Bridge | 18 July 2019

I have always thought the term ‘bridge holiday’ was an oxymoron. When I travel with my team to various events, we play highly competitively for about eight hours every day — a holiday it ain’t. Concentrating all the time is exhausting and (for me) impossible. Then there is the inevitable insomnia and the resulting ridiculous howlers in the bidding and play. And defence? Tragic. The only tournament I play that feels like a real holiday is the International Bridge Festival of Biarritz, held every year in July, from which I have just returned. Can there be anything better than falling asleep to the sound of the sea, eating delicious food and playing bridge for four hours daily from 4 p.m.? I don’t think so. The tournament is played in the loveliest of locations, the old Bellevue casino, and runs for two weeks with different teams and pairs tournaments taking place every day.