July 29, 2010

Petanque vs Boule Provençale

A bit of controversy on French TV channel LCM yesterday.
A guest came on to present the merits of the old game "Jeu Provençal" and the "Provencal 13" tournament going on right now in Marseille. That's wonderful, except that he kept stating that pétanque was the older game, and that "la longue" - as it is also known - was actually derived from pétanque. I couldn't believe my ears!
The host herself doesn't buy it either but allows him carry on. By the end of the program she relates that many people called in to the station to protest his version of history.
No analogy is perfect, but imagine a reporter on a London program claiming that rugby was in fact derived from American football :-)
Sorry, it's all in French, but some of the player action in the first minute is worth watching.

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