Monday, June 21, 2010

English tennis

That English tennis tournament got under way today. Gadzooks! Roger almost lost!

I am going to be really, really busy for the next four days. The World Cup football business goes to a four games per day schedule starting tomorrow and there is also obviously tennis. And bicycling.

I must admit that tuning in ESPN2 this morning to find the tennis tournament about to begin caused me to spend part of the day scouring the intertubes to see what I could find in the way of accommodation providers that might somehow approach the wonderful experience we had with, shameless plug here, Cooper Apartments in Paris. I have nothing to report as of yet.

Today in Roseville I had to try something I have never, ever done before to get my bicycle ride. When I was pulling on my bicycle gloves and closing the garage door as I prepared to begin a ride I noticed that rain drops were forming wet spots on the driveway. I have never begun a ride in such conditions before. But my radar weather research had convinced me that there was a window of opportunity for a ride. I rode a world record number of times around the cul-de-sac convincing myself to go and eventually headed out. Throughout the entire ride there was moisture in the air. It wasn't raining and it wasn't a mist but it was like every couple of minutes an ambient drop of something wet would hit my face or arms. It always felt like rain was possible. In contrast, the sky was overcast but not that ominous threatening overcast that I associate with the onset of actual precipitation. It always felt risky but . . .

Ride completed, no rain yet.

Here, depending on one's perspective is either good news or a sign of unwelcome progress. Saint Bernard's is a Saint Paul church and high school. This past year there was some news reports that the school would be closing. It has been apparent for some time that the church and school sponsored dining hall at the Fairgrounds would also be closing (earlier this spring there was an auction of fixtures). This is pretty much the final notice though.If you like O'Gara's, and a lot of people do, you will probably be pleased to learn that the local Irish pub/restaurant will be establishing a presence at the Fair. If you think the loss of one of the church dining halls is a loss of one of the landmarks that makes the Fair the Fair then you will probably not be as pleased.

Count me in the latter group. I don't believe I have ever eaten in that particular establishment but I am sorry to see it go.

There is so much art in Paris that I don't even know that these are officially art or not. These are our two "local" fountains, the fountains at the corner of Rue Saint Honore and Avenue de la Opera. The first one is the one furthest from our flat, the one near Comedie Francais and the Palais Royale Metro stop.Many, many times when we walked past the fountains were not even turned on. I got a picture of the two of them on a day when water WAS flowing.

I looked through the guide books and even tried some intertubes research but can find nothing about either of these. They are still nice, quite photogenic. This is the closer one to our flat, next to the cab stand.London seems like it should be easier to go to than Paris. The natives of London speak a language very similar to ours, communication MIGHT be easier. Or maybe not.

2 comments:

gfr said...

We stayed at a B&B near the London Museum when we were there years ago. Not exactly the style of accomodation to which you are accustomed, but the breakfasts were tasty.

T Tousan said...

Try to find a place with a full height ceiling. And a slightly larger elevator.

Have you noticed the French World Cup squad is melting down? This may be the result of karma generated by their game winning "hand-made" goal which got them to South Africa.

I like the fountains. They bring back good memories. TT