The fourth trip to Aix – Le Petanque Ensemble – took place in early June. We visited three local clubs and played against AAGP the the foot of Mount Sainte Victoire made famous by Cezanne. For photos of these days please see the gallery below.
Day with AAGP
A beautiful day.A series of games in the car park, followed by a feast of a picnic in amongst the shaded trees.A gentle walk up around Mount Sainte Victoire, taking in the lovely scenery, giant ants, reservoir and with storm clouds threatening a hasty walk back down – until they drifted away.We stopped off on the way to have a look at the marble (bottom right).A winding drive through Cezanne country on the way back to Aix.
Cabries
We were expecting to go to Les Milles to play petanque but ended up at Cabries – a wonderfully friendly club in a lovely setting. We did eat lunch at Cafe de France in Les Milles first. An absolute bargain of a meal – a full four courses plus coffee and wine for an almost unbelievable 15 euro each (simple and recomended). Lesley and Keith ended up playing against in each other in the ‘final’ which Keith and his partner eventually won. And in a tight, thrilling game, Peter and his partner won the first round ‘losers’ final. The Mayor showed up to welcome us, amongst his busy schedule and promised to come and play petanque against us in Bath. We hope that he and the good folk of Cabries are able to come over one day – we will make them very welcome!
Le Tholonet
A lunch around a white clothed table in dappled sunlight a stone’s throw from the piste. Everyone else was celebrating mother’s day – but seemed to take the invasion of a peculiar bunch of anglais in their stride. Another attractive piste and another bunch of wonderfully friendly new people. Peter and Don learnt how to play the longer game of pétanque, Jeu Provencal, played in the region. A close final saw Don winning on the last end.The finals of the proper game saw Chris and Nic playing each other in the final, with Chris winning the day. A generous quantity of french hospitality followed with goodies exchanged – including the visitors receiving some lovely local wine from Le Tholonet itself.
Puyrcard
This was the first time the tour had visited the club of Puyricard near Aix, and we were given such a warm welcome it felt as if we were old friends. The weather was not with us that day and as the afternoon went on the rain fell and players, boules and piste got progressively wetter! However the entente cordiale was warm, the Mayor came and welcomed us and we had a lovely time. The winners of the day were the females on the trip with Nic coming third, Lesley second and Thelma (who’s better than she gives herself credit for) won.
