It is hard to believe that this time last week I was contemplating a game in the Luxembourg Gardens in my tennis skirt. The rain has been lashing down this week with gusts of wind wreaking havoc on my roof garden, so I booked an indoor court near the Porte de Clignancourt. The surroundings were as grim as I remembered - when we were last in the area, we were thwarted by a strike. Tennis Bertrand Dauvin is just along the road and and although the chestnuts in blossom in the market place were doing their best, it really isn't an area to lift your heart.
No matter, we were there for tennis not for sightseeing and the courts were a short walk through the roadworks from the Metro. I'd booked the court for midday and was rather taken aback to discover it would cost €17 an hour - our most expensive game yet. Fortunately they let us pay by bank card (not necessarily a given) - I hoped it would be worth it.
The courts are quite a way from the reception area - through the sports centre, out the back and then round the athletics track - so make sure you allow plenty of time when playing here. We were given a key - somewhat confusingly numbered six for the number one court.
Our court was a single court and there were two more courts in the adjoining dome. The surface was the ever-popular concrete block construction which looked at first glance to have moss growing between the cracks though this turned out to be fluff from tennis balls. It was quite a contrast from last week when we played on the rooftop with a net overhead.
I played appallingly in the first set, losing 6-2 in spite of the fact that my partner had been working until 2am that morning. Fortunately there was time for a comeback and I won the second set 6 - 0 otherwise €17 would certainly have been too high a price to pay!
Tennis Bertrand Dauvin
12 rue Rêne Binet
75018 Paris
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