By Jenna Cashman & Ashley Kerscher
Thursday began early with a wake up time of around 7 A.M. as we had many things to do before we departed for Paris. We had to get ready, finish packing our bags, eat breakfast, check out, and take our luggage to the luggage room where it would be stored until our departure. All members of the group met up and we left the hotel to head to the West Brompton train station. Our train didn’t take us right to the grounds, so we had to walk about 10 minutes from the train station to get to Lord’s. At the grounds, we did a cricket workshop, including learning how to bowl the ball (overhand while keeping your elbow locked) and doing different catching and throwing drills. After that, the group played a small game of cricket where everyone had the opportunity to bat and play in the field. The batting team was on one half of the mini field while the fielding players were scattered around. If a player hit the ball, they ran with the bat to the opposite wickets and then back; this is worth two runs. The final score was 18-14, giving us more insight to what cricket scoring looks like and how it works.
After the workshop, we were given a tour of the grounds. There we saw the media center, the stands, the visitor’s dressing room, and a demonstration of real tennis. In the media center we learned that the middle stump of a wicket has a microphone and a camera in it to televise games. We also were shown that Lord’s Cricket Ground is sloped, which is unusual for cricket. Additionally, Lord’s can hold 31,000 people and it is 100 percent grass, which means that it must be taken care of unlike turf. The visitors’ dressing room and home dressing room at the grounds are the same size; they’re each built for just twelve players, however they can’t be rebuilt because of their history. Rounding out the tour was real tennis, which we had never heard of before. Real tennis is a game played indoors, with a ball that is similar to cricket and wooden rackets, and there are only 51 courts in the world.
A small group walked to Abbey Road to reenact the iconic Beatles photo. It was quite a busy intersection, but after a bit of waiting, everyone got the pictures they wanted.
The group took a train to Harrods, where we looked around at jewelry, chocolate, and then stopped for some lunch at Harrods Pizzeria & Pasqua. As we walked back to the train station, we stopped by a bakery, and it was all pink; some of us getting desserts or coffee.
Since we couldn’t be late for our train to Paris, we had to quickly make it back to the hotel to grab our luggage. We were soon back at West Brompton Station to take the tube to the International Train Station. The tube was very hectic and crowded at this time because each member in our group had a suitcase, and since it was rush hour for the locals. After long lines for security and customs, we ate dinner at the train station and then boarded our train for Paris. Quickly into the ride, we entered the “chunnel” under the English Channel, which took us right into France. The group grabbed our luggage from the train and walked to our new hotel. After discovering that our assigned hotel room was still in use by somebody else, we requested a new room and then got ready for the next day.
Friday began pretty early as we had a departure time of 8:45 A.M. It was also our first morning in the new hotel, which proved to have little food options (although they had plenty of chocolate croissants). We all met up to walk to the NH Hotels Gare de L’est to attend a lecture about American Football in Europe. The president of the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) spoke to us. IFAF aspires to define itself as a stable, well-governed and socially responsible international federation, and it was created in 1998. It was very interesting to learn about how popular American Football is becoming on this continent, how the businesses get their money, and advertising techniques they use. At the conclusion of the lecture, we took the metro to Roland Garros where we would watch the qualifier matches for the French Open. Roland Garros is a large outdoor campus with multiple large stadiums of tennis courts and several smaller courts with bleacher seating. We waited in line to get into a smaller court, since fans can only enter when each game ends. The group watched Ohio State alum J.J. Wolf in a match, followed by another woman from the United States.
We went to a sandwich shop in Roland Garros for lunch where we had the option of ham & cheese or tomato & mozzarella on focaccia. With the sandwiches people also had cookies, chips, and macarons. We ate outside under an umbrella as it was a beautiful sunny day. This is where the group split, as some wanted to go back to the hotel and others wanted to go shopping. The group who went shopping were led to a Zara that didn’t exist (this has been a recurring theme in Europe), and the group who was going back to the hotel ended up getting off at the wrong train station on the way home. Each group made it back to the hotel after a bit of an adventure.
Tonight there was a group dinner at Friends & Family Restaurant. After taking naps, freshening up, and getting dressed up for dinner, we took the train and walked for about 15 minutes to the restaurant. Seeing everybody dressed up was super fun, and the girls had a photoshoot while waiting for the food to arrive. The multiple course meal included soup, potatoes, chicken breast and dessert. All of the food was very good, but the chocolate mousse was a crowd favorite. It was very nice to get to spend this time with the entire group and eat great food. After dinner, some people went to see the Eiffel Tower while others went back to the hotel. This rounded out a great day, and we got ready for our next adventures.
