Chicago Petanque Club on TV

Dan and friends appeared on Chicagoland Television, while playing around the Buckingham fountain at Grant Park.

A very nice 2:49 clip!


Chicago petanque on CLTV
Turn down the speakers because the Verizon commercial is LOUD!

Another tournament at Pit Stop

Given the success of the first one, Brooklyn Petanque will be holding another tournament on August 4.

Good idea - keep the balls rolling!

Details are on the poster.

Brooklyn Petanque

Spreading the gospel

This past weekend François had a British family staying at his Chapel Hill B&B .
Three generations of Kingstons had flown in from all over the world to attend a wedding in Raleigh.
Guess what: within hours they discovered the pétanque terrains, François gave them a refresher course, and they got so hooked that before leaving they ordered online from the Obut distributor in England, so the boules would be waiting for them when they got back home!
Here you see George (87), Rupert, Anne, Simon, Peter & Shirley in action.

Wer ist Bob?

This is an inside joke, for Bob's German friends.
Let's see if we get some comments in German...

Petanque in Britain

Here's an interesting article about Limpsfield, a town of 4000 people in Surrey, just south of London.

How one determined player got a little club going which has become a meeting place for several retired but active business people.

Limpsfield enjoys a slice of quaint french life - Surrey Mirror- Jul 25 , 2007

M & M's playing

I love the celebration dance!
If the player doesn't work, go here.

Anyone in St Louis, MO ?

Over the years we have shipped boules to several people in the greater St. Louis area.
George actually lives in Highland, IL but would love to get in touch with other players. You can contact him at g.stallings@smmj.com

World Cup Qualification Tournament

Max, Louis and Ed did not win, but they did have a nice uniform! Thanks guys, for wearing our colors.

We've heard nothing but praise for the organization of the tournament.

Pictures are coming in and you can watch them here:
WCQT - Portland

By the way, any club/group that has photos of any event is now welcome to send them to us - the higher the resolution, the better. We'll host them for others to see and download in a very simple way.

USA team for Dakar, Senegal

After the petanque parties in NY last weekend, it was serious business Sat & Sun in Portland.
Yet a lot of the same faces.

The results:

1st place
Thuan Nguyen, Los Angeles Petanque Club (LAPC)
Christian Triay (LAPC)
Pascal Corchia, La Boule du Desert (Palm Desert, CA, residing in Dallas, TX)
they will respresent the USA in Dakar, Senegal in Sept 2008

2nd place
Alec Stone Sweet, La Boule New Yorkaise (LBNY)
Xavier Thibaud (LBNY)
Nghia Ngo, National Capitol Club de Petanque (Washington, DC, residing in Lousisiana)
they won last year and are going to the World Cup in Pattaya, Thailand this September.

3rd place
Joe Cortright, Portland Petanque Club (PPC)
Lavant Woolfe, Walla Walla Petanque Club. Walla Walla, Washington
Desmond Grattan, PPC
they were the surprise team in Boca last November, and still going strong!

4th place
Peter Mathis, Valley of the Moon Petanque Club (VOMPC)
Juan Garcia, Boca Petanque 2000
Mamary Coulibaly, LBNY
a truly international ànd nationwide team.

Congrats to all!

More info on the FPUSA blog.

Happy 14th of July

While I was on the road this cheerful postcard came in from our friend and francophile reader Don in Minneapolis. He didn't specify if the photo was taken before our after his weekly pétanque game. Either way, thanks and belated happy 14th to you too!

Pit Stop Tournament, Brooklyn July 14

The first Pit Stop Ball Bearing Series, organized by Brooklyn Pétanque was another successful event last weekend.
I got in too late from the airport to catch the competition proper, and it looks like my camera suffered from "Stella Artois haze", but here are a few shots to see the atmosphere.

I felt like walking into a typical Provencal sunday afternoon family gathering: kids playing around, parents talking (a lot) and playing pétanque after lunch, until .... well, dinner.

