More boulodromes....

It is now Thursday, October 31, 2013. I make special note of the day, date and year because it was at the end of this day that I had one of the best experiences playing Petanque. 

This morning I left La Ciotat after spending 2 weeks playing Petanque daily with either Jules le Noir or Cercle des Boulomanes Ciotaden – the two clubs in this great town on the Mediterranean Sea. Yesterday, I said goodbye to the members of those clubs. It was an emotional experience for all of us because we had experienced a bond, not just between myself and the two clubs, but between the Heart of Texas Petanque Club and those two clubs. I look forward to helping Arsene encourage the club members to come to our tournaments in Texas because I had the impression from the two club presidents that it could very well happen.

 

Milou - at Jules le Noir Petanque Club

 


Herrero, the president of the Petanque club -
Cercle des Boulomanes Ciotadens



Pierrot MARQUES - President of Jules le Noir Petanque Club - La Ciotat, France

 

The original charter for the Jules le Noir Petanque Club
- the place where Petanque was invented in 1910 

 

Club house - Cercle des Boulomanes Ciotadens
in La Ciotat, France

 

Jim and Alain - vs - two others

 

Raymond Ager - an English guy who moved to La Ciotat -
primarily to play Petanque.
 

 

Jim, Paul, Paul and Raymond
Note the display of ancient Petanque boules on the left.

 

Jim, the clubhouse cat and Paul

 

Raymond and Milou

 

 So why was today such a unique experience? This afternoon, I was driving on the Departmental road (older highways that are slower than the new Autroutes or toll roads). I have always liked driving on them for the obvious reasons that you get to experience more of France at a slower pace.  So as it was getting to be time for me to start looking for a hotel or camping grounds, I was driving down the road and had just enough time to see a handwritten sign that had the word "camping" on it.  I turned the car around and found it and it indeed was advertising a camping grounds. I tried to call the number but it did not go through so I followed the brief directions that led me onto a much smaller road through a tiny town, several kilometers off the main road. I followed multiple signs that lead me to an even smaller road with the final sign directing me to a 1-lane road through a vineyard and into a very remote camp ground with just a couple of camping cars. It was on the side of a hill, overlooking the Canal du Midi – one of my favorite features in France.

Well, I got to talking to the owner who was a bit older than me and had retired from the French military. Gerard was a very nice fellow, with a friendly personality - well suited for running a camp ground. He made the necessary effort to understand my level of French (not all French people have that skill). When I shifted the conversation towards Petanque, he asked me to walk over to his car and out of the back of a very old Renault and amongst a bunch of tools (I don't remember even seeing a spare tire), he pulled out a set of rusty Petanque boules and we played a game right there in the driveway. The game helped make for a most enjoyable evening socializing with a new friend.

Gerard's Renault, containing tools and boules



Gerard, owner of camp grounds in the countryside, near Trebes, France

During our conversation, he told me about a boulodrome in Trebes, just a few miles from the camp – so I camped there for several days. When I returned from Trebes in the evenings, Gerard invited me for aperitifs (Pastis, of course).

Gerard, his friend and our friend, Mr. Pastis!

 

 



Jim, Brigitte and Jerome
at La Petite Boules Trebeenne Petanque Club,
Trebes, France

In Trebes, I played some pick-up games one day and the next, I was able to play in a triplets/mixed tournament. Philip, Bridgette and I managed to get as far as the semi-finals in the consolate bracket – and we each won 4 Euros ($5.25)! Who cares if the admission fee was also 4 Euros…I'm counting that as a WIN!

 

After three days, I left the Trebes area for Carcassonne to search out the two boulodromes there. I found the first one but it was vacant with lots of leaves on the outdoor terrains, so I went to the other one. As luck would have it, being Sunday afternoon, they had a tournament and I got onto a team with a couple of guys and we did poorly.

Looks easy but this was very difficult terrain in Carcassonne, France

I would call this terrain in Carcassonne, France, a gravel pit on top of deformed concrete!

David Faro, President of Cite Petanque Club,
Carcassonne, France

We were quickly sent to the consolate round where we lost our first game there too. Not sure why we got to continue (double elimination in the consolate round?)  but we won the 2nd consolate but lost the 3rd – no prize for my team! I did meet the president of Cite Petanque Club, David Faro –> http://citepetanqueclub.free.fr/  This was definitely a working man’s petanque club. Not many older players. The members and the terrain were very different from the Jules le Noir Club in La Ciotat. Several times it was difficult to see the jack because of the big rocks.

