Last Sunday, people gathered in Sonoma to celebrate Bastille Day, the 224th anniversary of the French Revolution, and incidentally to play a little pétanque.
They came in throngs ready to feast and to compete.
I estimated the crowd to be around 150 people, without counting babies, children and dogs.
People came from all over the Bay Area and there were many faces that I didn’t recognize. I apologize if I didn’t remember you and didn’t greet you properly.
The weather was perfect throughout the day, not too hot and not too cool.
The VOMPC did an excellent job of organizing the event. They even rented tables and chairs to accommodate such a large crowd.
Thinking of that, it would have been nice to let people know about this so that nobody would have had to schlep chairs and tables to the field. Next time maybe.
The tournament managers were able to put together 28 triplettes, that is 84 players.
The tournament started around 10:00 a.m. and two games were to be played before lunch.
I personally opted not to play to concentrate on taking pictures, for it is almost impossible to do both. I took a lot of snapshots and out of almost 300 shots I published about a hundred of them.
You can look at them by clicking on “My photos” on the right side of this blog.
The lunch was prepared by chef Christine Piccin and her crew, and the music was provided by the Due Zighi Baci duo.
Around lunchtime we were treated as usual to an enthusiastic (if slightly off-key) rendition of La Marseillaise by none other than Le Facteur (aka Jean-Michel Poulnot).
That was fine and dandy, but I still wonder why he kept brandishing a golden phallus during his entire performance?
Is there something about the French Revolution that I didn’t know?
There was also another rendition of La Marseillaise by another gentleman.
It was OK, but in my often partial opinion it didn’t match the enthusiastically bloodthirsty spirit of The Postman’s performance.
After lunch the tournament continued and I spotted some episodes that I never saw before. I witnessed a seemingly insecure dog accompanying his mistress each step she took on the field, and a determined mother crouching and pointing while carrying a baby in her arms.
Could you do that? I couldn’t.
Pétanque wonders will never cease.
Thank you Valley of the Moon Pétanque Club for a job well done and an excellent day.
Alain
PS: To look at pictures of this event, turn the sound on, click on the “Home” link at the top of the page, and click again on “My photos” located on the right side of the page.