Laundry, Roland Garros & a Fries sandwich

It was a busy day for me. I started with a run down to Nueilly and back. Then my main goal of the weekend was to do my laundry. I'm down to the last pair of underware! The hotel has a laundry room, but machines operate on tokens. You need to buy the tokens in a machine. The machine has been broken for over a week now. So there is a nearby laundry mat - but it doesn't work like those in the US! I discussed this with Marwan, the owner of the Lebanese restaruant I've eaten at. In France, you put all the money in a central control (see in the wall next to the driers). You select your machine number (or soap dispenser) and click "#". Then you load up, lock the washer door and press the Marche button. It was a bit intimidating at first, but I succeeded and now have clean shorts again!

After the laundry, I called Jay and we journied to Roland Garros, to see if we could wander around the French Open. It was a convaluted ride requiring 3 metros (and the purchase of extra tickets in a machine). We emerged from the metro at Porte d'Auteuil into a sea of ticket scalpers. We found you can't get into the venue at all if you don't have a ticket. So we just wandered around the outside. We did find a spot to see some doubles through the fence. And we had a small section to view Maria Sharapova warming up. So I can say I saw her at the French Open. Even though we could see empty seats in the stands, the day was completely sold out. You can wait in a line (a big line) for 5pm when they sell the seats of those that leave early - half price (like 37 Euros). The scalpers were asking 200!
As we wandered, we found the Botanical Gardens and spent a little time there. When done, we ordered hot dogs at stand near the metro entrance. We got a bagette with 2 hotdogs (more like sausages, not you usual Oscar Meyer), mustard and a bunch of french fries on top. So it was basically a french fry sandwich! Washed down with a couple 1667 beers.

I exited the metro early at Nueilly to look for a Boulangerie that I bought a quiche at last week. It was so good, I wanted another. I found it and snagged the last piece (looked like it was close to closing time). Returned to le Defense on foot - it may have been the busiest day I've seen (for non-work day). Lots of people taking in the sun on the benches and grass. Very nice!