boules

Boules being played in St Pourçain
in the Auvergne

Almost every French town or village has at least one place where people gather to play boules. The game is especially popular in the south of the country. First a small metal ball called a pétanque is thrown, and then the players throw bigger metal balls to see who can come closest to hitting the pétanque. Because the ground is usually uneven, the best way to do this is by throwing the ball high into the air. Now someone has invented square boules so that even people who live in hilly towns with no flat ground can play!

Photo by Cambell Oldridge courtesy of France magazine

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