Summer in Provence: Pétanque Anyone?

July 26, 2012 2:55 pm

Italy has Bocce, America has horseshoes and Provence has pétanque, a game I love to play with friends and family. If you’ve traveled through France, you may not have noticed the locals playing this traditional French game in the town parks and squares.

The object is to toss metal balls as closely as possible to a much smaller wooden target ball (called a cochonnet—French for piglet) while keeping your feet firmly planted inside a circle.

We play a few times a week at our home in Aix with a group of three or four. We wait ‘til after 7 p.m. when the temperature dips and there’s a nice breeze. We love to pour some glasses of rosé and snack on ripe cherry tomatoes and fresh Camembert cheese smeared over slices of baguette while we play. It’s the essence of summer for us and the kids have as much fun watching as we do playing.