Yesterday in Marin County, Antiques Show enthusiasts and pétanque players engaged in a subtle parking war. I am sorry to say that overwhelmed by the sheer number of treasure hunters the pétanque players lost that conflict and had to scramble for parking spaces.
My online dictionary defines “antiques” as follows: “Collectible objects that have high value because of their considerable age”.
America is one of the few countries where “the considerable age” is generally less than fifty and where one can become an antique in his own lifetime.
Nevertheless, our traditional “Sausages & Lens picnic” went well and this was due in part to Minou, our official cook.
It might not be common knowledge, but Jean-Claude Etallaz (from the celebrated Minou & Minette duo) hails from the French region of Savoy and as a « savoyard » he must cook his sausages with white wine. Some of the wine I understand goes into the cooking pot and some (I suspect) finds its way into Jean-Claude’s throat. It is called a balanced performance.
Once again he did a splendid job and I heard nothing but compliments about his gig.
The lentils I was told were prepared (without wine) by our own top dog, Christine Cragg.
A few of us were also privileged to sample Alain Marchand’s excellent “flan”. Merci monsieur Marchand!
While people chomped on the sausages, they might not have noticed our new tool shed discreetly tucked away in the back of the court.
This structure was badly needed and now, thanks to Sabine Mattei (who did the research) Alain Marchand, Francois Moser, Roger Mattei and Charlie Davantes who provided the heavy lifting, we finally have a secure place to store our cooking equipment and various tools.
I won’t dwell on this story right here, but the full account of this affair (with scores of pictures) will be published on this blog very soon.
As far as the “tournament” was concerned, it was a friendly happening open to all and there was none of the harsh competitiveness generally associated with “official” events.
The contestants were:
- Bill Hansen & Mireille Di Maio
- Philippe Arnaud & Jim Johnson
- JC Bunand & Gustave Foucher
- Joss Krauer & John Krauer
- Shannon Bowman & Christine Jones
- Etienne Rijkheer & John Morrison
- Steve Jones & Bernadette BB
- Bernard Passmar & Claudie Chourré
- Blaise West & Sabine Mattei
- JC Etallaz & JM Poulnot
- Ken Lee & Calvert Barron
- Patrick Vaslet & Larry Cragg
- Eric Jarrey & Robert Belforte
- Alain Gusella & Eva Lofaro
- Joe La Torre & Minette
- Alain Efron & Henry Wessel
- François Moser & Teri Thiebault
- Ed Porto & Christine Cragg
After a random pairing, three games were played after lunch and no scores were recorded.
The gods smiled on me when they gave me Henry Wessel as a partner.
Thanks to Henry’s excellent pointing, we managed to win 3 games out of 3.
Especially satisfying was the last game where after being led 4 to 9 we managed to pull (by the skin of our teeth) a 13 to 12 victory.
Many people were surprised to see Alain Gusella among the contestants. A month after suffering a stroke he was back on the field fiercely determined to make an early comeback. More power to him.
The party was over around five thirty and many tournament participants helped to store cooking and pétanque items in our new shed. Thanks a lot!
Yesterday I didn’t take too many pictures. Very few as a matter of fact. I was too busy schmoozing and gossiping. Sorry about that.
If I get a substantial salary increase I promise to try harder next time.
Alain