V A is a long standing and recognised digital creative; her voice resonates with many. In the last ten years, the site has developed into an online destination for fashion, beauty and lifestyle advice. Her sense of style, editorial flair and practical counsel offers an inspired and graceful approach to living.

V A is a long standing and recognised digital creative; her voice resonates with many. In the last ten years, the site has developed into an online destination for fashion, beauty and lifestyle advice. Her sense of style, editorial flair and practical counsel offers an inspired and graceful approach to living.

Edit by: Vicki
Jan 04, 2012

rules of the boules…

Pétanque or boules as this game is often called is pretty much a French national sport… and a particular favourite in southern France…It is a little like lawn bowling only the playing takes place beneath plane trees, on a gravel surface and often with a glass of pastis in the hand… so no clipped grass, precision courts, white uniforms or jaunty little hats for the French… it is casual relaxed plus beret..

The aim of the game is easy… to throw your boules as close to the target as possible. The target is called a jack or in French, the cochonet or coche… so  knocking the opposition boules out of the way is the other main objective…

Games can be singles, doubles or triples… one against one or in teams… Single and double players have 3 boules each… triples have two…

The end is when all the boules have been thrown. Scoring is easy… A point is scored for each boule closest to the coche… The first to 13 points wins the game…

(Note… stance of players… very important to stand with legs apart and hands behind the back…)

Competition boules are about 80 mn in diameter and weigh around 800 gm… They are stamped with an individual code and must be used for official games. They have varying grooved patterns that make them easily distinguishable when playing… I collect the old wooden ones… they might not be regulation  these days but their patina is far prettier…

(Note… concentration and serious watching… as he lines up for the throw )

A coin toss decides which team has first throw…

The first person to play from the winning team draws a circle in the gravel as their starting point… usually about 50cm in diameter… then the coche is thrown around 10 metres in any direction as long as it’s not too close to the boundaries of the playing area. If the coche comes up short there are two more chances to throw… Failing that the other team takes over…

Standing within the circle… the first boule is thrown… A lob with palm facing down is the natural way as the player tries and gets as close as possible to the cloche…

(Note… mid throw with left leg action… his companions still haven’t moved…)

Next the other team throw, from within the circle and they must decide whether to try and hit the first boule out of the way or to simply aim closer to the coche… After the two throws it must be decided which boule is closest to the coche… this is where a lot of ‘discussion’ comes in… The next player to throw is one from the team furtherest from the coche… They continue to throw and get closer to the coche until they have no boules left. Once they are out… the other team throw their remaining boules… If the coche gets moved during the game… the boules must be re-measured to check who is closer… and who should lead…

When all the boules have been thrown, the first game is over and points are tallied… the games continue until the 13 points have been made…

(Note… time to check the throw, change players and stretch the legs…)
Did you get all that?? My game is a little less exact… I swap the beret for a sun hat and the pastis for a rosé… as for the scoring… and the measuring… that is where the artistic license comes in… xv



images – vicki archer



Edit by: Vicki
In This Post: Provence