« Elle était aussi bien de fesses que de face. »
Raymond Queneau
On April 17, under a beautiful blue sky, La Pétanque Marinière hosted its annual Lentils & Sausages picnic/tournament.
You might not realize it, but lentils are one of the healthiest dishes on earth.
According to a medical journal, lentils lower cholesterol. They reduce your risk of heart disease. They help prevent constipation and they stabilize your blood sugar. And since it contain virtually not fat, it helps you to lose weight.
Aren’t we a caring bunch?
A light shadow was cast over the tournament following the unexpected demise of René di Maio. A minute of silence was observed but as the poet says:
“Better to die, and sleep the never-waking sleep, than linger on and dare to live when the soul’s life is gone.”
Memories will linger, but life will go on.
Sabine Mattei prepared the lentils (thank you Ma’am) and as usual Cartouche (aka J-C Etallaz) and Antoine Lofaro cooked the sausages. Thank you fellows.
Thirty-six contestants signed up for the tournament.
- Blaise West, Gus Foucher, Claudie Chourré
- Alain Efron, Doug Colville, Clea Massiani
- Bleys Rose, Catlin Woodbury, Joanne Easton
- Shannon bowman, Joe La Torre, Genevieve Etallaz
- Francois Moser, Robbie Passemar, Calvert Barron
- Brigitte Moran, Noel Marcovecchio, Monique Bricca
- Patrick Vaslet, J-M Poulnot, Eva Lofaro
- J-c Etallaz, Christine Cragg, Sabine Mattei
- John Morrison, Charlie Davantes, Liliane Sebban
- Henry Wessel, Marshall Elliott, Paul Tucker
- Bernard Passemar, Larry Cragg, Richard Ehrinberger
- Albert Woodbury, Rob Everett, Tamara Efron
Among the participants, I spotted notorious Rasputina (Tamara), Le Canonnier (Noel), Fillette (Brigitte), le P’tit Suisse (Francois), le Facteur (Jean-Michel), La Bête Noire (Henry), Minette (Genevieve), whimsical La Voleuse (Clea), Pitouf (Paul), Dagobert and Firefly (Bernard).
Most of these troopers did well in the tournament.
We also noticed with pleasure the participation of four young San Franciscans who didn’t hesitate to cross the Bridge to compete on our own turf.
We hope to see them on a regular basis.
After random pairing (due to the diligence of Liv Kraft and Christine Cragg), triplettes were assembled and games (3) started after lunch.
My own team consisting of Doug Colville, Clea Massiani (aka La Voleuse) and myself (La Foudre) lost the first game 7/13. This was just a warming up session.
On our second game, we went down 11/13 but did noticeably better.
On our final meet, after a highly contested game, we were (barely) bested 12/13.
As you can see, we improved with each game and with two additional games we would have definitely crushed the opposition.
While playing I managed to take a few snapshots on the fly. They are not my best work, but I plead extenuating circumstances.
After the dust settled, the final results emerged and they were as follows:
1st place: Albert Woodbury, Rob Everett, Tamara Efron $25/ea
2nd place: Sabine Mattei, J-C Etallaz, Christine Cragg $18/ea
3rd place: Henry Wessel, Marshall Elliott, Paul Tucker $15/ea
4th place: Brigitte Moran, Noel Marcovecchio, Monique Bricca $10/ea
Congratulations to the winners, and especially to Rasputina (Tamara) who promised to take me out for dinner with her fabulous winnings.
Until we meet gain, hasta la vida amigos, or as my better-half would say “До скорого!”
Alain la Foudre
PS: To look at photos of this event and listen to the accompanying background music, turn your computer’s sound on, and click on the link “My Photos” located on the right side of this page. For best viewing, go Full Screen.
PS 2: Look at Clea’s gallery: