Michigan arrived Friday morning in Paris, where it’s six hours later than it is back in Ann Arbor.
We got in a day earlier so we’d be sure to catch up with head coach Jim Harbaugh and his players when they arrived, so we had time to kill. My colleague, Angelique Chengelis of the Detroit News, suggested we hit Claude Monet’s house, complete with its incredible gardens, on a day trip to Giverny, about 45 minutes away.
First, though, we grabbed some breakfast at the famous Café Angelina, where they line up for the richest hot cocoa you’ll ever drink (like downing a melted dark chocolate bar. Almost too rich, really).
I thought I knew of Claude from his days as a 50-goal scorer with the Montreal Canadiens, figured it would be great to get an autograph, maybe a selfie with him … turns out ‘Lique was talking about the other Claude Monet, the late French impressionist painter whose works include some incredible paintings I’m not familiar with, but are apparently quite well known in these parts.
In all seriousness, it was a great trip, and well worth the side excursion.
We’d written several stories on the 7-hour flight over, so we were covered for the day … of course, the internet gods had other ideas, and we got the news at about 10:30 p.m. from one of our trusted sources that junior quarterback Shea Patterson had been ruled eligible to play, and that it would likely be reported tomorrow (today) …
But not before dinner with Angelique and Kyle Rowland (Toledo Blade) and his wife, and an eventful walk back to the hotel.
‘Lique was lagging behind with her nose in her phone when she was accosted by an angry, obviously unstable homeless woman. She did her best to ignore her, but she got fierce when the woman grabbed her (“don’t touch me!”), and then she took a punch to the shoulder. She called the woman a ‘disgusting pig’ after the woman spit at her.
Her account: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/s...tcard-france-unsettling-first-paris/34291739/
The woman backed off when LiqueNews (her moniker here) made it clear she wasn’t going to back down. Michigan D.C. Don Brown loved hearing that part of the story today, saying, “I’d expect nothing less!”
We’d been going on 39 hours with only 1.5 hours’ sleep at that point, so we wrapped up the Patterson story — one that took The Fort and twitter by storm — and fell asleep a few hours later.
Not a bad way to end our Day One in Paris.
****
There was no availability scheduled for Michigan’s arrival, but we made it over to the team hotel in the early morning Friday, regardless. Michigan Sports Information made it clear we shouldn’t ‘start the trip off on the wrong foot’ by crowding Patterson or any of the other Wolverines when they came in the door.
They also should also have sent out a public service announcement to the writers about buying cheap berets. That could have spared Rowland the embarrassment of walking around Paris looking like Rusty Griswold in European Vacation.
We weren’t planning on bothering anyone without permission, of course, but the smartassery usually begins when sleep deprivation kicks in, so we responded, “does that mean we can’t greet Shea with the ‘Bienvenue, Shea!’ sign we had made?” (For you non-French majors, that means, ‘Welcome, Shea … we hope you lead this team to a 2018 National Championship and make all of our message board posters happy so we don’t have to put up with crazy game threads on Saturdays!’).
LiqueNews spent hours on the sign, so I felt bad tucking it away in the briefcase.
They were kind enough to give us Coach Brown (who, despite being tired, was outstanding, as always), sophomore offensive guard Ben Bredeson and head coach Jim Harbaugh.
Brown, with his wife by his side, was in rare form. He told us of his first trip to Paris several years ago … the guy who gave him his first, full-time coaching job had a daughter who married the son of an ambassador, so he came to the wedding, then went up to Normandy. He could ‘feel’ the history on the beach he noted.
“But I had a bad experience when I was here the last time,” he said of Paris. “I was having a hard time finding coffee and got a bunch of espressos and put them in a big glass. Oh my God. I thought I was having the Big One.”
Bredeson talked about how much last year’s trip meant to him and how much he was looking forward to seeing Normandy. He’s a military history buff.
“I spent a little over a month in Europe last time, and it was probably one of the best months of my life, just because I was on my own, forced to do my own thing,” he said. “I survived, made friends, just learned how to be an adult and grow up.
“This is the biggest team camaraderie event I’ve ever seen. It’s really important to next year.”
Before they left, he said, photographer David Turnley gave them a list of dos and don’ts from his extensive travels to Paris.
“The ‘Okay’ symbol? Apparently you’re not supposed to do that,” Bredeson said, holding it up discreetly. “It’s their [middle] ‘finger,’ I guess, so we were told not to do that. Then it’s watch your bags, watch for pickpockets, the whole nine yards.”
Bredeson watched four movies on the flight over, including My Cousin Vinny and Old School and (which automatically moves him up a few notches in our book). Last year, Brown spent his time preparing for the Air Force triple option, which has given teams headaches over the years.
This year it was just a bit of self-scouting, watching spring stuff. It’s clear he loves this defense.
“Every game on our schedule is [tough],” he said. “There are a lot of good teams we’re playing. We don’t have a problem with strength of schedule, that’s for sure.
“The nice thing is we won’t be kind of flipping in and out like we did a year ago. Preparation is never easy, but when you stick one of those service academies in the middle of your schedule, it’s a challenge.”
Before we left, freshman quarterback Joe Milton and sophomore receiver Nico Collins came down in their Westin Hotel room-issued bathrobes, much to the delight of their teammates.
We also bumped into Patterson, who did his part to avoid the media (as instructed) but seemed really, really happy knowing he’d be able to play this year, along with junior Mike Onwenu, who looks about 30 to 35 pounds lighter.
Finally, we stopped at a world famous macaroon shop before the writing began — I agreed to go, though I didn’t understand why there was a store dedicated to a nut, before finding out that macaroons are really incredible cookie-type delicacies.
All in all, a great start to the trip with some great experiences still to come, including the Louvre, Notre Dame, a football clinic (tomorrow), Normandy and much more on the docket.
