Sunday, May 12, 2013

Vacation Beach Time - an afternoon in Lacanau





La Plage....at Lacanau



Our Spring school vacation is coming to a close today.  Two weeks off in early May - a great concept in theory - should be warmer weather, sunnier days & a great taste of the summer months which are arriving all too quickly. This is the last hurrah, before our final stretch of school.  School ends here in early July, so this little break give the kids a refresher before the final push to the end of the year.   However, this vacation proved to be cooler and cloudier than most - a lot of my French friends compared the weather to how the break is in the Fall.  We really shouldn't be too surprised this whole winter has been wet, cold and gray.  But there is always hope, hope that the sun will shine more, hope that the rain stays away, hope that we break this weather pattern of the past few months.

Our vacation was broken up into day trips and a weekend away to the Dordogne to visit the grandparents.  Pretty relaxing overall & a nice change of pace for everyone.  The one place the girls really wanted to go was to the beach - They were hoping for a warm sunny day to spend the afternoon at the ocean- go and frolic in the waves.  So last week, we kept watching the weather, waiting for that perfect afternoon.  Unfortunately, each day was forecasted to be cloudy & rainy so we didn't go, but by the middle of each afternoon, the sun was peaking out of the clouds and it always was nicer than was forecasted.  By Thursday night, I decided we had to go anyway, head up to Lacanau, spend the afternoon.  I figured we could always walk along the beach and just enjoy the salt air.  There are many beaches and beach towns along the Atlantic coast,just West of Bordeaux, but we decided we wanted to try Lacanau, as some place different.

The good news, we found sunny skies and nice enough weather to spend a lovely afternoon on the beach.


We were not the only ones who decided to enjoy the beach, there were a lot of people doing the same thing as us!


Surfing schools were even giving lessons.  Yes, most surfers donned on wetsuits, but they were still others who were in bathing suits!
The water seemed to call out to many people daring them to jump the waves, catch the waves or just get a little wet.  Yes, the two girls in the picture below are my oldest daughters.  I swear they are like Polar bears!


My youngest was happiest just playing in the sand near the water - making friends and keeping dry!


 It was breezy, cool, but also sunny.  I love the range of clothing on all the beach goers....swimsuits, shorts, pants, sweaters and even winter coats & scarves.  We saw it all that day!  The tide came in quickly and caught a few sunbathers off guard, leaving people to grab their things quickly and scramble up the rocks.

As we ran out of beach and it was getting later, we decided to walk into town to find some ice cream.  Lacanau-Ocean is a fun little beach community.


Have to say the ice cream was delicious.  We all had a tough time choosing our flavors!   



 It was an excellent afternoon and a wonderful way to end our Spring break.  We are home this weekend getting organized and set for school tomorrow. Today is Mother's Day in the United States & in some other countries too!  Happy Mother's Day to everyone out there celebrating.  (We celebrate it here in France on the last Sunday of this month ).

You may have noticed, I'm playing around with the formatting of the blog - expect a few more changes - but trying for a cleaner, crisper look.  Love to know what readers think.

Friday, May 10, 2013

Jeu de Paume..Real Tennis - Save a court - Bordeaux





Make a difference - Save a sport!




Last year in Bordeaux, I was introduced to a very interesting game that I had actually never heard of before - Jeu de paume or Palm game.  The local club here in Bordeaux held an exhibition to introduce the game to others and also to kids.  It was very interesting to learn about this game and the kids enjoyed trying out something new.





This is a ball and court game that originated in France - it's played indoors and was a precursor of modern outdoor tennis.  It is a former Olympic sport and has the oldest ongoing annual world championship in a sport - starting over 250 years ago.  This sport is sometimes called courte paume or "real tennis".

This sport started out without racquets and is played similar to handball.  Racquet's were introduced in this game by the late 1600's and are now standard equipment - even though the name of the game didn't change.  As English lawn tennis became more popular, this sport was later termed "Real Tennis" or  just called as it had always been, "Jeu de paume". This game has a wealth of history and is very fascinating to watch.  Our family had a lot of fun watching an exhibition last year at a local court here in Bordeaux.  This is an international sport, but unfortunately it's declining in popularity due to facilities slowly being closed.  In France, there are only 3 courts left in the whole country.  


I am writing this post to inform readers about this sport and that it's truly fascinating to watch if you ever have an opportunity.  Here in Bordeaux, the local court is currently under review to be torn down.  This is truly a shame, as it has a loyal following here, its a very active club and people have moved to this area in order to play this sport.

The loyal players of the Bordeaux court have started a world-wide petition to try to save their court & facility.  I appeal  to readers to sign this petition - no commitment, no obligation - just your name and support of a unique sport.  It doesn't matter if you play or not, for me it's about the principle.  Here, we have a historical sport, that is slowly disappearing.  Please don't let that happen.  Follow the link below and consider signing the petition it is open until May 24.  Thank you so much - your support is truly appreciated.

The following is a little information about the court here in Bordeaux directly from the Petition:



"This court is only 30yrs young! It is one of the last 3 courts in France. This court has the potential to be one of the best Real Tennis Clubs in the world. It has ample parking, close to the Bordeaux International Airport, Close to plenty of hotels, right on the #1 Bus route from the airport to the centre of Bordeaux, has enough land to add a pool, outside BBQ/ dining area and playground for young children. It already has a restaurant, squash courts, fantastic viewing for more than 150 guests for world class tournaments, ample change room facilities & large lounge area. It is one of the best Real Tennis courts to play on - is the comment from most of the worlds top seeded players."

So please consider making a difference - thank you!  The petition can be signed until May 24, 2013
English version:

World-wide Petition to Save the Bordeaux facility of Jeu de Paume


Here is a link to the Petition in French

Petition - Jeu de Paume - en francais



You can see in the following photos that kids enjoyed being introduced to this new sport and we had a blast that evening!  






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