The weather has turned and it has been pouring with rain so inspired by the ATP Masters at the O2 in London I decided to book an indoor court. Roger Federer pulled out with a back injury and I almost pulled out with a shopping trolley-induced injury of my right forearm after weeks of shopping à la Parisienne in the local markets and then lugging my groceries upstairs. But I was so delighted that rain needn't stop play with numerous covered courts to choose from that I decided to ignore any twinges and cheer myself up with a game of tennis.
Boulevard Carnot is another distant outpost, this time at the Porte de Vincennes in the 12th arrondissement - supposedly one of the smarter edges of the city, but when we popped up from the Metro alongside the the six-lane Cours de Vincennes, with the trams running down one side of the road and with tower after tower of box like apartments, it reminded me more of parts of east Berlin than the city of light. The weather didn't help of course - nowhere looks its best in grey drizzle. We headed away from the city and found Boulevard Carnot running parallel with Péripherique.
There were several covered courts - two of which had open sides like a cattle market with a tent-like roof. We were on court 3 which was entirely enclosed in a huge dome - something between a marquee and a greenhouse - which reminded me of the great pavilion at the Chelsea Flower Show but without the plants.
The entrance was like a primitive decompression chamber with strict instruction not to open the second door until the first door was firmly closed (otherwise it slammed so violently it sounded like a gun going off which happened when two Frenchmen tried to venture inside in the middle of a vital point).
Inside it was vast - the markings on the court showed it doubled as an indoor football pitch when the tennis net was not in place. There was also a splendid echo which gave a new incentive to shout out the score after every point.
The court surface was a hard synthetic - which surprised me after the astro-turf carpets on outdoor courts we have played on - and my favourite surface so far. It really suited my game and for once I felt I had enough time to get to all the balls (or maybe I was just running faster with no wind resistance indoors!)
An indoor court is nearly twice the price of an outdoor one at €14.50 an hour, but we arrived a full 15 minutes early and got straight on court so I felt we got our money's worth and great to know we can still get a game even if it's pouring - finally an advantage over Ealing!
26 Boulevard Carnot
75012 Paris
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