Texas Tech University Athletics
Jolee Ayers Diary
August 14, 2001 | Women's Basketball
Aug. 14, 2001
Bonjour from Paris! Well, we all made it safe and sound after a nine-hour flight. We left at about 4:45 pm and arrived at 8:45 am Paris time. As soon as we arrived they loaded us onto a bus and our Paris tour began. Our French tour guide Dominique talked us through the city sites such as the Eiffel Tower, the Notre Dame Cathedral, statues like Joan of Arc and `The Thinker,' and tons of other historic buildings. The architecture on the buildings was awesome. It was amazing to think that they built some of them in the 14th century. I think my favorite part was the cathedral. The stain glass windows were incredible and it was neat to hear how each side represented the Old and New Testament of the Bible. Everyone took lots of pictures of the gargoyles outside and the two towers of the cathedral. We also stopped by the Eiffel Tower. We didn't stay there too long since we are going up to the top tomorrow, but we took a few pictures from a distance.
After the bus tour, we were free to roam around for a couple of hours which everyone was excited about because we were all starving from a full day of traveling. Natalie and I stopped in a small pizza place. Pizza in France is not exactly the same that you could get from One Guy in Lubbock. To be honest, I think I'll stick with what we get in the good old USA. Natalie and I had an interesting time as usual. First of all, we can't order ANYTHING in French, so the waiter had quite a time trying to write down our orders. Once we finally got that done, a man at a table next to us asked us if we were Italian since we were such "built" young ladies. Well, Natalie and I laughed and told him no. But then he turned and asked us if we were German because we were so big. We were so simpled out that we couldn't stop laughing long enough to answer him. During our uncontrollable laughing, a waiter at the restaurant somehow took that as us flirting with him and starting signaling something to us. It wasn't until later that we figured out that he was telling us what time he got off of work. So once we finish everything, figure out how to pay in franks, and get out of there, we finally realized why we were getting so much attention.
As we stopped and looked at our reflections in the glass of a shop, Natalie and I saw how attractive we were with our t-shirts, gym shorts, ratty hair and swollen knees and ankles from the flight. We were all relieved when we started heading to the hotel in anticipation of showering and falling into a big, comfortable bed. Once we got our rooms, we headed up and walked into a room with two less than twin beds which are placed on the same headboard about 3 inches apart. Natalie's feet hang off about 5 inches, so I am just hoping to be able to get my knees on the bed and crash for a good 14 hours.
Au revoir,
Jolee Ayers
