La Pétanque Marinière

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2021-12-06T13:12:00.000-08:00

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Valley of the Moon Pétanque Club - 2012 Season

2012-02-18T23:31:00.001-08:00

After our moderately mild winter, VOMPC is ready to begin our 2012 season of play with the traditional singles tournament on Sunday, February 26th. This year, we've changed it up a bit by offering chili and cornbread with all the accoutrements. Chefs Narin Garrett cooks a mean chili and Barbara Hall is queen of cornbread. A mere $5 lets you play and $7 gets you fed. Registration ends at 10:00 am. If there is interest and the numbers allow we will have a casual division. Director Peter Wellington will be at the helm. Please RSVP for chili by Thursday of this week via

the website vompc.org (event registration) or the Hotline: 707 299-0484.

Prior to the tournament we shall have a teeny-weeny court clean-up on Saturday, February 25th from 10:00 am to Noon, just to make sure the oak leaves don't outnumber the guests. PLEASE try to donate an hour of your time. Merci, Thank You.

If you're looking to play tomorrow, February 19th, our friends in Lafayette are hosting their "Sunday Funday." The Lamorinda Petanque Courts are located at480 St. Mary's Road. Registration ends at 10:00 am. Although the entry fee is $7. (that includes coffee & croissants), they are refunding bridge tolls for out-of-towners dubbing this their "Two-Buck Chuck" tournament: for $2 you get to chuck your balls around their beautiful courts. Call Etienne (925) 891-4756 for more details or email lampet@lamorindapetanque.com.

Next up is our first league of the season: Winter Mixed Doubles. People are already signing up so start forming your teams. This is for members only, one of the incredible benefits of joining the VOMPC. Six weeks of play, one game to 15 points, $20 per team entry fee. La grande finale (top four teams)and awards ceremony is slated forSaturday, April 21st, 11:00 am. The illustrious director Shannon Bowman is known for her unique prizes, another incentive. Registration ends March 1st so get cracking...

LASTLY, but not leastly, for those looking to travel for a challenge, Sarasota Florida is hosting the National Mixed Doubles (March 10th) and Mens & Womens Doubles (March 11th). Then in April, our friends in Fresno host the National Mixed Triples (April 28th) and Mens & Womens Singles (April 29th). For more information visit the FPUSA website (www.usapetanque.org).

Boule on everyone!

Valley of the Moon Petanque Club

March 2012 Tournament

2012-02-05T17:58:00.000-08:00

LPM 2012 Calendar

2012-02-05T17:55:00.001-08:00

2012 Bay Area & Beyond Calendar

2012-01-09T11:33:00.000-08:00

Click on the desired page to view enlarged version

Bryant Park, NYC soundwalk

2012-01-09T11:14:00.000-08:00

Here is a wonderful audio clip narrated by Matthew Broderick about the game of pétanque in Bryant Park located in New York City. It's done so well, that you can "see" the sights and sounds of the park he describes and actually imagine yourself to be there in person.
Bryant Park Soundwalk with Matthew Broderick

Santa Monica Update - Pétanque

2011-12-21T13:52:00.000-08:00

Hymne des Fraternises- Joyeux Noel

2011-12-19T21:34:00.000-08:00

Petanque club seeks funds for Zanesfield, Ohio project

2011-12-13T09:30:00.001-08:00

Written by Nate Smith
Tuesday, 13 December 2011

The growing popularity of an obscure European lawn game has prompted a fundraiser to accommodate the increased number of people who wish to play.
Members of the Zanesfield Petanque Club seek donations to fund an expansion of the club’s lone existing petanque court at Hall-Fawcett Park.
“We’ve really outgrown the size that we have currently,” said Bo Johns, the club’s primary organizer. “We were getting 10, sometimes 20, people for our Wednesday night games and that can result in a lot of standing around for people.

For the complete article, click here

Palisades Park shuffle board courts now pétanque playground

2011-12-12T07:09:00.001-08:00

PALISADES PARK — For a game that is far from familiar for most Santa Monicans, Mark Greenberg and his boules are starting to attract some attention.

It's Friday morning in Palisades Park and with the iconic Santa Monica Pier providing the perfect backdrop, pairs of tourists and locals in the middle of their workouts stop and stare as Geenberg crouches inside a small circle drawn in the sand. He pulls his arm back and lets fly a shiny metal boule (French for ball), sending it roughly 15 feet into the air. It lands in the dirt with a thud and rolls a foot toward a small, orange target.

