A Long Awaited Event: The Yearly Pétanque Tournament In Our Village In The Auvergne

Registration for the Concours De Pétanque 2013 in our little French Village

The official rules

The prizes

The drinks

The spectator

Our friend Michel with his young partner

Getting ready

Let the game begin

My son Max checking on the competition

Getting ready to throw

The importance of a tape measure

Friend Simon

Team Kelly with friend Timo on left

It was a picture perfect day for the yearly Pétanque tournament in our little village here in the Auvergne this past Saturday.
Boules in hand, the villagers started gathering shortly after 2 PM in the main square next to the church. Everyone was encouraged to participate, whether expert or beginner, old or young. In all, thirty teams of two players registered for a chance to win a giant cured ham, bottles of wine and/or umbrellas and t-shirts.
Before even starting, many took advantage of the drinks served at the 'buvette'. At 50 cents, the glass of rosé was the best deal.

The official tournaments began at 3 PM. Since there were so many teams, the competition took place not only on the village pétanque course, but also behind the school.
In all, each team played four games. The winning team was the one with the most points and the most wins.

Of course, after each game, the winners paid the losers a drink, which resulted in quite a few hilarious moments as some ended up having one too many.

As always, it was amazing fun. Thank you to Michel and Patrick for organizing. I can hardly wait for next year's tournament.