Playing Petanque in La Roche Posay

The market place in La Roche Posay is surfaced with fine gravel. This is because twice a week between March and November anyone can come and play pétanque (aka boules) on Wednesday and Friday afternoons. The local club has storage space on what is a sort of centrally located bandstand come community area. There will be half a dozen games going on at any one time and those not playing sit on the bandstand area in front of the club storage space, so there is a small lively crowd gathered.

The throwing action. You can see the ball in the air (with the tree behind).

The market place is surrounded by linden trees and is a popular place to just hang out with friends. Some people take the sun, sitting on a bench, while children play in the playground, but in the summer the big attraction is the lively games of pétanque.

La Roche Posay is a spa town, full of visitors who have come to take the cure in the magic selenium rich waters, which are the special ingredient in L'Oréal's La Roche Posay range of skin care products. There is a casino, a golf course, a horse racing track -- and pétanque right in the middle of town. 

Some technical discussion which I didn't follow.

Once you've had a little nap after lunch, you can emerge to play a traditional game of boules in the shade of the linden trees in the square. It is an opportunity for curists and locals to meet and chat. 

Observing the game (and having not bothered to look up the rules or ever personally played it) here is how I would describe the action: Pétanque is played with heavy metal balls that players retrieve from the ground using a magnet rather than bending over. The aim of the game is to get as close as possible to a small coloured ball known as a jack in English. You can aim your ball for a spot near the jack, or you can play strategically and aim to knock an opponent's ball out of the way. The throwing style is a rather odd high actioned underarm fling, gripping the ball from above and making it arc upwards and spin. Players may not step outside a defined circle when they throw.

Applying the measuring stick when it is not clear who is closest to the jack.

Here in Preuilly we call the game boules, and it is played under the plane trees near the swimming pool and the new guinguette based in the lavoir. In La Roche Posay, only 15 minutes away, but in the neighbouring Region, it seems they use the name pétanque. However, in both places I suspect you can use either word interchangeably.

For some reason, many more men than women play. I was once asked to join a team in Preuilly by one of the rare female players, but I declined.