{"id":20065,"date":"2014-02-21T22:47:15","date_gmt":"2014-02-21T21:47:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=20065"},"modified":"2017-10-23T11:59:23","modified_gmt":"2017-10-23T09:59:23","slug":"tu-tires-ou-tu-pointes-an-introduction-to-the-game-of-petanque-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/tu-tires-ou-tu-pointes-an-introduction-to-the-game-of-petanque-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cTu Tires ou tu Pointes?\u201d: An Introduction to the Game of P\u00e9tanque (Part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

France, like most countries of the world, seems to have a fascination with le<\/b> football<\/b> (soccer). Football has legions of fans throughout France but there is another game that is nearly as popular and that appeals to people of all ages. P\u00e9tanque<\/i> (pronounced pay-tonk<\/i>), commonly referred to as le jeu de boules<\/b> (the game of balls), is a characteristically French game with roots in ancient history. Similar to horseshoes and bocce ball, the game requires precision, finesse and a great deal of concentration that may not be apparent if you\u2019re simply un spectateur<\/b> (a spectator).<\/p>\n

Although typically associated with older French men wearing berets, the popularity of p\u00e9tanque has transcended generational and national boundaries to become a global sport with biennial international competitions organized by the F\u00e9d\u00e9ration International de P\u00e9tanque et Jeu Proven\u00e7al<\/b> <\/a>(International Federation of P\u00e9tanque and Proven\u00e7al Game). Unlike most sports, p\u00e9tanque is a game that requires virtually no strength, speed or dexterity. There are even p\u00e9tanque competitions for people in fauteuils roulants<\/b> (wheelchairs).<\/p>\n

A form of p\u00e9tanque using stone balls originated in ancient Greece around the 6th<\/sup> century B.C. The Romans took up the game and began using wooden balls instead. P\u00e9tanque increased in popularity during the Middle Ages and up through the 19th<\/sup> century in Western Europe. This early style of p\u00e9tanque required running and was thus reserved for those who were generally en bonne forme <\/b>(physically fit). In the Provence region of France in the early 20th<\/sup> century, the rules of the game were slightly altered to accommodate an aging player who could no longer run because of Rheumatoid Arthritis. Thus was born the modern form of p\u00e9tanque requiring les joueurs<\/b> (the players) to throw the ball from a stationary position. The word p\u00e9tanque<\/i> is a derivative of the words ped tanco<\/i>, meaning planted\/anchored\/fixed feet<\/i> in the Proven\u00e7al dialect. Provence continues to be the p\u00e9tanque mecca<\/i> of the world and should you ever visit the region, you will undoubtedly encounter a group of older men playing the game in any of the small villages or towns.<\/p>\n

Today the game is usually played on a flat surface that allows the balls to roll freely. P\u00e9tanque balls are made of creux<\/b> (hollow) metal and weigh anywhere between 650 to 800 grams. Le cochonnet<\/b> (the jack\u2014in French cochonnet<\/i> means piglet<\/i>) is a small wooden ball used as la cible<\/b> (the target), similar to the stake in horseshoes.<\/p>\n

In the next post we\u2019ll be looking at the rules of p\u00e9tanque.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

France, like most countries of the world, seems to have a fascination with le football (soccer). Football has legions of fans throughout France but there is another game that is nearly as popular and that appeals to people of all ages. P\u00e9tanque (pronounced pay-tonk), commonly referred to as le jeu de boules (the game of…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":105,"featured_media":20068,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20065","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/105"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20065"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20065\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28567,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20065\/revisions\/28567"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}