tennis ball

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Sunday, 4 September 2016

Tennis La Faluère: Into the woods




Most tennis courts in Paris are necessarily very urban - squeezed in between the densely-packed buildings in the middle of the city or parked among the high rises on the edge of the Périphèrique. Tennis La Faluère is a rare exception, deep in the heart of the Bois de Vincennes, so far out of town that there is even parking nearby, though many people seemed to arrive by bike and cycled right on to the court. Allow plenty of time for the journey there because the walk from the metro at Chateau de Vincennes takes about 20 minutes, but it is a very pretty one past the chateau and through the woods.


After a wrong turn into a private club - the first tennis courts we reached on the Route de la Pyramide - we eventually came to a sign directing us down a woodland path and emerged at the entrance to La Faluère which itself feels much more like a club than a public facility. 

What a racket: a vintage Dunlop Max Ply 


As we queued to pay I was amused (though not as amused as my kids) to see my first ever tennis racket - a wooden Dunlop Max Ply - displayed on the wall like a museum exhibit. How I loved that racket (and my Dunlop Green Flash tennis shoes), but how tennis technology has advanced since the 1970s!
La Faluère has 21 well-maintained courts grouped in blocks of four with each block surrounded by a well-manicured cypress hedge. The hedges are lovely, but over-enthusiastic hitters beware, any rogue balls sent flying over the side netting (a speciality of my daughter) will land in the hedge and be lost forever. Perhaps this was the source of the many "Ooh la las" we heard floating over from the next block of courts. It was back to doubles today with a perfect Sunday lunchtime family four. The weather has cooled down considerably and conditions were perfect. We paid for an hour, but played for two when no one turned up to take over the booking. All in all the best possible start to September and the new school year.


Tennis La Faluère
113 Route de la Pyramide
75012
Paris
Metro: Chateau de Vincennes






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