In our village the boulodrome under the plane trees is busy year round. Mostly men anywhere from twenties to eighties but all inclusive. Excellent humour.
I have suggested (in the spirit of our Mairie organising some local activities for residents that don’t involve paying or eating) perhaos a weekly boule game for ladies. I’ll join even though I throw like a monkey.
We enjoyed an International match many years ago… very relaxed for some of us and very intense for others, to begin with … no idea who won as it tumbled into general confusion with much laughter.
Good friendships were forged that day. 
Hi Burnie,
Sorry my gender mistake caused some drift kerfuffle on your thread!
Apropos hiking, most communes have an official rando club with contact details on the commune website. However, it being France they may require some paperwork - in this case a doctor’s fitness certificate _- I think it’s the same for all officially supported communal sporting groups.
I agree with you. It always does, a typo in the orginal post led us all astray, I have always described myself as a widdower, or verf, since becoming one.
I’ve also just realised that I have just missed the monthly meeting of the Jeunesse d’Antan*, but it is like a secret society, they say the last Friday of each month but they don’t say where. 
*Young of Yesteryear. 
I’ve also just placed myself at the upper echelon of the age group, having for the 2nd time in one evening jumped into a thread halfway through thinking my pearls (of wisdom, not neck adornement) were appropriate and in doing so missed out on all the fireworks. Thankfully. 
What a rollercoaster of a thread this was, Im disappointed I’ve only arrived at it now rather than grabbing the popcorn and watching it unfold in real time. I guess some people in life are just unpleasant and never miss a chance to demonstrate that to the world…
If you’re referring to me, I’ll have you know, that I don’t take kindly to flattery 
I think to confirm or deny that would probably set me into dangerous territory for the site’s code of conduct hence me keeping it as general as possible… but no, it wasn’t
What if all of us now post ‘was it me?’, @kirsteastevenson, do you realise how busy you are going to be? 
Not busy enough if I have time to comment nonsense on here clearly
All I can say is good on you Burnie for giving it a go! My last date was so far back I am loathe to even mention it.
Well you have dogs DrSukie. Like children, they are a good way of meeting people.
Lots of criticism on here of dating sites but I wonder how many have actually used one. After several non-starters & dates I met my Chinese wife on a website 17 years ago when I was 59. After a month of email exchanges I went to China and we were married and we’ve had 17 wonderful years together. Don’t let others put you off, as there are many success stories.
I met my partner online too. Although I later found out that, unbeknownst to me, I had been parking outside her house when the car park at work was full (which it frequently was).
They definitely do work for some - daughter met current partner online as did other friends - generally people who live in more urban centres. It doesn’t seem to work as well in deep rural areas with sparse population.
Oh, no worries! I am 100% fine and delighted being solo. With dogs, of course.
Tbh, Mark, I think you’re exhibiting the behaviour Kat suggested we avoid. Bit of an overreaction on your part?
Lots of criticism on here of dating sites but I wonder how many have actually used one. After several non-starters & dates I met my Ukrainian wife on a website 27 years ago when I was 43. After 3 months of email exchanges I went to Ukraine and we were married and we’ve had 27 wonderful years together. Don’t let others put you off, as there are many success stories.
Don’t shoot the messenger. You are looking at it out of context. Do you allow yourself to be bullied?
I see some of your responses have been flagged by the community. Probably best to just walk away from this.
Too much of the “you….”, “you….” by a complete stranger.