NEXT INSTALLMENT: My return to Toulouse, France - where I lived in 1975.




 

I'm quite content in the South of France

On Oct. 15, I headed for the South of France and the Mediterranean Sea where the weather is a lot warmer. I spent one night in a camp for camping cars (motor homes) in Le Grau de Roi. I stood out there because all the camping cars are large white vehicles and I parked in the middle of them in my black station wagon.


You can barely see "Fury" in the middle of all those camping cars.

 

I got up early (9:00 am!) on the 16^th of Oct. and headed for the Camargue. The Camargue is western Europe's largest river delta - formed bb the Rhone river. It is a vast plain comprising large lagoons and is cut off from the sea by sandbars.

Its brine ponds provide one of the few European habitats for the greater flamingo. It is also famous for the Camargue bulls and the Camargue horses. 

 

After a few hours of exploring the Camargue, I headed for La Ciotat - on the coast of France, just east of Marseille. La Ciotat is the town where Petanque was invented in 1910 and it is my primary destination in this 2 1/2 month trip around France.

La Ciotat, France

I arrived in the afternoon and went directly to the Jules le Noir Petanque Club – the actual courts where Petanque was born. I almost cried with happiness! 

There was no one there so I got my Petanque boules out and threw for an hour or so and found the courts to be the most difficult courts I have ever played on. They appear to be relatively uniform and flat from a distance but there are alternating patches of sand, gravel and rocks with gentile slopes quite large – making it even more difficult to judge the path of a boule. I have never felt so helpless on a Petanque court.

This sign identifies this location as the place where Petanque was born in 1910 

Several club members arrived later and gave me a grand tour of their facilities/museum where I got to see the actual document that made Petanque an official sport in France – along with a display case of ancient Petanque boules.

Plaque describing this location as the place where Petanque was invented

 



1910 Official proclamation -
Petanque is a sport!

Paul and Paul showing historical boules.

 


The Heart of Texas Petanque Club banner at the Jules le Noir Petanque Club

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were no events scheduled for this afternoon at this club but I was told that the other club in La Ciotat, Cercle des Boulomanes Ciotadens, was having a tournament this afternoon.

 

Cercle des Boulomanes Ciotadens

The clubs are only 200 yards apart so I went there. I met an English guy, Raymond Ager, who retired several years ago, sold his home in England and bought an apartment in La Ciotat – just because he wanted to play Petanque in one of the most famous and popular places in the world. Now there's a man who has his priorities in proper order! We teamed up and actually finished in 2^nd place in the "consolation" bracket which is where you go when you lose the first game. The entry fee was 5 Euro ($6.50) per person and we won 15 Euro (almost $20) each. Since then, I've remained in La Ciotat (5 days now) and have played in a couple more tournaments but with less success ($0).

 

Registration for a petanque tournament

 
 



Raymond and Jim showing off their winnings
(look closely and you'll see 15 Euros in each of their hands)

The Heart of Texas Petanque Club banner at the Cercle des Boulomanes Ciotadens Petanque Club

 
 


The terrain at Boulomanes

The first two days, I stayed in a 4-star campground and had the place all to myself because this is the off-season. 

 

      Campgrounds near La Ciotat

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

              

 

 

 

Supper!

 



 Tailgate party! Not a BBQ grill in sight.

 

Raymond called a French friend with whom he meets weekly to have bi-lingual conversations to improve their language skills, to see if Chantal would rent a room to me in her very nice home in the adjacent town of Ceyrest. I've been staying there for the past week and will remain here for another week or so, before I go to Toulouse.

 

Chantal's home

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



If you think I travel a lot, you should meet Chantal.
She's been everywhere!

 

Eden Theater - the world's first!

La Ciotat is also famous for having the very first movie theater in the world -  the Eden Theater, built in 1899. It was there that the first moving picture was shown. That movie was made by the Lumière brothers and was of a train arriving at the local station. When the audience saw the train coming at them, many fled the theater, never having seen anything like that. The Eden Theater has recently been renovated ($4.5 million) to its former grandeur and reopened just last month. As luck would have it, they are having a film festival lasting for a couple of weeks and showing 4-5 films per day. I've seen 8 already and will see several more during the next week.

 The Eden Theater

 

 

 

 Actual movie camera used by the Lumiere brothers
to record the first moving picture.

 

La Ciotat, France

I like this town! It used to be the major boat-building center in France but is now a busy and relatively small tourist town with a downtown marina filled with large sailboats and small fishing boats - and a few large mega-yachts for flavor.  

 

Market days: Sundays and Tuesdays