Roland Garros: I've arrived at last

An excellently maintained clay surface, no need to collect my own balls and the score thoughtfully marked up at the end of each point - well I can dream!  If only I could log on to Paris tennis and book a court here. In fact it was my daughter who visited the stadium on a school trip and thoughtfully took some pictures for my blog.

My previous connection with Roland Garros is that I once edited the English version of the tournament programme. On another occasion I got my father tickets for his birthday - but he and my mum ended up having to walk there and back after a transport strike knocked out the Metro.

The highlight of the tour as far as my daughter was concerned was an original pair of Stan Smith's Adidas tennis shoes in the museum signed by the man himself (needless to say she was wearing hers!)

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for an outside court pass for the tournament in June.

Tennis Poissonniers - One strike and you're out

Porte de Clignancourt at the end of Metro line 4 in the far north of Paris is chiefly known for its Sunday flea market (though I have to say I would rather go to the one at Porte Vanves in the 14th any time). It was looking particularly insalubrious on Sunday, with the whole of the square around the Metro station dug up and surrounded by hoardings. We were playing at Tennis Poissonniers because that was the only court available at any time over the weekend - 3pm Sunday, take it or leave it. We took it because a family four is a favourite weekend activity and set off on the longish journey full of enthusiasm. The courts are quite a walk from the Metro station, in the direction of the Péripherique and the high-rises which pepper the skyline and are essentially the view you get as you arrive in Paris on the Eurostar. Another couple carrying tennis racquets were heading the same way so we knew we were going in the right direction and we could see the sports ground through the fence where I noticed a couple of footballers squeezing through a gap in the bars. When we arrived at the entrance I realised why. The gates were locked and a sign informed us the sports centre was closed due to a strike! I suppose the only surprise was it hasn't happened to us sooner. My son was furious, but I knew we'd never find another court so there was only one thing for it - we'd have to squeeze through the bars.

In fact I wondered if the gap had been made for this very eventuality, judging by the three football matches in full swing on the other side. We followed a winding path past the large grandstand and athletics track, and past a huge climbing wall, fearing the courts would be locked when we got there. They weren't locked, but there was another drawback - the nets had been removed (an interesting development in my survey of net heights and quality around Paris). No matter, we hadn't come all this way and forced an entry to let a little thing like that stop us. In any case it wasn't as if there was a scenic pavement cafe to while away the hour and we weren't about to go straight back home.

 In Ealing, when I was having a particularly unsuccessful morning volleying, we'd often joked that it would so much easier if there was no net. This was my chance to put my theory to the test! I can report that in fact it is a much more difficult game - with more disputes about what would or would not have been in or over the net and less concern about disputing poor line calls (since what does it matter if you have no net anyway?) If only Charlotte had supplied me with my own net to go with my net measuring chain - how short-sighted of her! I'd like to be able to report that the courts were reasonable in all other respects, but a inch-deep pothole on one of the baselines was a definite hazard - court maintenance please!

We played a set - I couldn't help thinking my coaches in Ealing would have had the perfect exercise to be performed without a net, but I've no idea what that might be. The sun shone, the wind blew (so there were a surprising number of serves going out even without a net!) and the kids loved it. They rounded off the afternoon with a race round the track before squeezing back through the railings and getting the Metro home.

Tennis Poissoniers

2 rue Jean Cocteau

75018 Paris
Métro: Porte de Clignancourt

Tennis Château de Rentiers: Adverse camber!

There is nothing like playing tennis outdoors to make you appreciate the passing of the seasons and the slightest nuance in the weather. Today is the first day this year that the sun has felt really warm - should I chance a skirt? The trouble was I didn't know if there would be changing facilities and I definitely knew I didn't want to brave the journey there with bare legs. In the end I decided against it, but it was definitely a skirt day - and a day for sunglasses and visor come to that! Easter is just around the corner and the chocolate shops were putting on their best displays - a reminder, if I needed it, that in order to eat chocolate I need to play more tennis.

Tennis Château de Rentier is a short walk from the Place d'Italie - not a beauty spot on any day of the week. In fact the best that can be said for it is that it's a lovely Metro ride from our apartment as the train pops out of the tunnel at Bastille to cross the Seine with great views of Notre Dame and a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower. That part of the 13th arrondissement is jam-packed with high-rise towers - thank goodness for the blue skies otherwise the whole place would have been swallowed up in a sea of grey.

 The court (and there is only one) feels very much like an afterthought, tucked behind the swimming pool and gymnasium where crowds of schoolchildren were having various sports lessons when we arrived at 11am. It is squeezed bang up against a block of flats lined with balconies where various residents came out to adjust their washing lines, shake out out their shopping bags and tend their window boxes as we played.

