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Shelle's
Trip
Where I
went, LOL! Everywhere!!
Thank you to Anna and Anke for your wonderful reSPORTS!
Great to know what everyone else was doing, LOL!
My Paris experience is a little different ~ I don't have all the 'bumping into
skaters at breakfast' stories
mainly 'cause I was staying in a different hotel...Bercy is in the south-west
of Paris and my hotel was more central...so three Metro rides to get to the
stadium for me which was great fun! I love the Metro!
General
Observations: Thursday:
My mum and I landed in Paris at about 5pm totally confused by CDG
airport! LOL! After much 'uming and ahing' we decided to get a taxi to our
hotel. We rushed through the rush-hour traffic ~ driving in Paris is crazy...Anke
is soo brave
...hotel was really nice, receptionist soo friendly. We didn't do much except
unpack, work out where we were catching the Metro from the next morning, and
have dinner in our first French restaurant...hee hee, I got to try out my
French, having never had a lesson in my life! I knew the most important phrase:
vin rouge!
Thankfully I survived long enough to ask: l'addition, sil vous plait? (dunno
about my spelling!).
Friday: Didn't get much sleep...strange mixture of excitement, nervousness, only
one pillow and the non-stop traffic outside my window...Paris never sleeps!
Anyway we got to Bercy by 10am, wandered into the Novotel and wondered who was
who from all those hanging out in the lobby! After various exchanged looks (LOL!)
I met Anya and Shaz, then Kassin and Anke, and Anna, and Ida and Clara, and
Vanessa (if I'm forgetting people, I'm sorry!). It was great meeting everyone,
although little crises were happening everywhere...Anke and Anna both had
elusive tickets (bad, naughty tickets!
)...we were all alittle worried about Rona who arrived a couple hours later
than expected, but she got there!
And then Anke went trigger happy with her camera
Several skater/coach spots during this time including Elena B (so tiny) and
Maria's coaches (they were coming and going a lot). After realising there was no
way we were gonna get into the practices, we arranged to meet a couple of hours
later.
After lunch (more fun with French, LOL!), my mum and I wandered around the park,
situated between Bercy Stadium and the Seine. Gorgeous place with this most
beautiful waterfall ~ the sun was just glistening off it
Did I mention that Friday was a 'blue skies and sun shining' day? Not a big
deal maybe, but I hadn't seen this for months! Living in lovely overcast
England, I'd forgotten what it was like to feel the sun on my face! Anyway
whilst I was standing in front of this waterfall, I suddenly got attacked (but
in a good way) by the cutiest puppy. It was so bouncy and adorable
At this point, I noticed a guy walking through the park several metres away in
a red jacket! Somehow I knew it was a skater (radar, I guess!) but it wasn't
Alexei ~ the hair was all wrong! (although Kathrin has told me earlier that
Alexei had his hair cut, I knew it wasn't THAT much! LOL!). He looked over a
couple of times, but I still didn't recognise him.
Later on, after wandering around some more, we parked ourselves on one of the
balconies around the outside of the stadium, which had a good view of the hotel
entrance through which all the skaters were coming and going! Several came
out...can't remember who now except a red jacket guy! At first I thought it was
the same guy in the park ~ then I realised it was Alexei! Different hair, LOL!
Of course, then I started second guessing myself: 'was it Alexei before in the
park?' especially when he looked up and saw me ...Laurie's right: Alexei is SO
aware of his surroundings! LOL! Anyway he walked off in the direction of the
skater's entrance, and we continued to watch the world go by, LOL!
Still trying to kill time and wanting to sit down, we went back to the park and
sat on one of the benches. We got asked by several French people where so and so
was! So funny! As expected, sit there long enough, see a skater: a guy in a red
jacket started walking back to the hotel past us! This wasn't Alexei but I felt
sure it was the same guy from the park earlier! At this point, I'm totally
confused as to whether I actually saw Alexei before or not and I just gave up on
my career as a skaterspotter! LOL!
Stopping here as bed awaits and I need to do some writing before I go nod (yep,
I returned inspired but no poetry yet...I've turned to prose!).
