(Menthon-Saint-Bernard, France)

While I’ve indicated that the main reason for this trip is lawn bowling, I haven’t really explained the details. As I’ve got some interesting but unused pictures from Château de Menthon-Saint-Bernard, I will use them here and provide some background information about the lawn bowling competitions.

At present, lawn bowling in Switzerland is played entirely indoors. They play on large “carpets” in curling rinks that would otherwise be unused in the summer. When they want to select players for certain international competitions, however, they go to the nearest outdoor facility that is compliant with world standards. And that facility is in Largentière, France.

That’s why I’m going to Largentière: I am vying for a spot to represent Switzerland in two international lawn bowling competitions. One is the European Championships, for which 5-person teams will be selected for both men and women. The other is a Singles event known as the World “Champion of Champions”, for which each bowling nation sends their national Singles champion.

This will play out over two weeks. For the first week, I’ll be mostly practicing. But I also will participate in some informal tournaments with Swiss bowlers and bowlers from the local French club. As we move into the second week, I will start to play my qualifying matches.

It’s going to be an interesting experience. In my competitive events, there are a couple of Swiss-Australian bowlers in addition to the players who live in Switzerland. But, so far, I’ve found that lawn bowling seems to translate fairly well all over the world.

Whatever happens, I’m going to have a fascinating visit to a part of the world that I had never really considered as a travel destination. And sometimes those trips can be the best ones. Stay tuned!