Bowling – like pool and petanque – is one of those things I am not particularly good at, but which I enjoy immensely. Like peanuts, these games also go very well with beer. After last Friday’s dinner at Le Vertbois, we decided to check out some Parisian lanes, and ended up down at the Montparnasse Bowling alley.

The Montparnasse alley is a good, middle of the road establishment: not luxe, but hardly down at the heels, with fair prices for lanes and drinks. They have maybe twenty lanes, split into two banks of ten, on of these set up for the blacklight and neon “disco bowling” most places do nowadays. There is a small arcade as well, with a few shooter and driving games, and three blazing-fast air hockey tables. After a short wait we were shown to our lane, where we played three games over two pitchers of Grimbergen. My bowling, like my French, excels in direct proportion to my alcohol consumption, such that I bowled four strikes in the final game, crushing all competition while liberally spouting Rabelais quotes. Incidentally, I have never read Rabelais, in French or English. Go fig.

If you’re in Paris and feel like having a Big Lebowski moment here are some addresses to local bowling alleys.

for best results, set speed to 2 seconds