The Dove Club
by Lola Minister
One afternoon, having finished work early, I decided I’d go out in search of shots for the Windows Challenge. Walking around the old town of Antibes, I discovered how tricky it was to get such shots in these narrow streets.
At one point I had to lean against someone’s front door, my camera perched on my head, when I heard the door being unlocked behind me and had to shout “Wait!” (in French of course), or I’d have fallen backwards into the lady’s home. I had hoped, having explained my reason for being there, that she’d let me in to get a better shot. But no, either because of Covid or simply because she was annoyed with me, she made no such offer. In fact I took her dirty look as a reason to move on.
I wasn’t having much luck but continued to look for opportunities on my way home, and spotted two doves over the doorway of the Club Privé. My eyes trained on them, I noticed that as two men entered the building, one of the doves flew in behind them. When, in surprise, I remarked that one of the birds had flown right in, I was told that it was perfectly normal. In fact one invited me in to watch his friend feed them. So, I duly followed and got shots from the inside of this simple meeting place for ardent players of boules and pétanque.
I left happy. Not quite “two birds with one stone”, as the saying goes, but I got some window shots AND a short story.