Bar Tabac, the finals and celebration

Here are the winners of the tournament, team Franck-Lahouari- Jeannot (La Boule NY), who beat team Mo-Loi-Héry (NY & Philly) 11/5 during the rainy final game.

But rain didn't spoil the end of a long , hot day. It was time to party!

Photo Album (40 pics)
Slideshow, with music (2:00 min.)

Incidentally, a lot of those players are right now (July 21) competing in Portland, OR to decide which team will represent the USA at the World Cup in Dakar, Senegal in September 2008. By now they have probably recovered from that weekend long petanque fest in NY.

Bar Tabac Bastille Day Tournament

For the 6th time, Smith Street was turned into a two-block long sandbox, followed by 240 players (80 teams of 3) and thousands of spectators.

Very difficult to explain in words, so here is the photo album:

Photo album (60 pics)
Slideshow (with sound) 2:42 min.

Another album is in the making about the finals and trophy awards!

Petanque in Manhattan

As usual the Bastille Day street fair was a huuuuge event.

Food, music, the Citroen & Solex parade, you name it.

Since the folks of La Boule NY were busy running the Brooklyn Tournament we traded places and I animated a petanque demonstration area over there. With soft balls this time; you don't want steel balls rolling all over the place. And so much easier for children.
Many people stopped and especially many kids played, making for lots of happy parents. And allowing me to talk pétanque - as usual.

Many, many thanks to Elizabeth from La Seyne-sur-Mer, Marie-Laure & Sonya from Philly, and Caroline from Le Thor who at different times and unexpectedly volunteered to help run the animation. Without them, I would not have survived the day.

I even met a couple vacationing in New York from... La Ciotat. They couldn't believe I was there 48 hrs earlier, but my pictures were plenty proof!

Photos & slideshow (with music)

Petanque 100 - slideshow

Photo album & slide show
( 3:10 min, with sound)

The actor/players were dressed in early 1900 garb and played with nail studded boules. The gentleman on the right with the beautiful hairdo played Jules Le Noir.
The whole "pieds tanqués" part was played, and followed by a game of the "old guard" against today's champions, Quintais, Suchaud, Loy, Lacroix, etc..
Then a couple of speeches and a a very nice traditional dance.
Then the bar opened, to everyone's delight -- it was quite hot.
The time for me to present our "American Salute to Pétanque Album" and mingle.

An unforgettable day!

Petanque 100 song - Live

I'm editing the footage of the Centenary celebration last Friday.
Let's start with the opening song.
Isabelle Zuber who wrote and performed the lively melody, is an accomplished player herself who won numerous titles in her Alsace hometown.

The photographer who gets whisked away in the background is my dear friend Jac Verheul, aka "JacPetanque" editor of the Dutch pétanque magazine, and a walking encyclopedia of the game.

Petanque is "in"

In this month's issue of House & Garden design editor Mayer Rus has declared pétanque to be "in".

Well, our January wish is slowly coming true...

Thanks to Neil, alert in Jacksonville.

An appeal for photos

Right after the trophy awards at BarTabac in Brooklyn, my camera disappeared.

It must have dropped from my belt (with or without the help of someone else...) and that was it.
Which means I have lost around 300 photos of Bryant Park (D'Artagnan Trophy) , the PïtStop tournament, the 60th Street Bastille Fair, and BarTabac...
Anyone who has photos of these events, please email them so we can share them with pétanque fans who could not make it to NY this past weekend.
Thanks a bunch in advance!

Update Jul 19: my camera was found and is on the way!

An American Salute to Pétanque

La Ciotat - July 13

An unforgettable day with all the right ingredients.

Martine Pilate, grand-niece of the Pitiot Brothers, was thrilled by the album we presented. Here she is with her husband Robert.

