Brazilian Nights in Paris

Wednesday Noon

I’m a little slow today. Spent the night dancing, and partying at Favela Chic, which is one of my favorite places in Paris. It was an invitation only party celebrating the clubs 9th year. And what a celebration it was. The best of the Brazilian party folk in Paris were there. Great live band, followed by terrific DJ. If you’re concerned about getting a lot done the next day, do not hang with the Brazilians.

The Samba beat starts outside the club and only gets better as the night goes on. Caiperinha (the national drink of choice in Brazil) is flowing... this is very dangerous refreshment. Made from sugar cane liquor, and fresh lime it goes down easy but packs a potent punch. By two people are dancing on the tables, and by closing at three no one is ready to go home.

After dancing and drinking for hours I needed a snack so stopped at my favorite crepe stand which, thank heaven seems to always be open. Finally made it back to the apartment around 4 actually that’s not too horrible, I figured if I slept until 10 I’d still get 6 hours which I can get by one quite well.

3:20 PM
It’s cold, dark and there are random raindrops, but I need to get some more pix of Sharapova. She could loose this match, so it may be the last chance I get to shoot her.
Petrova is playing tough and Maria looks a little shaky.

5 PM
Wow! Sharapova pulled it out with an 8-6 win in the third. After trailing 2-4 in the third, it seemed as though her sheer will to win was what pulled her though. The screaming and pouting as strong as ever.

And speaking of fashion...another disaster .. Petrova’s navy and white dress looked like something the designer couldn’t make up their mind about. What could have been a nice looking tennis dress turned into something wrong, wrong, wrong. The cute little accordian pleated skirt under the navy panels is overly tricky and certainly doesn’t look good on Petrova.

So far the fashion score is: Nike minus 2, and Fila, minus 1, we’ll see how this goes the rest of the week.

5:20PM
I needed a little snack before editing, and the media dining room is closed, so I had to venture out to the public stands. I was rewarded for my effort by running into Nicolas LaPente… for sure one of the most gorgeous and nice guys on the planet. Got a little kiss on the cheek which will keep me warm for the rest of the day.

8:10 PM
Man, I am really missing the days when we used to hand over out film to the lab and go out for drinks. I still have a couple of hours of work to do and I’d really love to have a nice dinner and an early sleep.

8:15 PM
I’m going to try and see if I can make it over to the Safin Ouanna match. They are in the fifth and it will be Marat’s last match here. It’s so dark, getting a photo will really be a challenge, but I’m going to try.

9:00 PM

Unbelievable match! The Frenchman won 10 - 8 in the fifth. The fans went wild, and Marat waved farewell from Court Philippe Chartier for the last time. Sad to see the big Russian go, but he did go out in style.