Exhausted from our day, we collapsed into bed around 10. Got up on Friday and made our way to the tennis center via taxi. Side note....if you phone for a taxi they start the meter from the moment they begin their journey to pick you up. Anyway....away we went. Natalie and Gibbs practiced a while, we had lunch and rested. Then Nat practiced with Kiick and was done for the day.
We decided to plan a boat outing for the evening. The excursion company was running a special 40 Euro each for an hour and half on the Mediterranean Sea. Was to be a sunset cruise complete with wine. After many calls and language barriers, the six of us were booked and paid for. So away we went. Had to take two taxis to the Old Port of Marseilles. A beautiful area that you will see in the pictures below, the ones with the rainbow. Sorry, I digressed....upon arrive to the port we looked for our red and white boat and Michael our captain. HHmmmm with almost 2-3,000 boats in the port we decided to call Michael for better directions to his pier. Natalie was kind enough to make the call and was also the barer of the bad news. Our cruise had been cancelled due to rough seas. Well, darn they could have called us before we spent the taxi fare to travel to the port!
Squeezing lemonade out of the lemons of our evening, we walked the Old Port area. A lovely area full of shops and restaurants. We stopped for dinner and made our way back to our hotel. A great evening indeed.
Today, Natalie practice twice before we took a tour. One of our tournament hosts felt horrible about us not getting our boat ride, that she arranged for Natalie and I to take a tour by car of the coast of Marseilles. One of the tourney drivers took us further south on the coastal road....def not a highway. What an beautiful ride! Wish we could have stayed and explored but we were worried bout not being able to get a taxi back. For we were in tiny village and Natalie has a match tomorrow, therefore she couldn't walk the 5 or so miles back to a taxi. Maybe next time!
We were dropped at the port closer to our hotel and taxis. Where we had lunch at the beach and the beach. Took a few pictures and had to make our way to the registration for the tourney. YES....Natalie got into the tourney and in fact there are several byes in the qualifier draw. Natalie will play third on tomorrow vs. Laisne (FRA). This is a $100K event, Natalie needs to win three rounds to get into the main. Here is the link to the draw and live scoring:
http://www.itftennis.com/procircuit/tournaments/women's-tournament/info.aspx?tournamentid=1100031808
Tonight we walked across the street for dinner. I had McDonalds....yes....McDonalds and I am thankful for it! The ONLY thing that has pleased my taste buds in three weeks, so sad! Natalie enjoyed pasta.
Following my visit to the American Cemetery in Paris, on Memorial weekend. My old friend Connie contacted me to let me know that her grandfather is buried there. So, as describe in my last blog, I made a journey back to the cemetery to take lay flowers and take pictures for Connie and her family. I have included a few of them below.
Well, that is about it for now my friends! Until that lil yellow ball bounces, we will continue to enjoy the sunshine and warm breeze.....Love and Blessings.....Sherry!
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| Old Port of Marseilles |
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| Natalie and June |
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| The final resting place of Calvin Scott, Connie's grandfather |
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| Marseilles |
