Blast from the past

Forty years ago, when were all young and handsome, some members of La Pétanque Marinière flew to Southampton, Great Britain to compete in the 1979 World Championship Cup.

They were Louis Toulon, René Di Maio and Marcel Parnell.

Rene Di Maio
Louis Toulon

 

 

 

 

Louis, with whom I had the pleasure to play last Sunday, is now the sole survivor, but memories of this event survived.
Yesterday I came across some photographs (taken by Mireille Di Maio) of that period, and you can now see them in an album called Southampton 1979. Notice the snazzy red caps and the tricolor jerseys worn by our champions.

Seventeen (17) countries took part in this event notably Algeria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, Morocco, the Netherlands, Senegal, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia, USA and Venezuela.

Our people did not bring back any medals, but just participating in this event was a thrill.

If I am not mistaken, no women played (or were not allowed) to participate in this tournament. Fortunately, times have changed and women (some of them extraordinarily good) are now represented in all tourneys.

Enjoy the pictures.

Alain