Winter training

Talk about dedication.
Oshrat & Sadie, with moral support from Nadège, were warming up for the season at Pit Stop in Brooklyn this weekend.

Actually, they hardly stopped this winter. The 3 dark pictures are from November, in Esperance (how appropriate) - in upstate NY - at 18° below zero.
"We call it HOBO petanque because we have to layer up using random clothes...and warm our hands...and our boules... by the fire :)" .
Trust me, they'll be dressed very differently at the Bar Tabac tournament - on Sunday July 13 this year.

Pastis, keep it light!

So true: in the (still) few places where you can get pastis in the US, bartenders are often unfamiliar with the ratios and pour the liquor as if it were lemonade. Topping it up with ice, sometimes a drop of water.

LA Times Magazine caught on this weekend and sets the record straight in this article, "How to pour a Proper Ricard".
It mentions that ice should always be last, but not the reason: if you put ice first, the liquor may coagulate.

First Carolinas Open Tournament

Carolina Petanque is now formally registered with FPUSA. Thanks Frank, for the smooth process.
With headquarters in the Winston-Salem area, but with the intention to create rotating meets in both South & North Carolina.

What better way to celebrate than an open tournament? Open, as in everyone is welcome, from beginners to advanced players.

Saturday, May 17
Miller-Park, Winston-Salem, NC
Select doubles (teams of two players)
Start at 10:00 AM
Fee $ 15 per player
All fees will be returned in prize monies, plus prizes in kind
Followed on Sunday with fun play.

Once we can estimate the number of participants, we can make arrangements for hotel group rates, lunch, dinner, etc... We will have a lot of fun, guaranteed.
But it is utmost important that you register a.s.a.p. so we can prepare.

To register, please send name & address of both players to:
CarolinaPetanque@yahoo.com
For now you can also call 1-800-682-2557

San Pedro Open - April 13

This years' edition of the San Pedro Open, at the cruise ship terminal will be on Sunday April 13. Select triples.
Some pictures of last year.

And as I said then, I'm going! Can't wait to meet so many players I only know by telephone.

For further info, call LAPC President Max Legrand at 310-479-5230

And while at it, have a look at LAPC's last newsletter.

New West Coast petanque website

Petanque Talk is Nathan Doster's latest contribution to petanque development in the Western States. Nathan doesn't mind driving hours & hours to catch a game, and has visited almost all of the 17 clubs, from San Diego, CA to Seattle WA.
For reports on those clubs, playing tips and his interesting projects for a national pétanque camp and convention, pour yourself a drink and relax, because there's lots of interesting reading material at:

Petanque Talk!

BIG news in Fresno

Back to the West Coast, where Tim & friends of Fresno Petanque Club are unstoppable.
Thanks to their efforts the Fresno Parks Department made an official announcement that Cary Park (picture) may well become the home of the largest petanque terrain in the US, accommodating 32 concurrent games.
More details and other news in the...
Fresno Petanque February Newsletter

FPC now also has a website, with play times, locations and a contact which - we cannot repeat it enough - are essential for every club or group to make public, and keep up-to-date.
Kudos to Fresno.

Higher up, in Petaluma, CA there has also been a breakthrough with the Parks Department having given the final approval for a public terrain. It's been a long time coming but Dave & Co's patience and diplomatic talents have prevailed.

Petanque blogs in Taiwan & Japan

Our friend Kevin in Kaohsuing is actively blogging these days from Southern Taiwan. Unfortunately we missed each other twice at the annual Brooklyn Bastille Day tournament.
Are you coming again this year, on July 13?

And Adrian in Aoyama, Japan has revamped his blog. Lots of interesting articles.

A surprise visit from Ohio

Jeffrey from Akron, OH picked up pétanque recently, but seems to have a knack for ball games. Since he has hardly anyone to play with in his hometown, he often trains just by himself.
So before he hit the road to Sarasota, FL to visit family, he checked out our Petanque in the USA map, contacted us and re-arranged his 17 hr road trip in such a way that he could play a few games with us this afternoon in Winston-Salem.
He kicked some serious butt, and we're not sure we want him to stop again on the way back ;-)
He has already staked out the Sarasota Club and he's bound to show up there as well.

Keep going Jeff! And welcome again any time.
Folks in the Akron area, click here.

A beautiful love story

Anything can happen on a pétanque terrain. But this is truly amazing.
As on so many occasions, it was Jan in Oakhurst, CA, who got "the ball rolling" for two of his friends, and look - or rather read - what happened:

A wedding at Oakhurst Petanque Club (PDF)

I've spoken many times on the phone to Steve & Dixie, but didn't know this was in the making! Congratulations to both!

