Tennis Bertrand Dauvin: High price a bit of a racket!

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

Tennis Dunois: Cagey business on the roof

On holiday in Rome last week I'd thought ahead and booked a court for our return. In the warm Italian sun I dreamed of playing in the dappled light of the Luxembourg Gardens and was lucky enough to bag a 9am slot. I'd even had a practice run the day before to find out how long the journey would take door to door and we'd enjoyed a picnic lunch by the courts in the shade of a chestnut tree.

However, last night after a rather too sociable evening sharing some Rome reminiscences with a friend in Paris I knew we'd never be out of the house for 8.15am and so I rescheduled in the early hours to the far less bucolic surrounds of the 13th arrondissement. It's high-rise heaven in this part of Paris, not far from Place d'Italie (nothing at all like the Italy we'd seen on holiday) - in fact the main point of interest is the Metro line which runs overhead here, presumably to break up the monstrous architecture.

Tennis Dunois was down a side street off the main boulevard and was clearly signposted. The entrance was between two huge blocks of flats. We paid at the kiosk and were directed to the tennis court entrance - through the men's changing rooms. I don't advise anyone to use the showers during court changeover times! A narrow spiral staircase (where we had to stand aside for a man carrying a hoe) led out on to a roof. We were up in the air, but certainly not above the rooftops. The court surface was a green carpet - like a green oasis in the sea of concrete all around. There was netting around the side of the court and also over the top - presumably to stop any rogue balls flying off the edge - which gave the effect of playing in a cage. This meant any lobs or looping overheads from my daughter (her speciality shot at the moment) would be brought down short with the result that we kept having to replay the point. There was also plenty of potential for balls to get caught in the netting - now I knew what the hoe was for! An excellent game nonetheless - and we definitely played better for having an extra two hours in bed (although the Luxembourg Gardens would have been much more scenic).

Tennis Dunois

70 rue Dunois

75013 Paris

Tennis Thiéré: New balls please!

April in Paris, chestnuts in blossom and perfect weather for tennis. It was warm and sunny and I didn't have to think twice about whether to wear a skirt - in fact I was even brave enough  to wear it to walk to the court which was in our neighbourhood along a little back road behind Bastille. I'm not sure why we've never played there before because it is probably the closest court to our apartment.

The court was bathed in sunshine when we arrived at 10am. It was the perfect time to play - not only did we pay the reduced rate (€5.40 for an hour) but the sun was not yet at its height. Although my partner moaned like mad at being disadvantaged by not having his sunglasses - needless to say I had mine.
 The biggest problem with this court (and there is only one court) is that there is no netting around the outside. The wall of a neighbouring building forms one boundary and there is a high fence to separate the court from the road, but otherwise there was just a low, metal bar - the kind of thing you might tie your horse to if you had arrived on one! This led to lots of scrabbling around in the surrounding undergrowth and ducking under the bar to retrieve balls.
The court surface is the ever popular concrete block construction which was in a reasonable state this time, but marked out for handball as well as tennis which was sometimes confusing. Another distraction was provided by a huge crane delivering an air-conditioning unit to a neighbouring building - not the sort of thing you expect to see dangling over your head when you look up to hit your serve.

On the whole though I loved this little court surrounded by windows and balconies - I'd love a flat with a view of a tennis court. Maybe it was the warm sun or the blue sky or the magnolia on the court side, but I felt as if I was on holiday. And in fact the stray ball problem turned out to our advantage as we went home with an extra ball! And I won again too...

Tennis Thiéré

9-11 passage Thiéré

75011 Paris

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