Italians play bocce. The French play Pétanque, with metal boules (balls), smaller than bocce balls so they fit well in your hand, making it easier to throw hard and blast your opponent’s balls out of the court. Or you can lob your boule with backspin so it lands to gently roll up and kiss the small, brightly colored cochonnet. Whichever team does the most kissing (or near kissing) wins, one point per boule closest the the cochonnet. If your team plays well, you can really rack up the points! If you’re not into kissing, you can blast your opponents’ boules away by force and take the lead. Your choice, but I warn you kissing is much easier than shooting!
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playing area
Unlike bocce, where crushed oyster shells are the preferred surface, pétanque can be played on any kind of gravelly surface. Gravel, crushed rock… you could play on oyster shells if you want. The ideal surface is solid enough for the balls to roll well, but not too well. Where we play, the surface is irregular – so you have to learn the court every time you play.
If you’re like many people in France, you can just find a gravelly area under some trees and play. If you’re more structured, you can build a boulodrome (court) with wood edges (touch the ball to the wood and it’s out of play, gone!). A boulodrome should be ten feet (3m) wide, probably the most important dimension. Online sources recommend a length of 40 feet (12m). Since this may not fit in your back yard, you can just improvise.
That 40 foot length is because cochonnet must officially be thrown 10 meters in competition, but those guys are pros who know how to aim! Repeatedly throwing somewhat heavy metal balls 32 feet with precision is more than a casual garden workout! So, if you’re the type to throw half that distance for an easier game, you don’t need to go the full 40 feet.
Playing boules
Games are played to whatever point total both teams agree on before starting. You may agree that you need to lead by two points to win, or not. Everything is negotiable, as long as you’re not in formal competition (or training for one). Typical games are to 13 points, but when we get tired we lower the total, usually so we can play three games for a tie breaker.
Everyone’s boules are marked with a pattern, and they come in different weights. You select your balls, form teams, and someone throws out the cochonnet to a distance that everyone finds acceptable. In our case, if it’s too close, someone just kicks it farther out.
If you’re the serious type, you’ll have a plastic hoop that marks where everyone must stand to launch the cochonnet. If not, you’ll scratch a line in the dirt with a stick, or just lay the stick down on the ground and everyone plays from there.
After a well-placed boule, whoever is closest to the cochonnet stops playing, allowing the other team to either get closer (placer) or blast away their opponent’s closest boules tirez! (shoot in English). As I said, shooting takes a lot of skill and the typical outcome is missing completely and wasting a boule. Done right the opponent’s ball is blasted far away, out of play and your ball replaces it to score maximum points.
Once everyone is out of boules, you tally up the score. Discrepancies are measured with a tape measure or yardstick for the serious. We use a simple stick fallen from a tree.
Adding a terrain de boules to a landscape
under trees
The fun way is to add a terrain that has multiple uses. Just plant a grid (maille) of trees, cover the ground with a thin layer of fine gravel or decomposed granite that’s firm enough to let the boules roll. Use concentric rings of inline drip tubing under the gravel to water the trees or pop-up stream rotors that also wash the gravel.
boulodrome: an official court
You can go online to find out all about this. You’ll need wooden edges, a drainage system to ensure that your boulodrome does not become a mare aux grenouilles when it rains, and a suitable surfacing material. Make it 10 feet wide by whatever length you find reasonable, up to the competition 40 feet. If you plan on starting a competitive boules team, check online to see if there’s anyone to compete with in your area and what size court they use and plan accordingly.
back forty: an unofficial court
If you have a large space, you can level an area, surface it with packed gravel and as long as it’s big enough, you have an aire de boules.
Placing the court in the landscape
It’s still a good idea to provide shade on or off the court. This can be trees, structures, shade sails, cables with vines or a combination.
Pétanque is a relaxed sport if you’re not a serious competitor. Provide nearby places nearby to sit and watch the game, but not too close that spectators can catch a poorly thrown ball or a ricochet from a tir.
If you’re being fancy, have something to keep your drinks cold. Casual French players seem to prefer beer. Serious players, of course, confine their drinking of anything alcoholic until after the game is over, perhaps insisting that the losing team pick up the drink tab. Vous nous offrez une bouteille de Gosset ou de Ruinart, mes amis?