Summer "Pétanque" in Béziers

The traditional Southern French game of "Pétanque" being played by residients of the Quartier Saint-Jacques in Béziers.

A form of boules where the goal is to toss or roll hollow steel balls as close as possible to a small wooden ball called a cochonnet (literally "piglet") or jack.

The current form of the game originated in 1907 in La Ciotat, in Provence, France. The French name pétanque (in English, with or without the acute accent) comes from petanca in the Provençal dialect of the Occitan language, deriving from the expression pès tancats, meaning 'feet fixed' or 'feet planted' (on the ground)

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Région: Languedoc-Roussillon
Département: Hérault
Commune: Béziers
Photographer: Malcolm Reynard - personal website
Summer "Pétanque" in Béziers