A last-minute booking to blow away the cobwebs on an autumn Sunday saw us returning to the tower blocks of the 13th arrondissement near Place d'Italie and Tennis Moureu-Baudricourt. It was a golden Paris morning and the changing season had cast its spell even on this unlovely corner. I would have liked to try somewhere new, but with a short-notice booking at the weekend you have to take what's available and this court at least had the advantage of being only a shortish Metro ride away from home.
The high-rise environs aside, Moureu-Baudricourt is a great facility. There are three outdoor and three indoor courts as well as a running track and basketball courts, where this morning a film crew were making a film about a basketball player fighting back from injury. My son, who has a big cross-country race on Wednesday, kicked off and finished our session today with a few laps of the track. We were glad to be playing outside as it was a lovely day though low sunlight made serving into the sun a bit of a nuisance from one end. The court had a good surface and a well-maintained and adjusted net and there was a convenient bench on which to leave our kit. The only distraction was two men kicking a football next to the court and smoking a rather pungent joint which my husband claimed left him feeling too laid-back to play his best game - any excuse. His poor performance wasn't helped by pulling a calf muscle due to an inadequate warm-up - I should have mentioned it to the film crew, they might have used his story for a sequel. The cross-country runner and I triumphed easily - I think my daughter needs a new partner. We rounded off the morning with a bowl of Vietnamese soup in a restaurant at the end of the road. The 13th arrondissement around Place d'Italie is one of Paris's Chinatown areas and I can highly recommend the Ba Miên restaurant at 180 Avenue de Choisy for a post-match lunch.
17 Avenue Edison
75013
Paris
Metro: Place d'Italie
