St. Omer, France (Open De Saint-Omer Tournament)

A provincial place where the air is fresh, and the climate much colder. A community more peaceful, clean and less hectic than Paris. Many say that there is nothing much to do. I don't mind it at all. I actually enjoy it. I love the fact that it is calm, quiet and mellow over here. Even the people (I feel) are much nicer and more attentive. Despite being a small event and quite far from the city, it is well worth coming to this place. To play in European soil once again is always a great experience.

The tournament week has begun. It is a Thursday and my Angelo is teeing off at 2:20pm. It may sound kind of late if you're used to Asia, but the sun sets really late over here. My guess is because it is summer? At 8pm the sun is still shining bright and it gets dark around 10:30pm. Every time I look out my hotel window, the cold summer nights are short, and I see longer days.. So as I write, it is almost 6pm and I am sitting by the terrace of the hotel, sipping my cup of tea and waiting for my beloved to finish on the 9th hole (he started on the back 9 first). Luckily it is a beautiful day today. The weather is just great albeit the weather forecast for today which was suppose to be windy and cold. Three days ago it was quite chilly when we arrived. Hopefully this is a good sign for us. As always, every event of my Angelo I pray for good days.

It is Friday and second round of the tournament. Just looking at the scores, my Angelo won't seem to make it. As always, I'm the one that feels sad and awful for him. But to him its just another week. So now we move on to the next tournament. I, with a heavy heart (which I will get over soon enough) and my love, still remains happy even though he's missed the cut. That's what I love about him. Always persevering, optimistic and finding the good in everything. Don't ever lose those traits my beloved.

Thankfully, our hotel room is complimentary for the week. Now my hubby's weekend is free to just relax with me. On Sunday is also our 3rd year wedding anniversary (June 20). We leave for Chantilly on that day and get a head start on practice. We plan on celebrating our blissful union after.

Thank you anyway St. Omer for the lovely experience. Without losing any confidence, my husband has learned a lot, and again has discovered new and better things with his game. Let's bring this new found feeling to the next tournament, shall we?

Back to Paris on Sunday! Bye for now!

From Paris With Love (Part Un)

Hello Paris! We are so happy to be here! Despite an almost 16 hour flight (but surprisingly we both had a restful slumber), here we are basking delightfully in the city of love, life and light. Fresh from the airport, we rented a car and drove to our hotel. As soon as we arrived, we set our luggages aside and didn't waste any more time. We went straight away to see a little of what Paris had to offer.

Just like any other tourist, but with a very short itinerary, Angelo and I tried our best to make the most out of it by contenting ourselves (for the meantime) with a bird's eye view of this beautiful city.

We started off by visiting the ever popular symbol of Paris which was only 15 minutes by walk from our hotel-- Le Tour Eiffel or the Eiffel Tower.

Then we took the river cruise down the Seine to get a glimpse of things to come.

On board now, we passed the 20 something bridges,

and we could only ogle from a distance: the Notre' Dame Cathedral,

American Cathedral,

Musee' D' Orsay,

The Military museum,



the Louvre,

Cour de Cassation (highest court in the French judiciary. It is also where Marie Antoinette awaits to be guillotined),

and Hotel Lombre (home to Voltaire, Mozart, and Chopin)

This is what we've experienced so far. More blogs and pics to follow.. We just had to see and be in Paris first before we headed to our real destination, St. Omer which is north of France. This is the whole reason of our coming here-- to play a golf tournament. St. Omer, a provincial part of France, and it is about 2 1/2 hours from the city. With our rented car and gps, we are driving all the way.

After this week, Angelo and I will have more time to see more of Paris when we head back on Monday. He will give it his best to qualify for the French Open. If he makes it, then we stay for 2 more weeks! :) Wish us luck!

I'll write again from St. Omer.. Keep you guys posted! Au revoir for now! :)