Shelle (and I do solve the mystery of the red jacket guy/s later! LOL!)
Friday
Anyway we eventually headed back to the Novotel and hung around
in Anke, Kass & Rona's room before going to the rink. As Anna described, they had us waiting for ages
and ages. I began to get very bored and tired. I remember Anke laughing at one point saying
"You're going to sleep" 'cause I was standing there with my eyes shut! LOL!
Anyway, I've finally got to the skating part: the Short Programs. I didn't take
notes so please don't expect lots of detail or fair appraisals of each and every
skater. First there were the Pairs: B&S were first...it's a very dramatic
program and I love the costumes, but I think they were a little lacklustre. I
kinda got the feeling that they weren't on the best of terms at the time of the
SPs! In contrast, S&P were really good: I liked their SP best of all and
their relationship on the ice was very warm and playful ~ one of the things I
like best about them. Can't really remember much about the others, LOL! Suffice
to say, I agreed with the placements at the end.
Ladies: Maria's SP was beautiful as always. Lovely to see this one live, perhaps
not quite to the same standard as during the Worlds, but very close. Jennifer Kirk was great ~
very vibrant and technically very good. Hadn't seen her before but the crowd really warmed to
her. Very good performance. I also watched Diana Poth with some curiosity since Chris from
Eurosport is always talking about her (he fancies her rotten!). Although she's not
overwhelmingly great either technically or artistically IMO, she is good and has her own style (which cannot
be said about all the skaters out there!). Overall the ladies were quite
disappointing...lots of falls unfortunately. Julia S. didn't do herself justice
but she seemed nervous throughout the whole competition.
Men: oh, the good bit! I can't remember anything about the warm-up, LOL! Sudden
distraction of actually 'seeing' Alexei live! I do remember that he always got the loudest
cheers...ooh, I wonder who that was, LOL! Also I found out who Mr Red Jacket was: Roman Serov. I
recognised him as
definitely R.J Sightings 1 and 3. I was still uncertain about 2, but thought;
"How many red-jacketed male skaters can there be in Paris"! Hmmm!
Serov was also one of the male skaters who were warming up on the balcony during the Ladies SPs across the other side
of the rink. I loved watching this (LOL, supposed to be watching ladies, I watch shadowy
figures up near the ceiling doing stretches! Hee hee!) Anyway, Serov is pretty good skater ~
certainly deserved his
2nd place after the SP. Didn't particularly like his costume though! Can't
remember any other skater other than Alexei (I can only remember Serov 'cause I think he skated
first!). Alexei skated Chopin beautifully... okay, so the 4t/3t was over-rotated but the rest was Flying
Passion! I've said before how much I loved the audiences reaction when the piano section
started...made them take notice just that little bit more!
Love my K'Ship
Also the Chopin number is difficult musically
because it's such a mixture of styles, but this merely highlights how good
Alexei *IS* at musical interpretation!
That's it for Friday. (We didn't stay for the ODs!)
Coming soon: Saturday ~ probably the best day (include seeing that fantastic
Gladiator performance TWICE, lighting a candle in Notre-Dame and gazing at the
Eiffel Tower from across the River Seine all in one day and I think you'll know
what I mean, LOL!)
Shelle
Next bit:
Saturday
Again I barely slept and hardly ate anything at breakfast! I suddenly realised
it was nervous energy ~ LOL, I get like that when I watch competitions live on
TV. Why I thought I'd be any different watching them live in person, I don't
know! Anyway, my mum and I crammed in loads of sightseeing before the skating
started. First we went to Notre-Dame. One word: WOW! Outside it is soo
impressive ~ if you love gothic architecture, this is heaven ~ yet going inside
was something else. They keep it really dark and shadowy, lit by various candles
dotted here and there higher up. When you first enter, you can barely see
anything! Talk about embracing it's own mythology! While I was in there, I
decided to light a candle ~ never done this before in church before, but I
thought: If you gonna start somewhere, start somewhere like the Notre-Dame!