Greenberg is pleased, not with the shot, but with the number of onlookers intrigued by the retired photographer's favorite pastime.

For the complete article, click here

Pétanque Euro-Cup 2011 (CB Monegasque - Duc de Nice )

2011-12-11T00:18:00.001-08:00

Panier de Noël - La Boule d'Or

2011-11-29T11:56:00.000-08:00

Pétanque in Fernandina

2011-11-20T01:51:00.000-08:00

(published, November 10th)

This Saturday and Sunday, downtown Fernandina Beach will look and sound like any typical town on the French Mediterranean. More than 260 competitors (in teams of two) will be playing p/tanque (pronounced pay-tonk), the French cousin of horseshoes and "bocce," the Italian bowling game. Teams are coming from 23 states, Canada and Europe to compete in the 2011 Pétanque America Open, a unique international pétanque tournament held for the third year in a row on Amelia Island.
For the rest of the article, click here.

Park Reopens in Menlo Park

2011-11-20T01:34:00.000-08:00

After a 13-month closure, Flood County Park in Menlo Park is set to reopen Saturday afternoon(Nov. 12) with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and celebration, San Mateo County officials said.

The 21-acre park has been closed since fall 2010, county officials said, to repair and replace water supply pipelines.

Aside from the park's petanque court and baseball diamond, all park facilities will be open and ready for use, including the seven picnic areas, play structure, horseshoe pits, and volleyball and tennis courts.

The opening celebration is free and will begin at noon, led by San Mateo County Supervisor Rose Jacobs Gibson and Assemblyman Rich Gordon, D-Menlo Park.

After the ribbon-cutting, park group Friends of Flood Park will host family-friendly activities until 3 p.m., including live music, face painting and a scavenger hunt highlighting the park's history and flora and fauna.

Officials said the annual cost to operate the park is about $374,201 and in the face of funding shortages the county is working to keep the park reopened into the next year. Park officials are working with the Board of Supervisors and looking into moving park operations over to the city of Menlo Park.

The park is located at 215 Bay Road in Menlo Park.

Meet the Fresno Pétanque Club

2011-11-20T01:30:00.000-08:00

Pétanque comes to Santa Monica

2011-11-20T01:19:00.001-08:00

Pétanque America Open 2011 - Results

2011-11-20T01:07:00.000-08:00

2011 PA OPEN RESULTS

CONCOURS A
1 Marco Foyot / Bernard Martin
2 Jean-Pierre Subrenat / Damien Hureau
3/4
Mario Gagné / Ben Gauthier
Peter Mathis / Antoine Geoffroy
5/6/7/8
Alec Sweet / Karim Guennoun
Jean-Pierre Hemery / Phil Hemery
Juan Garcia / Yanick Lauhlé
Joseph Hassoune / Khalid Mesbah

Concours AA
1 Gali Shriki / Alice Aviran
2 Yehuda Cohen / Margalit Ossi
3/4
Ed Porto / Frank Pipal
Guy Labourie / Michel Crouzillat

Concours B
1 Andre Strong / Cynthia Stroud
2 Jo Ella Manalan / Pierrette Sucur
3/4
Lucien Rakotojaona / Thorn Viryasiri
Jon Claessens / Cory Milliord

Consolante A
1 Alain Brunette / Alain Gagnon
2 Dan Feaster / Ken Lee
3/4
Justin Bo Johns / Josh Kotsaris
Francis Chéru / Pierre Lallinec.

Consolante B
1 Nicolas Lacand / Caroline Lacand
2 Gilles Canesse / Eric Moutard
3/4
Narin Garrett / Kate Brideau
Bryan Mason/ Jason Deringer

Consolante C
1 Ernesto Santos / Lorissa Rinehart
2 Steven Matzkin / Simon Adamsdale
3/4
Erin McTaggart / Mike Menefee
Michel Ribet / Jeannot Ruperti

Consolante AA
1 Earl Lovell / Trevor Lovell
2 Tony Lawless / Max Mattes
3/4
Kenneth Chance / Irina Perry
Aaron Naegely / Judith Naegely

Consolante BB
1 Patrick Hayes / Kate Unkel
2 John Hodge / Colleen Hodge
3/4
Lori Nischan / Michel Nischan
Rommert Kruithof / Carine Eijsbouts

Consolante CC
1 Stephen Johns / Fernando Triana
2 James Banks / Nancy Banks
3/4
Anthony Alejandro / Cindy Alejandro
Bill Harris / Joel Shifflet

Pétanque America Open 2011

2011-11-11T09:18:00.000-08:00

Click on image for more information

Petanque - The Greatest Game You Never Heard Of.

