{"id":7931,"date":"2024-01-26T15:07:14","date_gmt":"2024-01-26T15:07:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/2024\/01\/column-649-darts-in-paris\/"},"modified":"2024-01-26T15:07:14","modified_gmt":"2024-01-26T15:07:14","slug":"column-649-darts-in-paris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/2024\/01\/column-649-darts-in-paris\/","title":{"rendered":"Column #649 Darts in Paris"},"content":{"rendered":"

Friday, January 26, 2024
\nColumn 649
\nDarts in Paris<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re at all like me the reason you took French in high school was because the teacher was a hot little number with a sexy voice named Miss Powell. Watching Miss Powell scribble cute little verbs on the blackboard was pretty special to me and my buddies, easily one of the most incredible sights at Michigan\u2019s Flint Central High School in 1969.<\/p>\n

And, if you\u2019re at all like me, the reason you can\u2019t speak a word of useful French a half-century later is because you spent your entire high school career making a fool of yourself trying to impress Miss Powell. I remember quite clearly the time I asked her to go to bed with me, politely mind you (s\u2019il-vous-plait) and in proper French, in front of the entire class. I spent that afternoon, one of many, in the principal\u2019s office. If he\u2019d had a dartboard on his wall, I\u2019d have been a pro by the time I turned 18.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not that I learned absolutely nothing in high school French. I just didn\u2019t absorb much of the stuff you need to actually function in a real-life French city. I can say my name (\u201cJe m\u2019appelle Dartoid\u201d) but I can\u2019t say \u201cdiddle for middle\u201d – though I imagine if I thought about it a bit, I could come up with a phrase that closely resembled \u201cdiddle Miss Powell.\u201d Other extremely important phrases like \u201cWhere\u2019s the toilet?\u201d and \u201cI\u2019ll have another beer\u201d were either never taught to me or were lost amidst my fascination for cute little verbs years and years ago.<\/p>\n

Getting from De Gaulle Airport to Le Tango du Chat (6 rue Ste-Severin), the one and only darts pub listed in Darts Player<\/em> magazine, is like taking a trip through history. You\u2019ll pass the Arc de Triomphe (which commemorates the victories of the Revolution and of Napoleon), the Eiffel Tower (which up close resembles what a child might construct with a giant erector set), Notre Dame Cathedral and the Sorbonne.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, \u201cgetting there\u201d was the only enjoyable part of this first leg of my search for a darts bar in Paris.<\/p>\n

Le Tango du Chat has a very nice wooden darts cabinet but when I arrived it was missing a board. My attempts to find out if there might be one set aside in a back room somewhere were met with disdain. I suppose it\u2019s possible the bartender just didn\u2019t want to go to bed with me (\u201cVoulez-vous coucher avec moi, si\u2019l-vous-plait?\u201d) but that\u2019s just about all the French I know, thank you very much Miss Powell. So much for Le Tango du Chat.<\/p>\n

So, I headed off to do a little bit of what one is supposed to do in the City of Lights, this center of so much that is chic in the western world. I had a miserable, overpriced lunch at a little restaurant on the Champs Elysees. I stopped by the Louvre to confirm for a friend that Whistler\u2019s portrait of his mother is indeed uglier than the Mona Lisa. I checked out some famous graves – Voltaire\u2019s and Rousseau\u2019s at the Pantheon and Napoleon\u2019s at the gilt-domed Hotel des Invalides military museum.<\/p>\n

Eventually, I found my way to a raggedly little bar near the Seine and the Ile de la Cite called the Le Cloitre (19 rue Ste-Jacques). Hung just to left inside the door is a battered up electronic board. I threw a few sloppy games with some guy from Italy and then, fed up, spent the next hour trying to hail a cab back to my hotel. What a city.<\/p>\n

They say that one needs a good four days to take in the full sophistication of Paris – its shops, its chefs, its history and romance. Perhaps they\u2019re right. But when it comes to darts, at least in my brief experience, Paris offers even less than I got from Miss Powell.<\/p>\n

C\u2019est la vie!<\/p>\n

From the Field,<\/p>\n

Dartoid<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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His columns are celebrated for their wit and insight, often detailing his quest for a game in exotic locales worldwide. His writing offers vibrant commentary on the competitive darts landscape, including players, organizations, tournaments and the sport's unique culture. 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