Anyway, it described how your prayer will be carried by the flame after you've
left, similar in a way to 'make a wish'. Not having anything to wish for myself,
I lit it for Alexei, hoping that he'll have a great free program later that
night and win Trophee Lalique ~ it was lit with lots of good vibes for Alexei!
Afterwards we went to the Palais Royal which we initially thought was the Louvre,
LOL (it's across the street), then we had the most gorgeous lunch at this lovely
French restaurant and I had the best coffee I've ever tasted, though I couldn't
believe I was drinking coffee of all things with all the nervous energy I had!
LOL! Then we jumped on the Metro to l'arc de triomph and the Champs-Elysee. At
about 2.30 we were leaning on a bridge over the Seine, staring at the most
magnificant view of the Eiffel Tower in the distance, when we realised that over
the other side of Paris, the skating was starting! LOL! Luckily we got to Bercy
in time for the last group of the Pairs FPs.
Throughout the warm-up, I found myself completing concentrating on what
Berezhnaya & Sikharulidze were doing. I always like to see the warm-ups,
particularly in pairs and dance ~ I think it's interesting whether the teams
warm up together for the whole 6 minutes or go do their own thing. B&S are
very much of the 'do their own thing' category although they do skate together
too! Anyway Sale & Pelletier were first: they skated well and very
expressively but the program didn't exactly strike me as anything particularly
special. I've since seen their version of it it SA and it left a much better
impression, so maybe they had an 'off day'. B&S were fantastic though. So
entertaining ~ I love their Charlie Chapin program. They interpreted it to the
audience so well and isn't Anton such a sweetie out there? They had some
problems technically but in the end, they didn't matter. Ina & Zimmerman
were very good ~ they skated what I would consider their best but I'm not overly
familiar with everything they do!
Ladies: as during the previous afternoon, many of them cracked from
nerves unfortuately. Again I loved watching how the warm-up affected their
performance (if I'm talking like a novice fan, please forgive me but I don't
often get the chance to watch this part of the competition). For instance in the
first group, Diana Poth looked the most determined and on form, hitting every
jump she attempted and looking very much in control. Yet 20 or so minutes later,
she lost it. Shame really. Unfortuately I got quite good at predicting who'd
crack under the pressure ~ they usually did far too much during the time when
the previous skaters marks were being announced. I also think it's interesting
to see just how much of the ice they use during this period: some just skate
over the little bit in front of the K&C and their coach, others (Alexei's
one of these
) use the whole rink, looking like they rule it! I can't remember anything much
about the ladies except Maria has a lot of fans in France and she skated pretty
well. Viktoria is improving I think, although I personally believe that she
could use a lot more artistic expression ~ but she's still young. Jennifer Kirk
was impressive again and the crowd was only slightly less enthusiastic than
before, probably because they accurately predicted that she'd finish higher than
Vanessa. As for Vanessa, she was good but not her best. The audience became a
little deflated afterwards and I just have to say; "what IS she
wearing?"
After the ladies they was a break and everyone rushed over to the restaurants
across the road from Bercy ~ it was raining too! Another great restaurant with a
very flirty waiter who tried to get
us to order champagne! I also drank another coffee! Must have been mad, LOL!
The Men:
Now I really really tried to concentrate on the first group, but the good thing
about Bercy is that they show backstage footage up on the replay screens, so I
always had one eye on that waiting for a glimpse of the Golden Boy. Some things
I can remember: when the marks for Konstantin Kostin came up, the PRK judge had
put 1.1 for presentation! The crowd went into disbelief and then instant
up-roar! It turned out to be a mistake and was quickly changed, but the look of
poor Kostin's face was heartbreaking: total shock and hurt. Like most of us, he
really believed they had given him that mark and it must have felt like a slap
in the face! Poor guy!
Another thing I remember in Jahnke ~ he is a great skater! Has some beautiful
edges (not gorgeous 'cause Alexei has those) and am talking strictly those that
he makes on the ice here! LOL! I really liked Jahnke but unfortuately he skated
last, just before the final group of men came out to warm-up...and I had a very
good view of the gap in the curtains to backstage: ..ooh, do I see a Gladiator?
