Competition

While much of the world seems to be watching the goings on in east London, the big event in our village today was the concours de pétanque, with 1,800 euro in prizes, it was announced! This game is the national sport of southern France, played in village squares everywhere, under the shade of plane trees or in the cool of the evening, but this was the first time I'd seen a serious competition with several officials watching over the proceedings in four lanes of play and recording the results. The game is called boules in northern France, but here is usually referred to as pétanque, from the Occitan pe tancat - feet together (here in marked circles), rather than the striding action of bowls.

There was a vide grenier too (literally 'empty the attic' - a car-boot sale without the cars) where LoJ and I wondered among the stalls and found a Georges Brassens record and a few pieces of pottery we hadn't realised we wanted until we saw them, all for a grand total of 10 euro. Then we took a picnic lunch to the Barrage des Olivettes where LoJ swam and I sat in the shade and read - a blissful, computer-free Sunday!