2011-11-04T16:34:00.000-07:00

Here is a great book, just published, about pétanque. Actually the first english language book to be written about the sport.

Pétanque is the world's most egalitarian sport. It can be savored by almost anyone, regardless of age, gender or physical constraints. Yet the complex biomechanics of advanced throws take years to master. Game play is so obvious that even a child can follow it. Yet strategy is multilayered and elusive, revealed only through the insight of skills and experience.

It's refreshingly low-tech and economical. The equipment to outfit 4 to 6 players is 12 baseball-sized steel balls (boules) and a small wooden target jack which can be ordered on-line for less than $75.

Unlike its Italian cousin Bocce, Pétanque doesn't employ a formal, expensive, high-maintenance, groomed court. It's played on small patches of uneven, hard-packed dirt and gravel called "terrains." Bocce is a one dimensional bowling game, but ungroomed terrains force Pétanque players to reach for the sky and execute beautiful, soaring throws. Local club terrains are nearly indistinguishable from those that host international tournaments. Walking paths, public plazas, baseball infields and unpaved parking areas make fantastic terrains. That's why Pétanque is one of the world's most environmentally neutral sports. Terrains don't need water, fertilizer, pesticides, mowing, fossil fuels or maintenance. Multiuse terrains in a variety of shared public spaces are a great option for budget challenged Parks and Recreation authorities.

Also, the random bias of an ungroomed terrain is a great equalizer. Expert and novice may be teamed without diminishing intensity or the joy of competition. Pétanque is an ideal sport for athletically mismatched couples seeking to compete as peers, because style and tactics (usually) triumph over brute strength and unbridled aggression.

It's truly an international sport. Once again contrary to Bocce, Pétanque terrains, rules and terminology are universal. Whether you're in Paris, Cape Town, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City or San Francisco, with a few French words and phrases (used throughout the book) you will be embraced by locals and initiated into their Pétanque community.

That's why it's the greatest game that you never heard of - at least, until now...

From the Author

I love sports. From my early days as an iron pounding gym-rat I branched into technique orientated activities which demand precise bio-mechanics to ensure efficiency, effectiveness and to minimize repetitive motion injury: the astoundingly complex motion of a tennis serve, rolling a fully loaded 19-ft. long sea kayak in 3-ft. swells, the excruciatingly painful, yet artful hand and foot jams of a crack climber and yes, the beautiful flowing whip-like motion of Petanque's au fer shooting all require substantial time commitment and precise instruction to master and unerringly replicate.

That's why I was astounded to discover that a comprehensive Pétanque book had never been written in English or translated from the French. To compound the problem few U.S. Pétanque clubs offer formal or periodic throwing techniques and strategy classes, let alone a structured introduction to rules and etiquette which should be a prerequisite for every novice. This was either a huge oversight or a bizarre conspiracy to keep Pétanque information from the great unwashed masses of America. That's when the impulse to write the book first struck. Like a boxer slipping a punch, I pushed that impulse aside assuming that I simply didn't understand or appreciate the informal resources provided by fellow club members.

So I started playing at the esteemed Portland Pétanque Club and inquired about classes, hiring a coach and written training materials and was openly ridiculed by the regulars. Several months later it came as no surprise when I finally surrendered to the impulse and committed to writing this book that I was immediately shunned; none of the players that I spoke with had any interest in the project. I appealed to the president of the FPUSA (the American Pétanque Association) who is also a member of the Portland Pétanque Club to scour the U.S. membership for interested players - and as the saying goes, "the silence spoke volumes" or in contemporary terms, my emails went unanswered. Flat eyes and apathy greeted me each time I visited another west coast club to perform interviews and attempt to recruit collaborators.

