Wild times at the tennis club and a trip to Marseilles

Bonjour mes amis,

Well, we finally were able to join the city-run tennis club, which offers eight nice courts, 5 hardcourt, but softer than what we have in the U.S., and three with a synthetic turf surface--softer, yet, for senior players with "joint" issues.

So, eagerly looking forward to some Saturday morning tennis, we mount the local bus for the club where, upon arrival, we soon discover that there is some sort of special, annual, family day event going on. Translation: most of the eight courts have the nets removed and are filled with children enjoying a variety of games. Over all, it was a great family-fun atmosphere ... but not exactly the "tennis" situation we were anticipating.

In any event, eventually we met with the staff person overseeing the day's events, filled out the necessary forms to help us find some people to play with (doubles or singles) and enjoyed a laid-back, fun time. At this point, we're thinking it might be a challenge to find folks to play with here ... but we're going to give it our best shot.

For those who wonder, why all the tennis talk, throughout my sixty-some years, my "pattern to assimilate" anywhere I have lived (Panama, Portugal, Hawaii, all over CA and FL) has been to "find a situation" for my sports life. Early on, it was basketball. However, since my early 30's, it has been tennis. Over the years, Yvette and I have met a lot of interesting people this way and enjoyed beaucoup experiences, many of which have led to enduring relationships.

Last night (Saturday) we dined at a local restaurant, Jacquou le Croquant, about an 8 minute walk from our flat. The dining area of the restaurant was about ten meters back from the entrance ... totally open air and, essentially, between two buildings. There were probably about fifty people (or so) dining--mostly couples and both the food and the ambience was very French and very Aix-en-Provence. You'd have to imagine all of these narrow (16 to 18 feet) streets, winding through the centre of Aix. Cars, somehow, manage to work there way (carefully) through most of these streets ... and there are connected, three, four and five story buildings (businesses on the bottom level; living areas above) on both sides. Lots of history and undeniably quaint and appealing.

Today (Sunday), Yvette wanted to go to Marseilles (25 miles away) to see a National Exibition for French Water-colorists. Turned out to be a fun adventure. Once the bus dropped us off in the center of downtown Marseilles, we began asking people (all in French, obviously) where Quoi du Port (the port-front street we were looking for) was. As it turned out, we had about a fifteen minute walk ahead of us ... and all five of the locals whom we sought directions from were helpful in some way (check Yvette's blog for the most helpful).

We enjoyed the water color exhibit very much, enjoyed a late lunch at a port-front cafe, and soon found our way back to the bus stop where our #50 bus was waiting for us with the same driver. Over all, a fun, adventurous day.

C'est tout pour aujourd'hui (that's all for today,

A bientot, Jeffrey