Paris 2024 - Day 15 (July 31st) - Men's Volleyball

Today, we are back to Arena Paris Sud for a 9 AM men’s volleyball match between Poland (ranked #1 in the world) and Brazil (ranked 7^th in the world). Since it’s an early match, we go to our favorite boulangerie for a grab and go breakfast of raisin snails and croissants. Today, we don’t have any problems with security and go right into the arena. Our seats are much better than the last time we were here. We are in the 3^rd row in the end zone and the crowd is fired up:

The Polish family in the first row have four kids and the camera people are all over them anytime anything goes well for Poland. At one point, a stray ball rolls up to one of the kids and his parents jump up to get selfies with their kid with the ball. Of course, that ticked off the other three kids. The volunteer ball person in this corner recognizes the problem and during a timeout makes sure that all of the kids get selfies with a ball as well. Just before the start of play, a bunch of Brazilian fans pile into the seats next to us. I suspect that they don’t really have tickets for these seats, but since no one was sitting there, the security guard doesn’t do anything.

This close to the court, you can really see how tall these guys are and how high they can jump. If you remember, I talked about the Turkish/Cuban woman Melissa Teresa Vargas. Well, it turns out that having a Cuban volleyball player on your team is a lot like having a Chinese table tennis player or an Ethiopian runner – if you want to have success, you better have one. Poland’s Cuban player is Wilfredo Leon Venero while Brazil’s is Yoandy Leal Hidalgo. Both are 6’8” and 31 years old. But there is a big difference as Leon is one of the top 5 players in the world. In fact, Poland has 5 of the top 15 players in the world and are probably considered the favorite to win a gold medal. Brazil is not buying this narrative however and jumps out to a 2-1 set lead 25-22, 19-25 and 25-19. But Brazil makes too many errors down the stretch and loses the 4^th set 25-23 and the final set 15-12. Here are some of the pictures that I took. Keep in mind that the top of the net is 8 ft off the ground:

Our cultural visit for the day is at the Musée de Cluny, otherwise known as the Musée de Cluny-Musée National du Moyen Âge or National Museum of the Middle Ages. Our tickets are not until 2:30 PM so we have to find a place to eat along the way. Sean consults his phone and says that we should go to Kodowari Ramen. It is not as hot as yesterday, but I’m not sure that I want a bowl of noodle soup for lunch. Once inside, though, I’m sold. The interior is designed to look like a typical Raman stand outside a Japanese train station complete with the sounds of trains and passengers coming and going. It was really crowded, but here are a couple of pictures I hope will give you the idea:

The owners apparently also have another restaurant that emulates the famous fish market in Tokyo. We’re sitting at the bar which gives us a great view of the kitchen and the space behind us is almost too small for customers to walk behind us. But the food is great, and we leave happy! Back on the Metro for one stop and we arrive at the Musée de Cluny:

It is a little hard to tell, but this very modern museum is actually housed in parts of two really old buildings – the Cluny mansion and a much older Roman bath. These are one of the few remaining buildings from medieval Paris. The complex was purchased in 1832 by a archaeologist and art collector to display his collection of medieval and Renaissance objects and were later taken over by French state. In 1977, the Renaissance portion of the collection were moved to a new museum allowing the Cluny to concentrate on medieval objects which they define as being created before the sixteenth century. I had no idea how many beautiful pieces were made this long ago, and I have too many pictures to show. Here are some of my favorites:

If you know a twenty-something year old, you probably know that a popular pastime is thrifting – going to thrift shops and looking for treasure. Sean has discovered that one of the best thrift shops in Paris is located on the corner across from the Cluny. We hang out outside while he goes exploring. A while later, he emerges with an orange jersey from a Japanese baseball team. We ask him how much it costs, and he explains that everything in the store is sold by the gram. But the price per gram depends on the category – for example, sports memorabilia is one price, and ladies' blouses are another price. In this case, the jersey weights very little, but the price per gram is one of the higher ones so he ends up paying about 20 euros. I tell him that I’ve got a closet full of stuff that I’m willing to sell for those prices!

Since it is still hot, we decide to eat at one of the many outdoor cafes near our Airbnb. Sean wanted to eat at a bar that happened to have hamburgers, but after sitting for ten minutes and not being waited on, we discover that they don’t start serving food until 8 PM. We find another café that looks good. Sean and I both have something called a Miami bowl that had raw tuna and raw or smoked salmon in it. This turned out to be a bad idea. Steps for the day: 7,018.