May 31, 2005

European Tour Main Page

By Wednesday afternoon we arrived in Paris following a quick 13-hour bus trip. During the trip I discovered 17 new positions that my body is capable of sleeping in, so that was good.

The first day in Paris we god to visit Sacre Coeur, a beautiful cathedral that gives a breathtaking view of the city from the hill it sits on. The next day we all met at Notre Dame. The weather was amazing - sunny and hot. By this point we were beginning to get the hang of the Metro system. Unfortunately I had to learn the hard way how fast the Metro doors shut. Luckily I was able to wrench myself from their mighty grip.

Later Thursday afternoon we head to the gym for a match against Laura Greene, Jo (our tour guide) and a nice crew of French players. We couldn't seem to finish out a 2-0 start to the match, but all in all it was a good finish to the volleyball portion of the trip.

On Friday the team was free for most of the day, so I got a chance to spend a day in Paris with my parents. We did some sight seeing and saw Saint Catherine de Laboure, who has been preserved in an airless glass box since her late 19th-century death. We spent the second half of the day walking the entire length of the Champs Elysee from Place de la Concorde to the Arch de Triomphe, with a little shopping in between. Needless to say our legs were slightly heavy by the end of the day. The highlight of the day, however, came when the team posed for a delightful picture with the sparkling Eiffel Tower in the background.

Saturday morning brought with it a nice, relaxing boat tour up and down the Seine River with quite possibly the most interesting dialect of the English language I have ever heard as the voice of our tour. Among the many sights we saw were the Pont Neuf, the Eiffel Tower (again), and several scantily clad sunbathers. Overall, the ride down the Seine was probably one of my favorite parts of the trip, with the hot sun beating down on us accompanied by a cooling breeze.

That night the team went out for the final dinner of the trip in the Luxembourg sector at a Japanese restaurant. We all shared our favorite memories from the past two weeks, spanning from Christie's plunge to the floor after tripping over Board during a routine substitution, all the way to Molly and Bekah's almost jail-bound encounter with the Metro police.

After an evening spent watching Jayme propel duck off of a brochette and enjoying delicious ice cream, I felt as if our trip was complete. How luck am I to have gotten the chance to end my career at Carolina with such an unforgettable trip. I only wish every team could have the chance to do the same.

So now, signing off, No. 9, the crazy one, Katie Newcomb Wright.