Wine and Spirits Travel

It was the final day of the Longines Future Tennis Aces tournament and I was ready to see the championship match. I was also more than ready to complete my own personal Grand Slam. Even though the American Adam Neff had lost in the first round, he was excited to be able to watch the match with Longines Rising Tennis Star Ryan Harrison. He also felt better knowing that the player he lost to, Rudolf Molleker of Germany was the winner of the tournament. In addition to Harrison, tennis stars Sabine Lisciki (who would reach the finals of Wimbledon a few weeks later), Arnaud Clement and Fabrizio Santoro gave out prizes and did exhibitions before we left for Roland Garros. I have covered the US Open nearly every year in the past three decades. I have been to Wimbledon and I’ve been to the Australian Open , but I’d never been to the French Open. Roland Garros, the fourth major, had eluded me – until this day. I was finally getting to complete my Grand Slam, at least as

The weather was almost winter-like as we bundled up for a full day of tennis at the Longines Future Tennis Aces tournament in Paris. I was up early for a quick breakfast at the InterContinental Paris Le Grand . We boarded the luxury bus to the Hotel de Ville, where a beautiful red clay tennis court was set up. There was a screen for those who also wanted to keep up with the action at the French Open. Though rain in Paris is not unusual, it was nearly snowing so we went into McDonald’s to warm up with some coffee while we checked our email. It was a McDonald’s like no other I had seen, with a full coffee bar (they even had French macaroons and croissants!) and kiosks you could use to pre-order food. I was quickly reminded that I wasn’t back in Champaign. We headed back to the courts for a while, enjoying the tennis live and on the screen with the marketing group from Longines before walking to Pamela Popo for lunch. The appetizer was scallops so they instead ga

The day started at the InterContinental Paris Le Grand with their huge breakfast buffet. I was definitely impressed, as it included every fruit imaginable, as well as made to order omelets, meat, croissants, Danishes, yogurt, cereals, crepes and even sushi. I had a crepe filled with raspberries and covered in chocolate sauce, along with some fresh fruit, yogurt and a croissant. It was an unusually cold and rainy day so the morning matches were cancelled and I did some work while waiting for the Longines group to leave for lunch. We ate at Restaurant Chez Julien , where the table centerpieces were filled with white roses. The pea soup tasted as good as it looked. I had a glass of Domaine de Pellehaut Sauvignon Blanc with my steak and fries. After lunch we took the long (because of traffic, not distance) bus ride to the Longines Future Tennis Aces facility to watch the boys’ 12 and under matches. The players were from all over the world and had to qualify to get i

I’ve been so busy the last few months that I never got around to writing about my last minute amazing trip to Paris with Longines.  My adventure with the Swiss watch company is well worth relaying anytime. The invitation came out of nowhere to go to Paris to cover the Longines Future Tennis Aces tournament for Tennis Recruiting and the new fall watch line for Cocktails and Joints . I love anything that lets me combine lifestyle and tennis stories so it didn’t take me too long to say “yes!” My flights on American Airlines were uneventful. I didn’t get into Business Class, but I did get to experience the Economy Comfort seating. They served baked ravioli with lettuce and carrots with a brownie for dessert. It wasn’t bad. I watched “Hyde on Hudson” (good movie) and actually managed to sleep for six hours before the flight attendant woke me up to a warm and tasty croissant and a blueberry yogurt. I managed to get through customs quickly since you no longer need to fill o

After many years as a (magazine, web and book) tennis writer, I found myself without full time work in that field in 2008.  I was lucky enough that I had the experience and opportunity to continue my work as a writer, but I needed an additional niche to fill my schedule (not to mention my pocketbook).  I stumbled upon the obvious one purely by accident. Let me begin with the beginning. I have been a writer for as long as I can remember, working for magazines even while I was a “kid” in school.  One of the things I did to push my career forward was to join the staff of the C.W. Post Pioneer .   It was a wonderful experience to be on the newspaper staff then (where I worked my way to Managing Editor), but it led to an even more exciting opportunity now. In January of 2008, there was a reunion at C.W. Post of past editors of the newspaper and magazines.  I hadn’t seen anyone in years so I thought it might be fun.  It was by chance that I met former fellow Pioneer editor Frank Col