The next day Martine sent us this note that says it better:

Mon Cher Philippe,
Nous avons été très heureux de pouvoir passer un moment ensemble ce 13 juillet.
Je te remercie bien sincèrement de cet album de photos "An American Salute to Petanque". Ce document m'a beaucoup émue et il aura sa place d'honneur.
Je voudrais non seulement te remercier mais aussi remercier tous les joueurs, enfants, hommes et femmes, présents dans cet ouvrage. D'où que puissent se trouver Ernest, Joseph et ma mère (qui étaient si fiers de ce jeu devenu sport et art de vivre), je suis certaine qu'ils ont été, tout autant que moi, sensibles à cette reconnaissance qui prouve que l'amitié, l'élan et l'enthousiasme sont les meilleurs ciments entre les hommes.
Encore merci.
Avec mon amitié
Martine

... this album has touched me deeply and it will receive a place of honor. I would like to thank not only you but all the players, children, men and women who contributed to this presentation. Wherever Ernest, Joseph and my mother (who were so proud of this game turned sport and "art of living") may be, I am convinced that they, as much as myself, have been touched by this recognition that proves that friendship, passion and enthusiasm are thé elements that bind humankind...


The album went around the audience, including Marco Foyot, who - upon seeing the Chicago pictures said: "I know that guy! (Joe of Michigan PC)".






The La Ciotat movie will follow shortly on this blog, as soon as I recover from the 5 hectic Bastille Day pétanque events in New York this weekend. Midwest Petanque Alliance already has some Brooklyn photos up on their blog.

Winemakers playing pétanque

More than 50 winemakers, some from as far away as Redmond Wash., gathered in Walla Walla on Saturday for the fourth annual Pacific Northwest Petanque Tournament.

Walla Walla Union-Bulletin - July 2

Petanque 100 in San Francisco

The last Petanque 100 event on our list definitely broke the record!

Here's the photo album.

But first Christine's report:

The 100 years celebration of Petanque in the San Francisco Bay Area was a great success, with 90 people who came from all over the Bay Area : members of the Petanque clubs La Boule d'or, La Boule Joyeuse, Lamorinda, La Pétanque Marinière, Sacramento, members from the Berkeley, San Francisco, Santa Rosa, Santa Clara French Alliances, members from San Francisco Bay Accueil, and other French organizations.
And some passerby from the dog run place.
For this special occasion, we had the pleasure to have Mr Sun with us the whole day and Mr Fog and Mr Wind were nice enough to stay home.
Raymond Lerouge organized some games, with doublettes of club members, completed later by non-members, beginners or not. Janet Troussieux and Monique Martin from La Boule Joyeuse and Christine Lemor-Drake from Apple to Pomme offered the aperitif, Ricard, grenadine and amuse-gueules. A demonstration of Pointing and Shooting by Raymond was followed by 2 contests with trophies offered by the Boule d'or club.
This event was an idea from Philippe Boets, our generous sponsor (Petanque America), advertised by the San Francisco Alliance and Suzanne's Francophile list, and many players left with raffle prizes, of all kind of shapes, sizes and values. Thanks to Raymond and Pim who gave away their stuffed animals collection to make room in their house for their coming baby. For those who don't know, they just won the National Mixed Double Tournament last week-end. The biggest surprise was the delicious fruit tart baked by a member pastry chef, Jean-Claude Etallaz. Twenty seven people left their names to eventually become club members. Thank you to all the people who gave a hand during the day.
One to remember.

Anyone who has more pictures of this day, feel free to send them to us.

Ricard posters etc..

For the Ricard amateurs we have added numerous items to our catalog:
metal reproductions of classic posters, parasols, ice buckets, etc...
Here's the list.

This particular 1956 poster has an interesting story: due to the Suez crisis, oil was short throughout Europe and timely product deliveries to customers were in jeopardy. So Paul Ricard - way ahead of his time in creative advertising - got a camel to do some deliveries in the streets of Paris and other large cities.
A successful stunt: 51 years later, folks still remember!

Petanque 100 in Chicago

It's been almost a month, so high time to share some photos from our own little centenary activities on June 3rd.


Now that we've got the hang of it, count on more albums to follow.

June 3rd - Buckingham Fountain