Dreaming of France -- Boules

Thank you for joining this weekly meme. Grab a copy of the photo above and link back to An Accidental Blog. Share with the rest of us your passion for France. Did you read a good book set in France? See a movie? Take a photo in France? Have an adventure? Eat a fabulous meal or even just a pastry? Or if you're in France now, go ahead and lord it over the rest of us. We can take it

When my husband and I speak of our impending move to France, the game of boules inevitably comes up. He wants to hang out with the old guys playing boules, also known as petanque.

 Neither of us has ever played the game, but it involves a small ball and throwing larger balls toward it. I think the scoring has to do with who places the large ball closer to the small ball, and, of course there is strategy with trying to knock an opponent's ball away. It sounds similar to horse shoes and beanbag (also known as cornhole).

These are some shots that Earl took when visiting France without me in 2011. You can almost see his longing to join in, can't you?

I'm sure that his French will progress quickly when he can join the guys at this game of boules.
What are you dreaming of today?
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Dreaming of France -- Playtime in France

Please join this weekly meme. Grab a copy of the photo above and link back to An Accidental Blog. Share with the rest of us your passion for France. Did you read a good book set in France? See a movie? Take a photo in France? Have an adventure? Eat a fabulous meal or even just a pastry? Or if you're in France now, go ahead and lord it over the rest of us. We can take it.
Labor Day weekend, when many of us have an extra day off work, is a perfect time to think about playing, but in France, they play very differently than we do. I'm talking about boules, of course, known as petanque in the south of France. I can't think of a sport in the United States that happens in the center of town and that people can join when they show up. Maybe the tradition of playing boules is similar to joining a game of pool  or darts in a bar or finding a game chess at one of those big New York City parks. Still, it's intriguing to think of people coming together, whether friends or strangers, each day to play a minimally athletic game.
My husband snapped some pictures of a game last time he was in Paris.

Do they have to stand in the circle when they throw?

Here's a close up of one of the balls in the dusty court. 

And here's a shot of the whole field or court, or whatever they call it. Lots of action going on here.

Have you ever played boules? I don't see many women playing it.
Thanks for playing along with Dreaming of France today. I hope you'll visit each others blogs to see other moments in France.
I'll try to be more active on my blog this week. I have so many posts I think about writing but just haven't sat down to do it.