What better way to find out the answer to such questions, than to find out for yourself. With this in mind, the Blogathonrunner set off with a good friend for a day trip to the French Open Tennis at Roland Garros, where we had tickets for the 2nd show court Suzanne Lenglen, on the first Thursday of the tournament.
Now it should be pointed out at this stage that the Blogathonrunner and friend had been in Paris since the previous Monday doing what tourists essentially do, and quite frankly the weather had been pants. In fact we looked at the weather forecast for the Thursday, in fear we may require a boat to transport us round Roland Garros.
Thankfully however, as we made our way to Roland Garros on the Thursday, it wasn't actually raining, so seeing some tennis was a distinct possibility. Positivity was running through our veins. Forward the clock on 8 or 9 hours so towards the end of that Thursday, it is safe to say we were feeling a mixture of positivity, negativity, depression (largely at the weather), amusement, bewilderment and probably a few other emotions in between.
So what is the Blogathonrunner's verdict on the Roland Garros experience. Well if I was a School Teacher writing a school report, it would probably read along the lines of "Good, but could do better". So here it is the Blogathonrunner's Roland Garros School Report.
Rain
One thing is for certain, Roland Garros organisers cannot be held responsible for the atrocious weather we encountered on the day we attended the tournament. It's not as if they have a hotline to mother nature where they can request sunny weather for the entire tournament. The rain left us all totally frustrated and led some to send amusing Spanglish texts such as "Esta f***ing raining again". All things said and done, the organisers did their best to ensure spectators saw as much tennis as humanly possible that day. Possibly not wise however, to allow media to conduct interviews on court after matches, when the next shower is just around the corner wanting to make an appearance.
Food
If I said I purchased a mozzarella & tomato salad, packet of crisps, a mini cheese cake, bottle of water and a Kit Kat and it came to 20 Euros, need I really say more. I can buy my weekly shopping at the supermarket for only slightly more than that price. Anyway, yes it does seem to be an international phenomenon that sporting venues try to bankrupt you, when you are simply buying lunch. On the positive side good variety food for the gastronomists of the world.
Does anyone know the way to Roland Garros?
When the Blogathonrunner's friend purchased tickets for Roland Garros, she was informed by organisers that if travelling to Roland Garros by Metro and you have tickets for Suzanne Lenglen court, it would be better for you to get off at Boulogne-Jean-Jaures station. First part of the journey equation easily done, and then it gets bizarrely complicated. We exited Boulogne-Jean-Jaures station with a Roland Garros sign pointing in the appropriate direction. After that we may as well been in the middle of the Sahara Desert. The Blogathonrunner, friend, and several disciples we appeared to have attracted on the way, were looking for one god damn sign for Roland Garros. Eventually the sign came from a Traffic Warden of all people, who gave us some encouragement in that we were walking in the right direction and we got their in the end. Ironically we returned to a different station on our way back to our temporary holiday home, and there were signs on the street pavement pointing you in the right direction of Roland Garros. Go figure!
Roland Garros Staff
More or less no complaints whatsoever about the French Open Staff. They were very friendly and helpful all day and spoke English perfectly well and had the uncanny knack of recognising that you were English even when you attempted to speak French. What was rather strange was the fact that staff didn't seem to have the ability to think on their feet after long rain delays. To enter the Suzanne Lenglen court, you have to go up a flight of stairs wherever you happen to be sitting. These flight of stairs are separated into two lanes by a bannister. Now when play is occurring it does make sense to have a lane for people going into the stadium and a lane for people exiting the stadium. However when virtually thousands of spectators are returning to the court after a long rain break, does it not make sense for both lanes to go upstairs for a little while. Noooooooo! That would be too much like common sense.
Queues
Roland Garros needs more toilets! In our infinite wisdom, the Blogathonrunner and friend thought it would be a good idea to go to the toilet before play started after a long rain delay. We found one of the toilet entrances in the dungeons of Suzanne Lenglen court, but we began to think it was of those places you went into, got lost, and struggled to find your way out of again. It took us so long to get to the loo, we actually missed the covers coming off court, the players warming up, and Gregor Dimotrov achieving a break of serve in his match in the process.
Stadium Seats
The courts really do need folding seats if there is no roof overhead. It is seriously advisable to purchase a large packet of Kleenex or waterproof seat cover, if it rained as much as it did that Thursday. I went through a big packet of Kleenex trying to wipe the excess water off my seat. Even though, you couldn't really avoid that damp feeling if you know what I mean.
Things that were simply annoying full stop
There were two things that really annoying because that's the sort of tennis spectator I am blog readers.
The first revolved around some French staff working in a "Boutique" underneath. I think because they were cold and miserable due to the weather, they decided to create an audition tune for the French X Factor. The only problem was they were auditioning all flipping day long. You could even hear them in the stadium when players were on court.
The second revolved around the bag that held all the products I purchased at the Boutique. It simply disintegrated after an hour in the rain. I went in another Boutique and was leaving a trail of purchased products behind me on the floor. I'm all for recycling but please have better quality paper bags thank you.
Oh, one more annoyance. Only got to see Rafa warm up for his match and it poured down with rain for the final time. I wasn't angry at all!!!!!
Overall Assessment
Roland Garros, all said and done, is not a bad sporting tournament at all. It does suffer from the fact in terms of size, it is the smallest of the Grand Slam tournaments. The trouble is, the popularity of the tournament and tennis is increasing by the bucket load every year. If it wants to become more successful it will need to grow and improve facilities in terms of spectator experience, particularly on those horrendous days when the skys open.
As the Australian Open and Wimbledon have highlighted, keeping these tournaments as outdoor summer tournaments is an essential ethos as to why they have been so successful in recent years. The Grand Slams are a business with a product to sell, however, with increasingly unpredictable weather appearing on doorsteps of countries throughout the world, having roofs on stadiums is essential for spectators and television viewers around the world and ensures a smoother running tournament in terms of scheduling. That is why the Australian Open and Wimbledon are a few light years ahead of their sister tournaments in Paris and New York at the moment.
Roland Garros has a lot going for it. Fingers crossed it continues to move in the right direction.
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