Ibiza

Look at the picture below (you can click on it to make it bigger). If you look very carefully, just to the left of that white apartment building in the center of the photo is a church spire. That spire is about where Frankie and I were when we left nightclub/disco 'Ibiza' at 6:00 this morning. The picture is from our flat. The distance between the two locations, very far.

When we left Ibiza at 6:00 we learned that our ride had left about an hour prior. But we couldn't go with them because we had to stay to tend to the needs of our new French lady friends. There are also no buses running at 6:00. So we walked. And then walked some more. A total of about 6 kilometers, or 4 miles, up hills and stairs, through tunnels, and across bridges. It was a nightmare. On mile 3 I made a personal vow to pick up any hitchhiker I see during my time in France after dozens of cars blew by us as we prayed with our thumbs for a ride. Fortunately, this was the only part of the night that was not widely entertaining and fun.

Apartment building finally view after a hellish morning trek!

Frankie found a jungle gym on the way home and played for a bit. He's 22.

Frankie posing in front of Notre Dame Cathedral. This was early in the walk so spirits were still high. 

A view of the show!

The evening began at about 22:45 when we left the flat for downtown Rouen with Gustavo (not our tennis coach, but Gustavo's friend Gustavo, it's still confusing I know), his girlfriend Attica, and of course, Fercho. We headed for Notre Dame Cathedral, a spectacular cathedral in the center of town that has the tallest spire of any cathedral in France. It's 151 meters tall. We were told that there is some sort of light show projected on the cathedral every evening, but we really had no idea what we were getting in to. We found a parking space and made our way to the cathedral. What we found was unlike anything I've ever seen. Now I've seen some pretty wild light shows at music festivals and at parties, but this was by far the coolest light spectacle I've ever seen. For over a hour amazing images were projected onto the side of this giant cathedral. Set to music, Claude Monet paintings came alive with wild animations and houses of cards were built, then chopped down. The only way to really comprehend how amazing it is, is to see it in person. But I've done the next best thing and posted a video I took. It's rather long, but certainly worth watching if you've got some spare time.

You can't really tell from the photos, but this cathedral is giant. It's hard to put in words how impressive the display was.

Another of the cathedral's light show...

...and one more.

After the show ended we sat in the square drinking wine and waiting for tennis coach Gustavo to finish a dinner he was at so we could go to the disco. Apparently he has some sort of special connection that was needed to get in.

Romero waves "Bonjour!"

We arrived at Ibiza and within minutes Gustavo showed up with Romero (another coach), Julian (my opponent from the other day), and Julian's wife. We made our way in, and Gustavo (not the coach) coaxed 15 Euros from everyone so he could buy a bottle of vodka for the group. We grabbed a table in the corner, mixed ourselves some Red Bull vodkas, and danced the night away. At some point Frankie and I met three French girls who were enamored with the fact that we had attended college in California, were 'professional' tennis players, and at some point in our lives had once stood on a surf board. Maybe being an American in France isn't so bad after all. We danced and talked, and were told we had to get taken on a tour of Rouen by these ladies. An offer we haven't taken them up on yet because neither of us has a phone that won't cost too much to use in France, something we obviously must fix quite soon. After what seemed like an hour or two we said our goodbyes and left for home. Little did I realize 5 or 6 hours had actually passed and it was 6:00 A.M.

Sorry for the blur. From left to right: Gustavo (the coach), Frankie, Attica, and the other Gustavo.

Fercho y yo!

A cemetery we always pass on the way to the courts.

We didn't get to sleep until about 7:30 so we slept until around 13:00. Woke up, messed around for a while, and then went and hit some tennis balls at USCB tennis club, the same place we played the day we arrived. When we got to the courts Julian was hitting balls with his children, which raises two interesting questions. First, how in the world have we run into this guy so many times? We saw him the first day, then I played him in Nuefchatel, then at Ibiza, and again at the courts. The guy's everywhere. Second, what in the hell was Julian and his wife doing at Ibiza until 6:00 in the morning if they have two children? But I guess not my kids, not my problem. I was entertained by the fact that Julian told me he went to bed at 6:00, then had to wake up at 8:00 to take his children somewhere. His English is not good, but he kept rubbing his temples and violently shaking his head to explain how he felt.

I just found out we play our first rounds in our next tournament at 19:30 tomorrow evening in a city about an hour and fifteen minutes away. I'm not sure what city it is but I'll be finding out shortly. I'll be sure to report back on how everything goes. Rumor is Frankie maybe even be making a blogging guest appearance soon. But I'll believe it when I see it.

-Max