The most disturbing aspects of American Pétanque that I discovered are its elitist and sexist attitudes which are rationalized as historical French cultural prerogatives. In opposition to formal mission statements many America Pétanque clubs are closed communities, accessible by invitation only. Most egregiously this applies to single women. Membership statistics are grossly inflated, in reality fewer than 1-in-5 regular U.S. Pétanque players are women. (I define "regular" as playing at least twice a month.) The Portland Pétanque Club illustrates the most abysmal example. Although they have 100 members, only one woman threw regularly during the entire summer of 2011; during that same period my Pig Iron Pétanque start-up group, which is only five miles from the Portland Pétanque Club, effortlessly recruited nine regular women players within the first six weeks of our inception. To hijack the famous Field of Dreams quote, "Build it and "they" will come, but only if "they" are invited, sincerely welcomed, respected and supported with periodic throwing and strategy training sessions."

The book started to take shape after a fall trip to Belgium and France which provided great exposure to both recreational and high-level play, and interviews with players who love the game and have no reservations about sharing their knowledge. What ultimately made the project so fulfilling and successful was the interaction of the members of my two start-up Pétanque groups. Together we drilled into Pétanque's essence and derived the critical techniques, strategies and etiquette that make it such an incredible sport and threw out all of the ridiculous misogynistic nonsense. The cynic may characterize this approach as "the blind leading the blind". My response is "res ipsa loquitur" (sorry, the benefits of a classics education) - the book "speaks for itself."

I would have greatly welcomed and appreciated support from the rank-and-file players and the American Pétanque Association, but that would have produced a much different book; a book that towed the line and supported the status quo - and I couldn't live with that. Consequently, it's been a bittersweet journey. But I speak for the entire membership of La Boule du Bono and Pig Iron Pétanque when I say that we are proud to help usher in a new inclusive, community-based era of "Pétanque American-Style". We hope that you come to love the game as much as we do.

The book is available at Pétanque America

boules, bier und brats - VOMPC

2011-10-20T11:05:00.000-07:00

Hello Dearest Petanque Enthusiasts,

Don’t miss this the Valley of the Moon Pétanque Club Oktoberfest Celebration and tournament this Saturday, October 22. It’s a casual tournament with a focus on fun – perfect for beginners and intermediates as well as the more experienced. Newcomers are absolutely welcome and I encourage you to bring friends who might enjoy our sport.

Behind the grill will be the inimitable* Hans Kurz, famous for his sauerkraut as well as his authentic lederhosen and accent! There are a few spots left for the lunch – sign up right away on the website (vompc.org) or on the hotline (707-343-9465). Lunch includes homemade sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, bratwurst, smoked pork chops and complimentary beer. Wow!

Hope to see you there!

Tournament Director, Peter Mathis

County to buy San Rafael office building for public safety complex

2011-10-15T15:54:00.000-07:00

After months of negotiations, Marin officials have agreed to spend about $82 million to buy a San Rafael office building, remodel and equip it as an emergency operations and sheriff's headquarters — and abandon controversial plans to build a new structure near the Civic Center.

Although the deal isn't due for formal approval until next month, county supervisors on Tuesday are expected to announce their intent to acquire the 315,000-square-foot building on 24 acres at 1600 Los Gamos Road, reversing a 2008 decision to erect a $102 million public safety facility in Santa Venetia.

"I'm ecstatic that we're able to bring this one over the finish line," said board president Susan Adams, noting the proposal to build a new safety building in Santa Venetia was opposed by the neighborhood "and we responded."

For the rest of the article, click here

Jacques Pépin Tribute Video

2011-10-05T21:33:00.000-07:00

Our friend and fellow bouliste, Jacques Pépin...

Tino Lofaro Memorial Tournament

2011-10-02T03:55:00.000-07:00

On October 9, 2011

You are invited to join the members of La Pétanque Marinière & La Boule d’Or In a day of honoring the memory of our Friend and Respected LPM Member

Tino Lofaro

Tournament a la Mélêe – $5.00 entry fee Registration ends 9:30 AM

Concours + Consolante Cash Prizes + Trophies

100 % registration toward prizes

Free Lunch Graciously provided by Sol Food

While there is no charge for this delicious, hot meal...

Reservations are Required!

Awards Ceremony and Aperitifs following tournament

For lunch reservations contact: Alain Efron by email at lutecemeister@gmail.com or 415-479-5820. Please leave the names of all persons reserving!!

