We're here...

we're queer, get used to it...

Actually, where we are is the Radisson Blu in Cologne which is mega comfortable and friendly. Fiona and Jon and Rhys are here, Sue and Pete fly in tomorrow.

We've got our accreditation, the Opening Ceremony is Saturday night and my first game is on Tuesday.

And so, it begins...

I have a court booked for Sunday for some last minute practice . Judy plays her first game on Monday - doubles (D grade) with Suzanne.

You can feel the Gay Games buzz - lots of team members on the train from Paris, gays and lesbians everywhere in the City  and the organisers keep giving us girls - wait for it - condoms... ah well - mass production of welcome kits can only be customised so much and one shouldn't assume that the girls who are here might not also sleep with boys..

I've had my first German beer - yuuuum

Le Dernier Jour en Paris

Rhys has a future as a ball-kid. For one whole hour, he retrieved all our tennis balls - one by one at times and successfully dodged serves, ground-strokes and mis-hits.

I'm much happier with my serve - goes in when I relax - who woulda thought? Judy can punch the ball back all right but she's not so keen on running so I get to play sneaky shots when I play her (not that she's playing singles in Cologne).

A slack afternoon for us today because we have to pack to be ready for the 10.00am train to Cologne.

Rhys, otherwise known as "Underpants Boy" because he has a tendency to drop his dacks, is very excited about the train trip. He's only been on relatively short trips so far. I do hope he doesn't morph into Underpants Boy on the train - but on the other hand .....

Absolutely Nothing To Do With Tennis

Today we spent touring various iconic highlights of Paris - filming Judy singing...

I will say no more because I have absolutely no idea how the end product will be but we had fun at the Louvre, the Arc, the Eifel Tower and outside various shops and other Parisian landmarks. Maybe this will be the next YouTube sensation?

Then back to the apartment for a nap and tonight we're going to outer Paris to eat Vietnamese - well why not?

First practice hit up

Jude andfound our way to a very average municipal court - I was hoping that they might be clay courts but unfortunately they were some kind of weird green bitumen. Still, a practice hit is a practice hit.

Rhys joined us for the last ten minutes so that he could play tennis too. I gave him a small racquet for his birthday which he tends to use like a cricket bat - eh - who cares.

The hotel bed in Geneva has done something nasty to my back but there is a Chinese massage place just a few blocks down from our apartment and I am booked in at 6.00 this evening to get the kinks ironed out.

This afternoon we plan to visit the Paris Plage - the fake beach they set up on the banks of the Seine.
It will be a relief to be away from the utter stench from the dog and human urine and excrement that this arrondisement appears to be drenched with. There's one particular covered walk-way that is so bad, that we literally have to hold our breath as we go past.

Another practice hit is scheduled for Thursday - and I plan to hit buckets of serves - gotta get that groove hapenning.

Monday in Paris

A quiet day today - just a short trip to blvd Haussmann with Fi and Rhys and Judy to buy jeans for Jude (her old ones died in Gstaad).

A light lunch.

An afternoon nap.

Dinner with our friends tonight and a tennis court booked for 9.00am tomorrow.

Sunday in Paris with 4 year old

Rhys told me that he had such fun today with me that he was in love.

He also asked why I was old and wrinkly.

Four year olds are special indeed.

I had Rhys to myself for much of the day. We went to the Bastille market - oh the cheese, the cheese, indeed blessed are the cheesemakers, bought roast chicken and then Rhys and I waved his mother and father off when they went on a 19km roller blading outing with a couple of thousand other people. This happens every Sunday, thousands of roller bladers meet at a designated spot and then skate for up to 25kms around Paris. Volunteer marshalls and police on roller blades manage the road closures and keep the group tight.

Normally, Rhys would accompany his parents in his pusher but since we were here we decided to have a little time with him and let his parents skate to their hearts' content.

We walked back from Bastille to the apartment with Rhys demonstrating his prowess in jumping off things, skipping, hopping, twirling and running really fast. He also "scared" me 5 times - 5!

We all had a nap after that and then Rhys and I went to the little playground at the foot of the apartment. It's not a particularly nice playground - I suspect it is more of a hang out for serious drinking and perhaps drugs but we were the only ones there and we had further demonstrations of leaping, jumping, balancing and other gymnastics.

My first game is a little over one week from now so tomorrow it's time to get onto a court and have a gentle hit with Judy.

Paris

Neither of us slept well last night but we caught the 8:17 train to Lyon and then on to Paris today. Jonathan and Fiona and Rhys met us at our apartment which is just a short walk from them in the 11th arrondisement.

I have eaten far too much today but that's all too easy to do in Paris.

We will meet up with J&F&R tomorrow and go to the market and then we get to have Rhys all to ourselves for the afternoon while his parents go on roller blading around the city. Every Sunday, thousands of people gather to go skating. Normally Rhys accompanies his parents in his pusher (with helmet and suitably chic sunglasses) but we will find a park or two to take him to.

Our schedule for the Games has changed. Judy will play on Monday but my first game is now not until Tuesday. And unlike previous games - there will be a play off for the bronze... 

I think this competition will be tougher than it looks.

Au revoir