Every year at the first Sunday in Oct, the face of the horse racing world turn to the Longchamp Racecourse in Paris for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. British and Irish race followers make their way to Paris in their thousands to be part of the 2 day horse racing meeting.

Experienced race goers come simply for the horse racing but the French capital is really a desirable choice with English travellers and tourists and a great many people travel there to take in a little bit of culture along with the horse races. An entire day discovering Paris is a great way to begin the weekend. Just like any urban centre the size of Paris, it is improbable to observe every little thing in a day and once taking in the sights is finished, opinions turn to horse racing.

Longchamp is a course with a long heritage dating back to the mid 19th century. In the past, its locality close to the banks of the River Seine meant that race goers went there by boat. The course hosts races all through the year but “the Arc” is undoubtedly the focus with prize funds for the race now well over 4 million Euros.

“The Arc” was inaugurated in 1920 and the field is bound to twenty runners. The Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe is becoming even more successful each year and consequently everyone planning to go to Paris is highly recommended to reserve their entrance tickets and accommodations ahead of time. It is less complicated to travel individually but you can also find sufficient alternatives for organized tours. The packages typically include entry tickets to the race course although they will be the standard tickets. If you want grandstand seats, you will need to inquire if you can upgrade.

Organised excursions typically stay 3 nights in Paris starting on Friday. This provides you with a whole day in such a wonderful city prior to heading over to the race course the next day for a day at the races. The visits return to the UK on the Monday.

The Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe is very popular with British race-goers who love to experience a long weekend in Paris.

All people have to take a look at the city of Las Vegas to understand why this destination has turned out to be famous as the party and entertainment number one location. From wonderful shows to stunning resorts there is no doubt that Las Vegas has some thing for everyone.

Direct flights to Las Vegas are available from UK Airports such as Glasgow, Manchester, London Gatwick and Heathrow. You can also get connecting flights into Vegas from LA and other West coast airports.

Once you arrive you will have a tough choice when picking a place to stay in Vegas as you can book budget hotels located off the strip or stay in luxury hotels right on the strip offering everything you need for a fun vacation.

Some of the most famous hotels in Vegas include the Luxor,Venetian,Excalibar and the Circus Circus. Some people prefer to stay near the top of the strip while others enjoy the traditional hotels nearer the bottom of the strip such as the Circus Circus hotel.

One of my favourite areas to stay is the luxurious Venetian Hotel resort. The hotel lobby will leave you stunned and just wait until you see the hotel rooms ! The well-known Venetian Gondola Ride is really a must visit attraction.

While this Vegas attraction is less well known as some of the others, it is still a must see in more ways than one. You can pretend that you are as far away as Italy right in the heart of the city of lights as you take a trip through the Grand Canal , past cafes, and under bridges. As the perfect finishing touch, some gondola’s also feature singing and performing gondoliers.

No one article could feature all of the must see Vegas attractions, but this is definitely an excellent start. Just make sure you plan your trip to Vegas in order to see and do as much as possible in this bustling city.

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Andre Agassi is one of the greatest athletes that I witnessed during my lifetime. He was a born-legend and it’s incredible to read what he went through to become this legend. I recently read his autobiography and was truly moved by this story and how much Andre hated tennis. Nobody could imagine what was going through Andre’s head during many matches of his career as he appeared to be so competitive and into the game. It sure wasn’t Andre’s choice to become number one in the world, as he would have quit as a kid if he had the choice!

At an early age of seven years old, Andre’s father really began to start training Andre at a very intense level. Andre’s father came from a boxing back-ground, where he fought professionally and boxed for the Iranian national boxing team. His mentality of boxing was carried over into training his son and there was no-holding back.

As we mentioned Andre had a tough father. One example that stands out in my mind from the book was the theory his father had about hitting 3,000 balls per day. He believed if Andre hit 3,000 balls per day and over 1,000,000 balls per year that he would definitely be the best one day. Well, there probably aren’t many seven year old boys out there training like this and his dad’s formula proved to be correct.

Well Andre’s father was correct as Andre marked a spot on the top of the ATP charts at number 1 in the World. Andre wasn’t too interested in his accomplishment, however his father sure was. Andre hated the game from a very young age because of his father’s demanding ways.

Andre always put on an act that he loved tennis and he sure did a great job of it. He proved that you never know what’s going on in someone’s head as they’re playing this game. According to Andre, it gets very lonely out on the court! Andre does a great job of discussing all these issues through his playing years and how he really felt. There were many times Andre was hoping to lose, but his body would still play through the motions. Usually he lost when he was hoping to lose!

If he wanted to lose a match, his body would still put up a fight. His mind would basically tune out of the match though, which made it very difficult for him to win during these moments. It’s incredible though how he was still successful with this attitude throughout the majority of his career.

