Sunday, September 19, 2004

You Gotta Know When to Hold 'Em...



Jeu de Tarot is the card game that literally (it seems) everyone in France knows how to play. It's so far reaching that I wouldn't be surprised if it's a required class in school. I won't bore you with how it's played, especially when you can check it out here, but I will tell you that in addition to the 52 cards we're used to, there's an excuse, 21 trumps, and an extra face card called a chevalier, or knight. It can be played with as little as four people and up to six, if I remember right. The rules change drastically depending on the number of players which can really send you for a loop when your husband doesn't bother to tell you that ahead of time.

I'd played the game last time I visited in April, and there were always at least 5 players. Last night we were short one, which in all fairness we didn't know until we arrived, and I also expected to absolutely suck, since I hadn't played at all, let alone thought about the game in the last five months. So it shouldn't come as a shock that I was the big loser at -330 points. I was actually in a position to win a hand but had to throw the whole round out when it was discovered that I had one card more than everyone else - I hadn't put enough cards in my chien, which was especially frustrating because I was holding a 1 and a 21 (there's a little humor for anyone who actually knows this game). The truth is, we were in excellent company, as I really like Stéph's colleages a lot, and I don't just say that because they tolerate their friend's american wife; indeed, I'd like them if we were starting with a common language, which is even better.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go read that afore-mentioned website........

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

V-
you should teach them all to play Uno...
c.*

Vivi said...

That's right C, they already know Uno! In fact we played in April and they had to remind me how to play (horrors!)!