Louis Lumière: court maintenance French-style

I was going to let today's game pass without comment since it isn't the first time I've played at Louis Lumière in the 20th arrondissement, but an honourable mention must go to this extraordinary attempt at keeping the net at the correct height. A previous player - no doubt infuriated by the sagging net - had fashioned a prop from a forked branch foraged from the surrounding bushes. And just to be on the safe side they had also jammed a stick in the winding mechanism to hold it taut - an arrangement which worked surprisingly well.

Fortunately we weren't actually booked on to this court (number 3 - in case you want to avoid it!), but   had moved over from the much more satisfactory Court 1 when our time there was up. Courts 1 and 2 are concrete and ours had been scrupulously cleaned since our previous game in November last year when it was rather mossy. Court 3 is surfaced with a sand-covered carpet with a few dips and bumps to catch you unawares. Definitely one to avoid in future, though full marks to the man on reception who took pity on us when we mistakenly arrived at 5pm for a 4pm booking and let us play anyway when the people who had booked were either late or failed to show. A good reminder to be on time for  bookings though otherwise you really will lose the court.