On y va! : Pétanque in the park

Day three in the classroom was one of introductions and getting to know one another, as was our afternoon activity. Students enjoyed lunch in the city after class and returned to the Institut Catholique for a grosse surprise! They would meet the French champion of pétanque in the park to learn how to play this magnificent and extremely cultural game (or a simplified version of it, at least). Thomas Godard, 17 years old, was the perfect person to introduce this game to students! Of the same age, Toulousers found it hard to believe that this young man was the champion of France! 

For those of you at home who are lost in all this pétanque talk, let me break it down for y'all. Pétanque is a French game, similar to what we call bocce ball in the US. The game originated in Provence, France in the early 20th century and comes from the Occitan word "petanca" which translates to "feet planted." Interesting, you're thinking. Tell me more. Well, before you throw your ball, you have to stand in this plastic ring with both feet on the ground. Thus, the name corresponds to the game! As most of you know (hopefully) we are in the region of Occitanie in France, so it's very cool that the name of this game originates from not too far away from Toulouse! 

Alright, now for the objectives. Thomas showed us two different versions of pétanque. The first was one where you stood in the ring and threw the ball at what looked like a painted target. If you got outside of the target, you earned one point. If you got in the first ring of the target, that was worth two. Second ring? Three. And in the center? You guessed it, four points. We played a super simplified version of the game where you just kept track of your points based on how close you got to the bulls' eye. Lola and Hyacinth killed it in the second group, both earning 18 points within three rounds. Needless to say, Thomas was impressed. 

The second version of the game that we learned was a game of pushing other balls outside of a marked circle. Again, you started with two feet planted within a plastic ring. Then, you threw your ball (you got three tries) towards a circle that was filled with seven other balls. The objective here was to have your ball push out as many other balls from the circle as you can. This version was a bit more difficult, as you had to throw the ball with a little bit more force in order to make the other balls move outside the circle. 

If I've got your interest peaked, here is a youtube video (explaining much better) some basics about pétanque where you can learn more. After talking with Thomas, many Toulousers may find this captivating!