07 August 2007

Pétanque or Boules? - 1


Forget the sterotype of an old man with a beret playing boules. Boules players come in all shapes and sizes - men and women, young and old. There was a pétanque contest in Gorbio on Fête day last Sunday - here's one of the competitors.

Perhaps one of our French contributors can tell me the difference between boules and pétanque. This contest was advertised as pétanque.

15 comments:

  1. This is a classic..well done!

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  2. I like your photograph of this man but the man himself doesn't appeal to me as a personality. There is something primitive about his posture or position that heralds things I try not to think about.

    I added some computer generated art to my blog today. Maybe that will spart some debate. Some people like it and some do not. You can see it at my blog. Brookville Daily Photo

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  3. Abraham, as you can see he has the 'boule' in his right hand and is just about to throw it. This is the usual position for a boules (petanque) throw from what I can tell, having watched a few matches over the years. Tomorrow I'll publish another taken just after the ball has been thrown.

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  4. YOu sparked my curiosity and i looked it up...looks like a fun game and he is a serious competitor.

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  5. Jilly, the details are wonderful: earring, watch, necklace, shoes, stripes on pants, and, of course, the tatoo. The crouch is indeed primitive, as Abraham pointed out, but the whole portrait is great!

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  6. When I saw his image on the portal I thought that he looked rather young. When I was traveling in Provence I only saw the older men playing this game. It will live on if the young join in.

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  7. In the last competition in the village there were 80 contestants so it doesn't look as if it's dying out. And a couple of nights ago I walked past the Menton Boules Club and a father was teaching his young son how to throw. And some non-French who live here like to play too.

    I loved the total concentration of this man on the game. More tomorrow! Thanks so much to everyone for the comments.

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  8. i must go find out more about this game.
    or are you going to have more pictures in the next few days about this game :-)

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  9. I am not an expert, but I thought that in Provence they play Boules (le Jeu Provençal), while the rest of France plays Petanque.

    And that's exactly my point - it is not only for the old and not only played in the countryside. In Paris we lived next to a small square and almost every night there would be a different group playing the game - all ages, but no women (OK, once they let me join in, just for fun ;-))

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  10. I'd have to know what both things are. I haven't a clue. But I like the pic

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  11. Such intense concentration. I like the suggestion of movement in his arm.

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  12. No french friends give us solution about difference? Et voilà je vien en secours. Honestly I was too curious but I didn't know me too the difference so I searched on the net and... Isabella is in right about name origin.

    If you click HERE you will see that :

    ""It was only in 1907 that pétanque as we know it was born. Its name comes from the provençal "pèd tanco", which means "feet together'. It is played on a shorter terrain and players throw their boule from a rough circle scratched in the dirt, taking no run-up at all""

    And this is the difference with italians. In fact we walk three steps (max) before to throw the ball :-)

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  13. It looks like he is focused.

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  14. You are so right!! He doesn't look like a typical boule player. How refreshing is that! GREAT EYE!

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