Having done our homework on French bidding, cards, language, etc. we were keen to play bridge in France. There were were several bridge clubs within an hour's drive from my brother's village, but the largest one, and the one with the best schedule was in Châteauroux. The people at the club were friendly, particularly one lady who had lived in the US and was therefore easy to talk to (in English). We were a little taken aback by their announcement that we would have to play under pseudonyms since we didn't have FFB licenses. In the end we did end up seeing our names in print although, as expected, the official results on the web show us as "Joueur inconnu" gaining 105 points.
Despite the strange cards (1, R, D, and V, etc.) and little things like South (me) having to do the scoring (more complicated than it sounds since we had to enter such things as the opening lead, not to mention the fact that 4C is four hearts, while four clubs is 4T), we managed 56% and second in our direction (the best place to be when guests in a strange club). We might have won if we had stopped after 8 rounds but we got a little tired -- and our luck ran out somewhat -- in the last round. All of our explanations of bids and so on were conducted in French and there were never any problems. Bidding boxes, albeit strange ones, were used so that bidding was never an issue.
I would like to have shown a hand from the session (27 boards, by the way) that illustrated perhaps a brilliant play based on mistaking jacks for kings (like the Rueful Rabbit does in the Victor Mollo stories) but there was nothing like that.
The standard of play was about what you'd expect in a club game away from the big city. A few good players but mainly people looking for a relaxing way to spend the afternoon. There was a degree more seriousness perhaps than we are used to. All in all a very enjoyable afternoon and we would heartily recommend it.
Next blog: Travel Trials
Showing posts with label France. Show all posts
Showing posts with label France. Show all posts
Saturday, August 29, 2009
La Belle France
France really is a wonderful country. They do so many things well there: food, roads, railways, and many more. Even the beer is better than I remembered. And - best of all - their mosquito population all seems to be en vacances up at Kezar lake, in Maine.
Kim and I just returned from eleven days in the department of Indre, in the region Centre, visiting with my mother, brother, sister-in-law and niece Mia. Mia is seven and a real joy. More on her in a future post. Their village has a marvellous medieval feudal layout with the castle on the top of the hill and the serfs' houses spread out between château and river. The weather was wonderful, starting just a little too hot (mid 90s/30s) but becoming very comfortable in the following days.
We went with a list of activities and we managed all of them with the exception of visiting a vineyard. Oh dear -- next time. We played bridge (see Le Bridge), we attended a service at a Benedictine Abbey to hear the plain song (Gregorian chant), we visited two castles, walked some of the GR3 (one of France's wonderful Grand Randonnee routes), rode a narrow gauge railroad (see future blog), had some great food (and some that was not-so-great), did some bird-watching with Paul in La Brenne (where we first went 40 years ago!) and just hung out.
We finished up at a fantastic bed-and-breakfast (Château de Jonvilliers) near Chartres, but unfortunately tropical storm Danny threatened a problematic return today and so we flew home yesterday instead, thus missing our second night at the chateau and our visit to Chartres itself.
So what's so great about their roads? Apart from excellent paving of the meanest, narrowest country roads, their signage is really excellent (contrast with Massachusetts for example). Their speed limits are clearly marked and are reasonable (contrast with the U.S. in general). Their trains are probably the best and fastest in the world (Japan notwithstanding).
There are a few things which aren't so wonderful. There's apparently a law which prevents them from having English language options for telephone messages or web sites (well, if it's not a law, it's a moral imperative). Their menus are works of art in the obfuscatory sense. Would you expect Salade à la Maison not to have a sprig of greenery but instead be a plate of nameless fleshy objects, for example? But these are minor irritations.
Next blog: Le Bridge
Kim and I just returned from eleven days in the department of Indre, in the region Centre, visiting with my mother, brother, sister-in-law and niece Mia. Mia is seven and a real joy. More on her in a future post. Their village has a marvellous medieval feudal layout with the castle on the top of the hill and the serfs' houses spread out between château and river. The weather was wonderful, starting just a little too hot (mid 90s/30s) but becoming very comfortable in the following days.
We went with a list of activities and we managed all of them with the exception of visiting a vineyard. Oh dear -- next time. We played bridge (see Le Bridge), we attended a service at a Benedictine Abbey to hear the plain song (Gregorian chant), we visited two castles, walked some of the GR3 (one of France's wonderful Grand Randonnee routes), rode a narrow gauge railroad (see future blog), had some great food (and some that was not-so-great), did some bird-watching with Paul in La Brenne (where we first went 40 years ago!) and just hung out.
We finished up at a fantastic bed-and-breakfast (Château de Jonvilliers) near Chartres, but unfortunately tropical storm Danny threatened a problematic return today and so we flew home yesterday instead, thus missing our second night at the chateau and our visit to Chartres itself.
So what's so great about their roads? Apart from excellent paving of the meanest, narrowest country roads, their signage is really excellent (contrast with Massachusetts for example). Their speed limits are clearly marked and are reasonable (contrast with the U.S. in general). Their trains are probably the best and fastest in the world (Japan notwithstanding).
There are a few things which aren't so wonderful. There's apparently a law which prevents them from having English language options for telephone messages or web sites (well, if it's not a law, it's a moral imperative). Their menus are works of art in the obfuscatory sense. Would you expect Salade à la Maison not to have a sprig of greenery but instead be a plate of nameless fleshy objects, for example? But these are minor irritations.
Next blog: Le Bridge
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