Petanque

If you thought Petanque (boules) was just about a bunch of Pastis sipping elderly men idly throwing balls on a village square then think again. The Local lists ten things you really need to know about the sport

While the game certainly has its fair share of fans many from places you might not expect it is often dismissed by many around the globe as an idle pastime for retirees in the south of France. But, as this list will show, the reality is far more interesting.

The French would have you believe that they invented the game, but the origins of Petanque can be traced as far back as Ancient Greece when people played games which involved tossing coins and stones. The Ancient Romans then came up with the idea of adding a target which in the case of the French interpretation of the game is called a cochonnet (the literal translation being piglet in English). As for the name Petanque which is also used in English it comes from the word la petanca in Provençal dialect, deriving from pès tancats or feet together.

You are more likely to come across elderly men playing the sport but statistics show that more and more women are taking part. In this year’s Petanque World Cup in which women have only been allowed to compete since 2002 a grand total of 456 women are taking part. Today around 14 percent of the sport’s 311,971 registered members in France are women. According to the President of the Ligue Paca, women bring a certain sensibility to the sport that the male players lack.

Petanque or boules is a collective name for a wide range of games similar to bowls and bocce in which the objective is to throw or roll heavy balls called boules in France, and bocce in Italy as close as possible to a small target ball.

Petanque type games are traditional and popular in many European countries and are also popular in some former French colonies in Africa and Asia. Petanque games are often played in open spaces town squares and parks in villages and towns. Dedicated playing areas for Petanque type games are typically large, level, rectangular courts made of flattened earth, gravel, or crushed stone, enclosed in wooden rails or back boards.

In the south of France, the word boules is also often used as a synonym for Petanque.

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