Pétanque is a version of French lawn bowling (boules) that came from Provence in southern France. In the early 1900s, a style of boules where players took three steps before throwing their balls was very popular. One of the game’s great former champions, Jules Lenoir, had rheumatism and couldn’t take the required steps anymore, so his friend, Ernest Pitiot, suggested that they shorten the pitch by half and stand stationary in a designated circle instead of running up to throw the ball. This is where the game gets its name – pieds tanqués in the original Provençal dialect, which means “feet planted” – and because of this rule change, pétanque is very accessible. As local pétanque devotee Kenneth Chance reiterates, “There are no barriers of age, gender, or athleticism.” It’s addictive to play, and “pétanquers usually become fast friends, since it is a bit of a rare sport in the U.S.,” he shares.

Though there are a lot of similarities to bocce, pétanque has a few key differences. The balls used in this game are made of steel and are a bit smaller, about the size of an orange, versus a grapefruit-sized bocce ball. Bocce is rolled with an open hand, palm up, but pétanque is thrown with the palm facing down. Instead of requiring a flat smooth surface, pétanque can be played on rougher ground like baseball diamonds or fine gravel. Rougher terrain may even provide a welcome challenge for some players. Because of the relative ease of finding a place to play pétanque, Chance explains that avid players “will always have your boules with you in the car, and you will have your eyes out looking for new suitable places (pistes) to play. You may even find yourself building your own piste at your home!”
Beginner’s Luck
Garnet Chapin
I learned how to play croquet while visiting my grandparents almost every Sunday. The Chapin, Patten, and Wells youngsters would be sent to the front yard laid out with croquet stakes and wickets while the adults were out on the backyard patio enjoying refreshments and the view.
Chris Lusk
I liked throwing horseshoes when I was a kid. Cornhole looked like mobile horseshoes to me, so I was pretty interested from the beginning. As far as why I continue playing, it’s just so much fun throwing, and there’s so much variety – you can play indoors or outdoors, with friends or strangers, for pleasure or competition!
Frank Knight
Andy Calvanese was one of those old Italian guys who ran the bocce tournaments at the courts at Bluff View, and he taught several of us how to play. Our bocce club holds an annual tournament named after him, the Calvanese Singles Bocce Tournament. It carries a $500 prize plus bragging rights, and we’ve done it for 19 years.
Ken Chance
I learned to play pétanque initially from my neighbor Joe Zajac. He and I had often played bocce ball together, but once we started playing pétanque, we never looked back. We started going to tournaments and getting to know people in the pétanque community. Sometimes you would meet well-known people like actors, winemakers, humorists, and musicians, or meet champions from all over the world – often you could play impromptu matches against them!