Association Days

You can find any type of activity at Association Days, even American football

I must admit the French are a nation of do-ers when it comes to sports, especially compared to Americans who tend to be much more adept at viewing them. To get a sense of the French love for participatory sports, one need only peruse the local Decathlon store (think Dick's Sporting Goods, without the Lebron James gear section, instead replaced with themed aisles of stuff for sports you never even knew existed). You can find equipment and clothing for just about any physical activity that increases your pulse rate...ok, almost any activity I said. Our local Decathlon even has a full blown fitness center, complete with a variety of indoor and outdoor courts, a special section for kids classes, and even an outdoor recreation area and fields. {Contrast this with the size and number of big screen TV outlets in France vs the US - you just don't find the football-field-sized plasma sections of a Best Buy here.}

To keep themselves organized around their activities, the French have 'associations', which are essentially clubs that focus on whatever the special interest is. Martial arts, dance, horseback riding, hang gliding, scuba diving, badminton - whatever you like, you can find an association for it, probably right in your local village.

This weekend we went to a couple of "Association Days." These are big events that most towns and cities hold which allow the local associations to promote themselves in a street-fair like atmosphere and recruit new members. September is the popular time of year for these because the entire French calendar seems to revolve around the rentree (the re-entry) - the time when vacation is officially over and kids are going back to school.

We visited Association Days in nearby Gardanne, in downtown Aix on the Cours Mirabeau, and at the aforementioned Decathlon mecca - which featured a multitude of displays and demonstrations of activities ranging from kick boxing to hip hop dancing to windsurfing (set up in a pool in the parking lot). Given the immense natural beauty of Provence, activities like hiking, camping, skiiing and water sports are all popular here. And of course, biking of all kinds is a huge national pastime, even as the French continue their relentless pursuit of erasing the Lance legacy.

I was surprised to see that even American sports such as baseball and football were represented at the Association Days. The local football club, the Argonautes, had a display and I watched some of the junior level kids scrimmage a round a little. They are no threat to the Dallas Cowboys any time soon, but they played with enthusiasm and a modicum of talent.

So it is apparent that couch potato ways will not be acceptable here and we must find an activity or two to distract us from the not-so-big TV in the living room. Fencing anyone?