Yes, I'd recognise those feet anywhere..here come the legs..and look, he's
shaking his arms out now...that's nice!
and now he's talking to someone but hey, I can see his upper body now and ahh,
he's wearing his fave grey sweater over his shoulders...no Alexei , don't move
out of view!!! Oh, it's okay, he's back...err Shelle, watch Jahnke ~ he's really
good...yes, will do, but hey, they've all come out now and there's a mighty fine
Gladiator waiting to do battle!
I was very amused by Alexei during the warm-up (for some reason I wasn't
particularly nervous anymore) ....he looked like he was really focused and
concentrating, although perhaps a little nervous (maybe feeling poorly? *sniff*)
He did warm up rather nicely: beautiful triple axel, another gorgeous triple
axel in combo with 3t, triple toe, quad toe all in succession. What amused me
was that he definitely knows where all his fans are in the stadium and looks
over every now and then. Laurie had mentioned this to me so I suppose I
specially looked for it, but he's very casual about it, which is probably what
amused me the most! He sort of 'surveys the scene' in the middle of practising
an element. A lot of 'sneak peeks' ~ it's soo cute!
Serov was first:
he didn't skate as well as during the SP, seemed nervous I think. I loved
Monnier's Dracula program (didn't you, Anna? LOL!) ~ it's a shame that he's kind
of the 'forgotten Frenchman' because he did some interesting stuff, but I love
that music anyway! I can't remember Restencourt who was next, mainly because I
was impatiently waiting for Alexei to skate. All I remember is that he was a
little disappointing ~ a few mistakes here and there. Also before he skated
there was a backstage close-up of Alexei on the replay screen! Verrry nice!
Then it was Alexei ~ the biggest cheers!
Gladiator was beautiful: powerful and passionate, tipped with just the right
amount of aggresion and determination, and full of haunting emotion. The jumps
were fantastic ~ something I felt he was particularly pleased with afterwards.
He had the same problem with the 4t/3t as in the SP but the rest were beauties,
especially the 3a single and combo! Oh, how I love that K'Ship of mine live!
Also I'm sure he did a 3flip/2 loop but maybe I got overexcited and saw an
extra rotation than no-one else saw! LOL! Also, when did he add that sliding
move down the centre of the ice? You now when he's almost flat to the ice, face
down? 'Cause he didn't do this on the SV tape. I can't believe Kim hasn't
mentioned this before!
Not quite the
on ice but it's the closest you gonna get to it in eligible! Definitely one of
my favourite bits!
Alexei's reaction afterwards was elation! And the way he laid his head on
Tatiana after the marks said it all! Awww!
After the men's, we skipped the dance (*gasp*) and legged it back to our hotel
before the Metro closed. Before we left I did see a glimpse of Maria on the
backstage monitor talking to someone, reporter I think, but it made me smile!
Hopefully she went to congralute Alexei on his win!
Back at the hotel, we got to watch Alexei's Gladiator again
and hear the interview with the French presenters afterwards; an interview for
which he wore a RED JACKET!
Ooh, the plot thickens! He said that he loved how the French crowd treated him
just like a French skater and described how his Gladiator program, to him, is
about his fight with all the other skaters to win his world title again, dubbed
the 'story of the season'. Afterwards I saw the dance on TV ~ I think Anissina
& Peizerat were actually live by the time they got to them. I liked Winkler
& Lohse's program ~ lots of fun. I hope they do well this season. I think
Lobacheva & Averbukh have improved ~ their FP is very fast amd
expressive...not entirely sure what it's about though! LOL! But I really liked
A&P's program! I think their theme works very nicely and thankfully I don't
think they're gone overkill on the jazzed up Beethoven! I think they updated the
right pieces ~ as long as they leave Moonlight Sonata alone, I don't mind! LOL!
Shelle
(who after Saturday decided that Red Jacket Guy 1 and 3 was Roman and RJG 2 was
Alexei, as original instincts told me!
Besides I looked both of them in the eye and it knew it was two different
people, even from a distance ~ you never get the same vibe from two people do
you? Soo, two Russian men, two red jackets ~ mystery solved!!
)
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