We got in a day earlier so we’d be sure to catch up with head coach Jim Harbaugh and his players when they arrived, so we had time to kill. My colleague, Angelique Chengelis of the Detroit News, suggested we hit Claude Monet’s house, complete with its incredible gardens, on a day trip to Giverny, about 45 minutes away.
First, though, we grabbed some breakfast at the famous Café Angelina, where they line up for the richest hot cocoa you’ll ever drink (like downing a melted dark chocolate bar. Almost too rich, really).
I thought I knew of Claude from his days as a 50-goal scorer with the Montreal Canadiens, figured it would be great to get an autograph, maybe a selfie with him … turns out ‘Lique was talking about the other Claude Monet, the late French impressionist painter whose works include some incredible paintings I’m not familiar with, but are apparently quite well known in these parts.
In all seriousness, it was a great trip, and well worth the side excursion.
We’d written several stories on the 7-hour flight over, so we were covered for the day … of course, the internet gods had other ideas, and we got the news at about 10:30 p.m. from one of our trusted sources that junior quarterback Shea Patterson had been ruled eligible to play, and that it would likely be reported tomorrow (today) …
But not before dinner with Angelique and Kyle Rowland (Toledo Blade) and his wife, and an eventful walk back to the hotel.
‘Lique was lagging behind with her nose in her phone when she was accosted by an angry, obviously unstable homeless woman. She did her best to ignore her, but she got fierce when the woman grabbed her (“don’t touch me!”), and then she took a punch to the shoulder. She called the woman a ‘disgusting pig’ after the woman spit at her.
Her account: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/s...tcard-france-unsettling-first-paris/34291739/
The woman backed off when LiqueNews (her moniker here) made it clear she wasn’t going to back down. Michigan D.C. Don Brown loved hearing that part of the story today, saying, “I’d expect nothing less!”
We’d been going on 39 hours with only 1.5 hours’ sleep at that point, so we wrapped up the Patterson story — one that took The Fort and twitter by storm — and fell asleep a few hours later.
Not a bad way to end our Day One in Paris.
****
There was no availability scheduled for Michigan’s arrival, but we made it over to the team hotel in the early morning Friday, regardless. Michigan Sports Information made it clear we shouldn’t ‘start the trip off on the wrong foot’ by crowding Patterson or any of the other Wolverines when they came in the door.
They also should also have sent out a public service announcement to the writers about buying cheap berets. That could have spared Rowland the embarrassment of walking around Paris looking like Rusty Griswold in European Vacation.
We weren’t planning on bothering anyone without permission, of course, but the smartassery usually begins when sleep deprivation kicks in, so we responded, “does that mean we can’t greet Shea with the ‘Bienvenue, Shea!’ sign we had made?” (For you non-French majors, that means, ‘Welcome, Shea … we hope you lead this team to a 2018 National Championship and make all of our message board posters happy so we don’t have to put up with crazy game threads on Saturdays!’).
LiqueNews spent hours on the sign, so I felt bad tucking it away in the briefcase.
They were kind enough to give us Coach Brown (who, despite being tired, was outstanding, as always), sophomore offensive guard Ben Bredeson and head coach Jim Harbaugh.
Brown, with his wife by his side, was in rare form. He told us of his first trip to Paris several years ago … the guy who gave him his first, full-time coaching job had a daughter who married the son of an ambassador, so he came to the wedding, then went up to Normandy. He could ‘feel’ the history on the beach he noted.
“But I had a bad experience when I was here the last time,” he said of Paris. “I was having a hard time finding coffee and got a bunch of espressos and put them in a big glass. Oh my God. I thought I was having the Big One.”
Bredeson talked about how much last year’s trip meant to him and how much he was looking forward to seeing Normandy. He’s a military history buff.
“I spent a little over a month in Europe last time, and it was probably one of the best months of my life, just because I was on my own, forced to do my own thing,” he said. “I survived, made friends, just learned how to be an adult and grow up.
“This is the biggest team camaraderie event I’ve ever seen. It’s really important to next year.”
Before they left, he said, photographer David Turnley gave them a list of dos and don’ts from his extensive travels to Paris.
“The ‘Okay’ symbol? Apparently you’re not supposed to do that,” Bredeson said, holding it up discreetly. “It’s their [middle] ‘finger,’ I guess, so we were told not to do that. Then it’s watch your bags, watch for pickpockets, the whole nine yards.”
Bredeson watched four movies on the flight over, including My Cousin Vinny and Old School and (which automatically moves him up a few notches in our book). Last year, Brown spent his time preparing for the Air Force triple option, which has given teams headaches over the years.
This year it was just a bit of self-scouting, watching spring stuff. It’s clear he loves this defense.
“Every game on our schedule is [tough],” he said. “There are a lot of good teams we’re playing. We don’t have a problem with strength of schedule, that’s for sure.
“The nice thing is we won’t be kind of flipping in and out like we did a year ago. Preparation is never easy, but when you stick one of those service academies in the middle of your schedule, it’s a challenge.”
Before we left, freshman quarterback Joe Milton and sophomore receiver Nico Collins came down in their Westin Hotel room-issued bathrobes, much to the delight of their teammates.
We also bumped into Patterson, who did his part to avoid the media (as instructed) but seemed really, really happy knowing he’d be able to play this year, along with junior Mike Onwenu, who looks about 30 to 35 pounds lighter.
Finally, we stopped at a world famous macaroon shop before the writing began — I agreed to go, though I didn’t understand why there was a store dedicated to a nut, before finding out that macaroons are really incredible cookie-type delicacies.
All in all, a great start to the trip with some great experiences still to come, including the Louvre, Notre Dame, a football clinic (tomorrow), Normandy and much more on the docket.
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