Erin’s daughter talked to the owner and he said we could have the other set of keys, if we could break into the mailbox. Erin and Hannah managed to do that, using Erin’s surgical skills…so one problem solved.

    The bus back to the apartment is down till the end of August so we all walked back, about 20 minutes for Hannah and Erin who are in the 6 foot tall range…and about 35 minutes for me since my legs are short and I couldn’t help but stop to take some photos of the interesting old buildings along the way.

    IMG_7576 - CopyIMG_7577 - CopyIMG_7580 - CopyIMG_7582 - CopyIMG_7585 - Copy

    Tomorrow I am the last match on Court 9, not before 5pm…and if there’s a heat delay it could be later. So I still have a Barcelona schedule unfortunately. All the more time to eat baguettes and cheese.

    Photos from Bordeaux: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ty4X78LOmIxqKDnv2

    Draws: Bordeaux: http://www.itftennis.com/seniors/tournaments/tournament/info.aspx?tournamentid=1100039294


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  • Barcelona Champion: Tennis All Night

    Posted on by Carolyn Nichols 2 Comments

    Yesterday I won the 60 singles in Barcelona, beating the British Clay Court champion, Kim Reed,  62 61 in the final. I played very consistently, but the match was closer than the score, we had some long games and long rallies. We started early for Barcelona, at 5pm and finished just before 7pm. Our doubles was scheduled for 6:30pm but three of the four participants were still playing at 6:30. Erin lost a tough two-setter to Beatrix Mezger Reboul 75 64 and Kerry Ballard fell to Carmen Perera. We started about 8pm against Leanne Swaysland and Kerry and finished just before  11pm, losing 57 75 10-8. It was just a few points that separated us and was a good match.

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    We finally got back to the hotel around midnight and packed up for the tirp to Bordeaux today.

    Other winners included Heide Orth, W75, King Van Nostrand, M80 and in mixed, MJ Pachl won the 55s.

    Today Erin, Hannah and I went to Casa Battlo, created by Gaudi around the turn of the last century. It has a water/ocean based theme on the inside and is creative, livable and pretty.

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    After that visit we walked through the Gothic quarter before heading back to the hotel.

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    We flew to Bordeaux and then had a long wait in line when we got off the airplane, as there was a passport check, even though we were flying from a Schengen country, probably due to the terrorism lately in France. We found our apartment, then wandered around Bordeaux and had dinner in the square by the church. Now we have to get used to getting up early and playing tennis before dusk!

    cathedralCANHannah Erin

    Photos from Barcelona: https://photos.app.goo.gl/alD0rfmCbTXULVv63

    Photos from Bordeaux: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ty4X78LOmIxqKDnv2

    Draws: Barcelona: http://www.itftennis.com/seniors/tournaments/tournament/info.aspx?tournamentid=1100038580

    Draws: Bordeaux: http://www.itftennis.com/seniors/tournaments/tournament/info.aspx?tournamentid=1100039294


    Barcelona Barcelona 2017 Bordeaux Bordeaux 17 ITF Tournaments Travel 📎and tagged