The surface can best be described as a clay-coloured doormat which was sprinkled with twigs as if a flock of birds had been practising nest-building on the same scale as the housing projects on all sides. To make matters worse, it had a distinct camber sloping downhill from the middle of the court to one side. No matter! At least the net was intact and wound to the correct height this time. The blocks of flats on all sides also meant excellent acoustics for scoring purposes. Not a court to hurry back to - I'm glad to tick it off my list, but like Court 2 at Porte de Bagnolet last week more of a miss than a hit. 

Tennis Château de Rentier

184 rue du Château de Rentier

Paris 75013

Tel: 01 45 84 84 46

Tennis de la Porte de Bagnolet: Net discord

 Court 2 at Tennis Porte de Bagnolet was the only court available in Paris for the timeslot I'd selected on Saturday. We'd been before, in error, when looking for Tennis Louis Lumiere which is just five minutes along the same road. I remembered the impressive sports facilities - football pitches and athletics track - though we hadn't actually checked out the courts last time. What a disappointment! It wasn't hard to see why Court 2 was the only option available for a last-minute Saturday booking. As we approached along a sad-looking pathway lined with broken benches I could see straightaway that the net was sagging in the middle. Not in a "The net's too low" kind of way requiring me to take a measurement with my Queen's Club measuring chain (thank you Charlotte!) No, this net was quite definitely dipping and the winding mechanism was broken so it couldn't be adjusted.

Not only that it was full of holes and practically falling to pieces. There was no excuse for any serves going in the net and in any case they were more likely to go through the net. In fact I lost count of the number of disputed points which had to be played again for this reason.

And if that wasn't bad enough there was nothing to attach it in the middle so it would occasionally blow up to a 45-degree angle in a gust of wind - the only time I've ever played a game where it has been possible to serve or hit the ball under the net. The three other courts were fine - we'd definitely drawn the short straw this time.

To add to the general air of neglect our court had a huge hole in the netting at the back leading to lots of trips through to collect balls that had gone out of play. All in all a somewhat dispiriting experience. On the plus side it was a lovely day,  great to be playing outside and no one had booked for the end our our hour so we were able to play on - it's the first time I haven't been overjoyed to do so.

Tennis de la Porte Bagnolet
72 Rue Louis Lumière
75020 PARIS

Henry de Montherlant: Springing into action

It was only a few days since our last game, but my son was desperate to for another family four before the end of the school holidays. At such short notice on a Sunday we had no chance of getting an indoor court, but I decided to pick a time slot and take pot luck on whatever was available. Tennis Henry de Montherlant was on the other side of the city in the swanky 16th arrondissement, however there is a direct Metro line from the end of our road and even with 16 stops between us and Rue de la Pompe we were there in next to no time. It was March 1st and despite torrential rain all night the weather had decided to be kind to us, there was even a glimmer of spring sunshine as we emerged into Avenue Henri Martin. Like so many public courts in Paris Henry de Montherlant is on the fringes of the city, in this case on the edge of the Bois de Boulogne, but what a pleasant change from the grim public housing projects which frame the 12th and the 20th arrondissement. Here we approached along wide, treelined boulevards surrounded by the elegant stone facades of Haussmann's Paris. Just along the street from the tennis courts was the house where Edith Piaf spent the last ten years of her life.

We even caught a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower down a side street - always a thrill and so much better than seeing it a close quarters surrounded by tourists, machine-gun toting guards and souvenir stalls.

Tennis Henry Montherlant is on Boulevard Lannes sandwiched between the imposing Russian Embassy and Paris Dauphine University. It is part of a sports complex which also includes a swimming pool - though that was closed on Sunday as it seems even the 16th arrondissement is not immune to the strikes which are a feature of everyday life in Paris. There are seven outdoor courts all surfaced with my least-favourite old motorway-style concrete blocks. The one we played on (Court 2) was in pretty poor condition - with lots of cracks in addition to the existing cracks which are part of its construction. On the plus side, the courts are all divided from one another with wire netting, so no chance of disturbing the neighbouring courts - and there was some serious tennis going on there (though not on our court!). It was great to be back outside - my gloves came off, my sunglasses went on and you could feel spring was in the air. Definitely one to make note of for the warmer days once the trees come into leaf!

You cannot be serious? My partner sits in
 judgement on a poor line call!

Tennis Henry Montherlant

30 Boulevard Lannes 75016 PARIS

Tel: 01 40 72 28 33