A mother’s gaze upon her son, radiating pride and the joy of sharing a common passion. Céline and Matt meet at the International Bridge Festival in Juan-les-Pins on Thursday, May 14, “to have a good time and then tease each other,” they smile. During the Open, which continues until tomorrow, they will play thirty “deals,” i.e., four hours a day for four days, “not to mention the debrief.”
The game of bridge permeates this entire family from Juan-les-Pins. First, Patrick, the patriarch. He introduced Céline and Pauline, his two daughters, to the card game. “He used to play in a club. When I finished work, I would go see him,” recalls Céline. “I was 25, I liked cards. The manager told me: ‘Stop watching and play.’ It’s a game that engulfs you.” It is also around a gaming table that Céline meets the man who will become her life partner, Matt’s father.
“Bridge is part of our life,” summarizes Matt, who reflects on a passion that wasn’t so obvious at first: “I had an aversion to bridge. For me, it was the arguments between my father and mother on the way back home, between Antibes and Callian.” “Then, I wanted to understand what they were talking about. I was completely hooked.”
A “very fragile in the game, very solid in life” pair
As a teenager, he immersed himself “completely, for two years,” mingled with the best French and international players, and participated in tournaments. He built a network, very “reassuring,” when he went to study literature in Paris. “Being 1,000 km away from us, I knew he could rely on people he knew,” whispers Céline.
“It became my own passion… That I share with my mother,” says 20-year-old Matt. A surprising pastime for a young boy? Not at all. “During the Juan Festival, the house is full. He was always immersed in it,” illustrates Céline. Family and friends, everyone is there, for bridge and, above all, for the parties: “It’s always festive. Because conviviality is the key factor in bridge.”
Both eagerly indulge in this pleasure: “It’s amazing to share this with my son. Imagine that your partner is the person you care about most in the world.” In this activity, where “affection plays a huge role,” according to Matt, they form “a very fragile pair in the game, but very solid in life.” For him, Céline “is one of the best players on the French Riviera.”
A mother-partner, “funny, tenacious, and understanding while many are annoying.” As for the 50-year-old freelance nurse, her Matt is “reliable, capable of handling pressure, easy to play with, calm, and thoughtful.” If they don’t need card games to connect, Céline knows that this channel is always open: “I tell him all my tournament anecdotes. We often talk about bridge.”