Andre Agassi went through many ups and downs. He went from number one in the world to dealing with drugs and back to number one again. Not many athletes can say they’ve done this. Andre had a great group of guys around him to motivate him and get him back at it. Even more than his entourage, Stefi Graf came along and that was another motivating factor that brought Andre back to his winning ways. Then there was his charter school he created and the birth of his first born child to keep the motivation going in his later years of his career.

This is an unbelievable story and I highly recommend it to anyone. If you’re a tennis fan or a sports fan in general, it’s a must read! You’ll really understand what this legend went through and it wasn’t the normal life of a tennis star.

This author is a huge tennis fan and has supported Andre Agassi for many years. In addition to watching tennis, this author spends time as a decorator and loves kitchen pendant lights. He writes about any sort of pendant lighting fixture at his site, minipendantlights.net.

Even if you aren’t a basketball fan, you must have heard of LeBron James. He is one of the best players that has ever played for the NBA, but is he the best of all time?

It’s obvious that the younger basketball fans idolize James, and consider him the best that there has ever been. A few good seasons do not a fabulous career make, so it’s far too early to say that he’s the best ever.

He has played in the league for a few seasons now, and has undoubtedly done well, but he has yet to win a prestigious championship ring. Winning the NBA championship greatly adds to the prestige of a player and gives clout to a claim that they are the best.

The exiting news has emerged that Shaq is now helping LeBron to improve his game and take that elusive prize. There is no doubt that James will improve greatly under the influence of this legend.

Teaming these two together has to be looked at as a stroke of genius. The Dominant force of Shaq will complement the skills of LeBron, and vice versa.

It’s going to be a might exciting season, and watching them play together is going to be thrilling, but the one thing that will be praying in LeBron’s mind is the embarrassing defeat they suffered at the hands of the Orlando Magic in last seasons play offs. He’ll be hoping that lightning doesn’t strike twice, and that Shaq is the man to conduct it.

What is exciting about LeBron is that he still hasn’t reached his peak, which should be awesome when it arrives. This is another reason why you can’t class him as the best yet.

Whatever happens this year, it is going to be an interesting season as we watch LeBron improving further.

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The red clay that is used as the surface on a tennis court originated right back to the origins of the game. If you play tennis yourself, you have been privileged to have a game on this famous surface. The history of the red clay court is particularly prevalent in Spain and the home of the only major played on clay; France.

If you ever have the opportunity to play on clay; grab it with both hands! It really is a unique experience and one you will never forget. Just stepping on that stunning red surface is a thrill!

If you have never had the pleasure of playing on red clay, and would like to know a little more about it, here’s a few interesting facts.

This surface lends itself more to those that play from the baseline, as opposed to those who serve and volley. A great clay court player must have impeccable ground strokes.

To see a player approach the net is a great rarity on clay. The baseline player is the one who will win through on the red clay court.

There are a lot of players these days who class their serve as their strongest weapon; unfortunately, it will not win them matches on the clay courts. The same goes for those who prefer to volley.

You won’t see the ball speeding up after it has hit the clay, as you would on a hard court. The thick clay will have the opposite effect.

There have been some marathon tennis matches played on clay, and that has been because the ball has slowed as it hits the surface and given the player time to be able to reach it.

The games are generally a lot closer on clay as the points go on a lot longer with the slower ball being easier to reach.

Although the ball is easier to reach, the faster player will always have the advantage over their slower opponents.

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After a devastating performance for the French National Soccer team in South Africa, they’ve appointed a new coach. Laurent Blanc will now be the man in charge in bringing this squad back to the powerhouse they once were.

He’s started out by making big changes. He’s dropped the entire 23-man roster that was in South Africa for his first game as coach.

The French federation approved of this move. I guess they think it’s the right move and have allowed Blanc to make these suspensions after the embarrassing performance they put on.

He will not deal with the negative energy that came out of South Africa and was publicly displayed as well. The team couldn’t win a game and the players protested against the staff. Laurent Blanc means business and will punish the team for this even though he wasn’t there at the time.

On August 11th, France will play a friendly match against Norway. This will be Blanc’s first game as head coach as they get ready for the 2012 European Championship. In the 2008 European Championship, France also went winless. The last six years have been devastating for French soccer.

The French side faced drama during the World Cup due to the newspapers making things worse. They publicly shared Anelka’s harsh words of former Coach Domenech as he spoke his mind at halftime vs. Mexico. It was the French federation that made the decision to send Anelka home.

It was after this match that Anelka was sent home. Then things got worse once again. Patrice Evra got caught in a situation with their fitness manager. This was also caught on live TV, which was terrible publicity for him and the team. He’s meant to be a leader as he was appointed team captain. After Anelka was sent home, the French team protested and refused to practice.

The entire team was frowned upon not only by the country, but by politicians as well. Lilian Thurman who was a former International player for France publicly said that Evra should never be allowed to play for France again due to his performance off the pitch. Clearly, Blanc has a lot of work to do on the field and off. Time will tell, but expect major changes.

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