By Tim Kelly, BIP
Well, we woke up bright and early to a breakfast made just for us. Our hotel, the Am Waldbad, was hidden back in the forests of Uelsen, a very small town in rural northern Germany. It is a hotel more for long relaxing stays with strolls though the woods, a dip in one of their many saunas, or some time on their in-house bowling lanes. Unfortunately it was just a quick stop for us, so after devouring our rolls and yogurt we were off for the longest drive of the trip.
Northern Germany to Paris, France: I estimated 8+ hours, but we managed it in just over 6. Sunday means open lanes on the autobahn and the vans were flying. After blowing through Belgium once again, we finally made it to France and a quick McLunch before pulling up to the last hotel: the IBIS Charles de Gaulle.
I drove Wendy and Rachel to La Rochette to watch the team's first playoff match for the French playoffs. They handled St. Rapheul (the 8th seed) pretty easily and then we retired to the VIP room for some post-game snacks and beverages.
The rest of the BIP group checked into their rooms and then made it into central Paris by RER for a team meal and some more sightseeing. Most of the group was leaving Sunday morning, but Laura, Jane, and Brittanie had at least a day left so they had a room in the city for the night and I'm assuming stayed out a bit later than the rest of the group.
I somehow messed up meeting the group for a final goodbye in the city, but I was fortunate enough to catch Jane and Laura for dinner on Sunday night. Brittanie Budinger had arrived a few days late, and so was subsequently staying a few days longer and we shipped her off to Nantes in Western France to tryout a bit with Joanne Saunders' (January Tour Veteran) team there. She'll visit 1-2 more teams before her flight leaves on Friday.
So, the trip is over and I'm already getting emails from the girls that made it home. Alexis got bumped (cha-ching $) and has a few extra days in Paris, but otherwise I'm sure that everyone is stateside by now.
This was a great group of girls and one of the better tours we've had. The level was higher than average and the team really did a great job bonding together and becoming a little family for the 10 days. We're all still a bit baffled by the early departure (2nd day?) of Kelli and Becky, but the group that remained did a great job and hopefully all had a great time. I know that we'll be hearing from a handful of these girls as we get them placed on teams for the 2004-2005 season.
In closing I just want to again thank those people in Europe that made the trip such a wonderful and worthwhile experience for the girls. There are too many to name everyone, but a special thanks goes out to the following people:
- Kostas, Marcelo, Pedro and Paulo, our 4 VIP's
- Pierre Mathieu and his girls at Emlichheim
- Sebastian Martin, thanks so much for all the organization in La Rochette
- Peter Nonnenbroich and VBC Riom
- Jean Paul, Michel, Marcel, Jacques, and the whole family at MVDS/La Rochette
- Bryan and Harry DeHass and everyone at AMVJ
- Eric and our friends at St. Cloud
- Manu, Manu, Stephane, Carrie, Alain and everyone at Evreux
- Mauricio and RC Villebon
- Brooke, Nordie, Cools, Christine, and Susie, I'm glad you all could make it!
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