Good evening all lovely Rafafans.
Well, what a packed day as per usual. It started in glorious sunshine as we made our way to the bus stop to catch the infamous "bus from Hell" ... otherwise known as the No. 100, which takes you to Monte Carlo and beyond. Well, beyond was where we were going to today, the place where Mr Harmans hangs out, Menton.
Firstly though, we had to endure the trauma of actually getting on the No. 100 bus as there was a mass of people queueing when one arrived. However, it was the "express" bus, ie it goes on the motorway and not down by the coast, so it wasn't the one we wanted to get on. Regardless, people were boarding and then behind it, the usual No. 100 turned up. So Rafan and I made our way to it, but the driver wouldn't let us on and we were beckoned to go back to the original queue. When the Express left, the No. 100 pulled up, and we waited and waited and waited to get on. Then, another No. 100 pulled up, and people at the back of the queue made their way to get on it ... and the driver let them! As Rafan and I were caught in the middle, we ended up being the last people to get on ... and ended up having to stand almost all the way to Monte Carlo!!
We made reasonable time to MC, but we were going a bit further to Menton, and by the time we bloody got there, it was time for lunch. So we made our way to the beach, and by this time, the weather had started to change so we found a restaurant and got a table inside.
To be honest, lunch was about the highlight of Menton. I'd checked it out on t'internet and it seemed like a lovely, pretty little coastal town, but to be honest, its very touristy and a bit like Blackpool-sur-Mer, so I won't be going back again.
Then would you believe it, the rain started to fall, and as my umbrella matched the colours of my outfit, I left Rafan to get wet whilst we made our way to the bus stop to carry on with the second part of the day's Bossy Itinerary.
Our plan was to go the Monte Carlo Bay Hotel for tea (and whatever we might find there ;) ) ... but Rafan came out with a good idea of getting off at the Country Club, so that we could walk up the hill and take photographs of the courts down below. So that's what we did and we saw some players practising and then spotted a neon yellow and orange vision with his partner in a matching outfit ... yes, it was Fer, playing doubles with Marrero against Berdych (Rolf) and Dolgo. We weren't treated to much tennis as Fer and partner quickly got to match point. To see the state of Fer afterwards, you would have thought he'd lost. The grumpy old sod stormed quickly off court and didn't even wait for his partner, never mind being civil to the people who stopped him along the way.
But ... grumpy chops or not, we knew that he would eventually have to come out, so we went to the VIP and players' entrance to wait ...
It wasn't particularly busy there but there's one observation about the VIP women. Its obligatory to carry a genuine Hermes Birkin ... or you won't be let in!! But for us, it turned out to be a fab experience as we saw many of the players leave.
Firstly we were treated to Nico ... then Belucci. Little Daveed came out and was very quickly whisked away in a car, but his face was soooo tanned. Then Benito arrived, with a gaggle of children, but we've no idea whether they were the cousins or whatever. Jo-Wilfrid Tsonga came out, as did Fognini and Milos Raonic who's really quite sweet. Then both Rafan and I screamed in delight.
Lovely Mo!!
And when I say screamed in delight, I mean it. We both went "Mo!!" And he turned to me and shook my hand and said, "Yes! Welcome to Monte Carlo". And then Rafan asked for a photo, to which Mo duly obliged and its come out really lovely. He was with the other little Mohammed umpire, and by this time, there was a bit of a shortage of official cars, so Mo and Little Mo just decided to walk down the hill to the hotel. He is such a treasure.
Then ... de-de-durrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr ... Rolf came out. And he was every bit the miserable, dour sod we believe him to be Anyhow, as Rolf was standing just right by us, Rafan plucked up the courage and asked if he would have a photograph taken with her (she's so shallow :) ) and as there was nowhere for Rolf to run, he duly obliged. What was funny was that he bent his head somewhat so shorty Rafan and his lanky self could both get in the picture, and get this readers ...
... he actually smiled.
What I've missed out before all this was that when Benito arrived, it was to pick up Marcel and Marc! Yes, little Marc! came right by us, but unfortunately my pictures of them were pretty pants.
But back to the main course. A bit of excitement was in the air as we spotted that bloke (who is either a coach or some sort of backroom staff), but he's always there with the Spanish Davis Cup team, so excitement was brewing as we thought Fer would be on his way. And he was! But unlike the other players, Fer hid out of sight behind a gate and wouldn't come out ... he was waiting for (a) his car and (b) his security to escort him out. *shakes head*
But then treat of all treats!! He was joined by Feli!! The two of them hung out behind the gates together when Fer's car arrived. Security tried to usher me out of the way when Fer went glumly past. I did manage to get a picture but seriously ... there was no other prima donna behaviour from any of the other players, so I don't know what makes him so special. Not long after, Feli's car arrived and he made an appearance in his sweats. I swear, my legs were like jelly and I was so excited. I've managed to get quite a few pictures of Feli as he went past, and when I manage to find the time, I'll upload my pictures of the other players to Flickr (but I'll let you know when I do).
So after the excitement was done, we made our way back to the bus stop and yes, we've had another tortuous journey home on that No. 100 bus ... except this time, we at least had a seat. We'd already decided that we weren't going out tonight, so we went to the local supermarket and gazed lovingly at the fabulous food on display there ... but have promptly had a tea consisting of a mountain of toast (me), glass(es) of wine (me), bread, ham, bread, jam, Haribo, cheese bugel crisps, washed down with more Haribo (Rafan).
Whilst I've been typing this, Rafan has been reading up on our adventures from last year and laughing her head off. I've decided that my tales thus far are devoid of jokes, so get this one.
When we arrived, Bruno warned us about the paper thin walls and to try and not make too much noise. But he did say that equally, we would probably hear the neighbours too. Well ... tonight I could hear a right load of moaning, and I was convinced that the neighbours were having sox. Rafan was convinced that they were "sawing" something. Sawing??? Anyhow ... after the noise all ended, someone ended up crying and wailing their head off, so God knows what was going on.
Well ... that's it for sight seeing on this trip and the tennissss starts tomorrow as we have tickets from Wednesday to Sunday. Surprisingly, Rafan took all of 1.75 seconds to say "OK!!!" when I suggested that if she was up early (like she wouldn't be), that she could head up to the club by herself and I would join her later. It saves the *handbags* in the morning though, I suppose. *giggle*
So ... its Rafatime tomorrow! And we're looking forward to cheering our hearts out for the boy.
More tomorrow Rafafans!! Night night!!
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