Hellhens in France!: Paris Overrated?

Don't get me wrong I like Paris. It's a nice city with lots of historic sites to see. But I'm not going to lie, I've enjoyed the rest of France much more than Paris. I don't like the crowds. I don't like the tourists that wonder around and act like fools. I don't like the ridiculously overpriced everything. And I really don't like trying to be hustled into every store and restaurant I walk by. I'm certainly happy we came here for a few days because the Eiffel Tower is amazing, Notre Dame Cathedral is crazy, Champ Eylysses is historic, and tomorrow I'm sure The Louvre will be awe inspiring. But I guess I prefer being less of a tourist than everyone else. Any who we had planned to go The Louvre today but we couldn't because it's closed on Tuesdays, of course, so we called an audible and went to Rolland Garros, the site of the French Open.

Entering the museum.

Every French Open since the beginning.

Unfortunately you can't really go into the tournament grounds and see the courts, but there is a museum on site that we went to. Because we are members of the French Tennis Federation it was only 3 euros which was quite a steal, and it was a damn cool museum. What made it even cooler was we yesterday as we were driving to Paris we got to the part of Open, Andre Agassi's autobiography, were he finally wins the French Open in 1999. And there is a whole section of the museum that's dedicated to his win, so the after hearing what he had to say about the match, we got to watch highlights and then see his racquet, clothes, and trophy from the match which was a great connection to make. Afterwards we wondered the streets, got some lunch, and relaxed in a park.

From left to right. Men's Doubles trophy, Men's Singles trophy, Women's Singles trophy, and Women's Doubles trophy.

The first ball machine invented by Rene Lacoste, the founder of Lacoste. Turns out the alligator is the Lacoste logo because Rene was nicknamed the alligator for his on court tenacity.

Tennis evolved from a variation of paddle tennis where the paddle was strapped to one's hand. But Major Walter Wingfield thought this was dumb, and instead developed the first racquets.

The museum also highlighted how far tennis has come in just a few decades. The guys that won the French Open in the 30s, 40s, and 50s looked like unathletic hacks. Compare that to the physical specimens that modern day players are and it really gives you an idea how great of an era of tennis we're living in. As I mentioned earlier tomorrow we're going to go The Louvre and hopefully find some reasonably priced tennis courts in the area to hit a few balls. And then on the 22nd it's Eminem. We bought our tickets last night and I'm pretty excited. Should be something to see an American rap icon play in Paris.