My Petanque Tour de France – 2013

As someone who enjoys the French culture and the game of Petanque, I am living a dream. For the past week, I have been in France visiting Jo and Paulette Sanchez. Jo is a former Petanque champion of both France and Algeria and his wife, Paulette, is a most gracious hostess. Their home is a spacious, three-story house that Jo designed and built in 1967.

Jo is a retired electrician and is the best example of a Renaissance man that I know. He plays the harmonica, he is a prolific painter in watercolors and in addition to being a champion Petanque player, he is an excellent coach in the sport. He has a fantastic workshop in his home where he can fix anything.

During this past week, Jo and I have played Petanque every afternoon at his club, Club de Petanque de Sainte Genevieve des Bois, where I have received a most gracious welcome by everyone in the club. Yesterday, they even let me play in a tournament sanctioned by the French Federation of Petanque – which is just for French people. Jo talked to the officials and they let me play. Having my USA Federation of Petanque membership card also helped. I was the only foreigner in the tournament consisting of 80 two-man teams!

 

 

I probably don't have to tell you that we did not win the tournament (in spite of Jo's excellent shooting and my not-so-bad-for-an-American-in-France pointing). In fact, we lost the first two games of the double elimination tournament by the scores of 13-7 and 13-11. What I must tell you is that just participating in an event like this was one of the most memorable experiences in my life. To be surrounded by 160 Petanque players, most of whom have played this game since they were children, in a tournament of the iconic French sport was pure ecstasy.

I hope that all my friends in the Heart of Texas Petanque Club in Austin, Texas get to have an experience like this.