Fou de la pétanque

...in other words "Crazy about pétanque". Although they're pretty far up North, the Portland Petanque Club likes to start their season early, whatever the weather.
Here's the report:

At the Fou de la petanque tourney held this last Sunday, the 22 of us had a good time playing, eating and enjoying the mostly sunny weather conditions. It was a nice turn out for our first event of the year and we certainly made the most of it. With 11 teams pairing up from the random draw, we played 2 games before breaking for lunch, a fine potluck spread as usual, then played the remaining 2 games of the afternoon. Although we had enough time to play a final match between the top 2 seeds, one of the players had to leave so we ended it there. Some of us decided to play a couple more games after the tourney had ended. Obviously we had some more petanque left in us.

Here are the results:

1st place: Joe C. & Matt Sharp

2nd place: Albyn & Sarah L.

3rd place: John H. & Jim L.

Petanque world record attempt

Our friends in Detroit are getting ready to beat the existing World Record, on May 23-25. More info to follow shortly on ...

PetanqueWorldRecord.blogspot.com


There's not much history on the internet on the 2006 German record (40.5 hrs).
Petanque.org has this report on the Australian record in 2005 (27.5 hrs).

While searching I came across this bizarre video clip of 2001. A record of seven consecutive hits? Most participants at any shooting competition to speak of could easily beat that, don't you think? Without the antics maybe.

Petanque in South Florida

Fort Lauderdale's Sun-Sentinel published a nice article today about the game and how important the influence of our French-Canadians friends has been in promoting it locally.

Let's hope the article also brings some extra spectators to the Coupe des Amériques being played today at Boca 2000.

Sun-Sentinel, 17 Feb 2008
(with video clip)

Bocce changed passports?

From an article in the Telegraph, describing the amenities of Celebrity Cruises latest vessel,the Solstice.

Cruise Lines offers surf & turf

Anyone in Maui?

Steve in Wailuku used to play many years ago in Washington Square with the folks of La Boule NY (he says hi to Yngve - by the way) and would love to get going again in his new hometown.

His boules have arrived, he found some good spots, so all he needs is other players!

You can reach him at semcg@hawaiiantel.net

New president at FPUSA

Following the recent board elections, Joe Martin will take over the presidency from John Rolland.
Joe founded the Portland Petanque Club from scratch in 2001 and it has grown continuously ever since, no doubt thanks to his tireless efforts to welcome new players.

Oregon overall is among the fastest growing "petanque states" in the country. With a Portland president to boot, it will probably go even faster!

Obut New Years' greetings

At the end you'll see Rudolph's red nose rolling in ;-)

AFF Invitational

On Dec 8, Stephan of the Stuart petanque group borrowed the Boca 2000 terrain for a first "Amis Francophones de Floride" invitational tournament.
Father & son team Frédéric & Chris with Muriel won the tournament and Jim the 6, 7 & 8 meter shooting contest.
AFF is a group of francophones in S Florida, of various nationalities, presided by the dynamic Anaïde Govaert, whose husband Gui was the extremely popular Belgian Consul for Florida.
A great idea for any organization. Ask a club to borrow their courts and have a party! No better way to get new people involved in the game.

The nice trophy came from Stephan's new 13azero.com store with lots of petanque related goodies.

To all our friends

Turn up your speakers, sit back and relax, then click on the door and enjoy the beautiful scenery.

Anyone in El Paso?

John & his group play regularly around Rim Road Park and would love to welcome more players.
Besides making friends, you'll enjoy the gorgeous view over El Paso and Ciudad Juarez.

See our map for the exact location:

Petanque in the USA

British Petanque Federation dissolved

As from last week the BPF is no more, and the 3 existing associations will now be directly affiliated with FIPJP .

English Petanque Association
Scottish Petanque Association
Welsh Petanque Association

Personally I will miss the BPF website (already closed down) because it always had interesting links & articles.

Beautiful shots

Direct link - The Petanque Show (3:24 min)

Awesome shots by two young guys practicing in the backyard in Velleron, just east of Avignon. They are GOOD!
With bloopers at the end of the clip.
Loud music!

Petanque in Annapolis, MD

Ryan & Nicola in Annapolis (east of Washington, DC) recently finished the court in their backyard.

Due to travels the timing was a bit off, but with an open fire, bright sunshine, and a glass of wine, who cares it's cold!
They laid it out very smart, close to the trees, to be ready for summer.

Thanks for the pics!

Petanque in Palm Springs, CA

Gérard Canabou & his friends of La Boule du Desert in Palm Springs made it into the Desert Sun newspaper this weekend.


It's always good to see that the reporter did some research on the game and not just called it bocce. La Boule du Desert is growing and we hope they are successful in getting permanent facilities.

French game petanque gets on a roll - Desert Sun, Nov 29

Lamorinda club on French TV

French TV station Antenne 2 came to the city Lafayette , CA - named after the French Marquis - and was happily surprised to discover the grounds of the Lamorinda Petanque Club, one of the nicest in the country.