Any questions: Call Christine at 415-302-5069 or email @ petanque.marin@gmail.com

Can Britain Come Out To Play

2011-08-19T13:30:00.000-07:00

By James Crabtree

The easy-going culture of European public gaming reflects a society seemingly at ease with itself

Most summers when we were kids our parents took my sister and me on holiday to France. I remember being struck by the way young and old would gather in village squares of an evening to talk, drink and play boules. A thought lodged in my head: why didn’t we do that, too?

Britain lacks a culture of playing these sorts of public games. In Holland, strangers play chess in coffee houses. The same happens in public squares in the great American cities, while parks in Geneva are dotted with giant chess sets. Pétanque is part of the social fabric of France and Spain, while on any evening in Greece or Turkey men sit out on pavements, hunched over games of backgammon or dominoes. Not so in Britain.

Personally, I find the case of chess most galling. My dad taught me to play, and I came to love the game. But it wasn’t something anyone played at my school, and the idea of joining a club or league – bringing to mind images of awkward men scribbling down notation on obscure openings – never sounded much fun. So instead I scrounge the odd game here and there, occasionally persuading a friend to take out the pieces. Even then, if you pull out a chess board in a British pub, the other drinkers look at you askance, as if to say: “Oh, so you play chess?”

For the complete article, click here

Wine Country Classic - Tino Lofaro Memorial

2011-08-17T13:18:00.000-07:00

Wrap-up of Fresno Juniors trip to Luxembourg

2011-08-11T12:15:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of Michael Stasack,
Eugene International Pétanque Club

It was a wonderful experience and we are all glad to have had the opportunity to go represent the USA at an international tournament. We appreciate the support of all those who helped make it happen, especially the FPUSA, individual club donations, and the Fresno Petanque Club whose significant financial support reduced the burden for us all.
To give you all a brief overall impression, this was a well run tournament to which Paul and I believe we should consider sending teams again. We both especially appreciated that it was in the summer so the kids didn't need to be pulled out of school as they would have if we were to have gone to the recently scheduled World Championships in Turkey this October. Neither Paul nor I expect to go to Turkey. With national and local level teams participating, this tournament was a very good test of our level. We played against the best, but also got to play against other teams whose levels more closely matched ours.

The exposure for the FPUSA was positive with many teams expressing their appreciation for us being there and several inviting us to tournaments in their areas. For the kids, having seen the level of international play for boys, girls, and women, we believe they have been motivated to improve and do better next time. Both Paul and I look forward to improving the US junior program and being more competitive in the future. We have a long way to go to win an international tournament, but with a strong base in place we hope to move up in the standings quickly.

This annual tournament is in its 7th or 8th year and had many sponsors, foremost of which was Ferrero who makes Nutella. (The president or vice-president of Ferrero used to be a member of the Kayl club.)

There were 32 women teams and 22 junior teams who played on 24 pistes with another section of the terrain reserved for a concurrent shooting contest. The pistes were small (approx. 3m x 12m) and the surface appeared to be of crushed limestone like you find on the pathways in most French parks.

The sponsoring club was in Kayl, a ten minute drive from Livange where our hotel was and a 25 minute drive from Luxembourg city center. Transportation was provided, but having a car was very advantageous for those who had them. Most teams drove to the tournament from France, Germany, or the Netherlands. Teams also came from Spain, Sweden, Denmark and Israel.

There were tents set up for eating, preparing the food for over 175 people, distributing and selling gifts and a daily snack, as well as petanque equipment. Dinner and lunch were provided each day, prepared by the Ferrero company cook flown in from Italy for this event. All participants received parting gifts including a jar of Nutella, hats, T-shirts, candies and a bottle of Italian wine for the coaches/delegates.

Trophies were given to each player in the top three finishing teams of the concours, consolante, and complimentaire. Substantial awards were given for many of the top finishers including a Wii for each 1st place player and MP3 players for 2nd or 3rd places of the concours. It was quite a production. The main organizer of the tournament, Fabio Foccacetti, begins preparing in January each year.

One drawback for the American teams was the amount of smoking that was tolerated everywhere, including on the pistes and in the dining tents. Since we were invited back, I spoke with Fabio about the issue of smoke. He said there is a good possibility that they could set up a non-smoking tent away from the others tents in the future if we request it.

FYI, Fabio is a former Luxembourgeois champion and one of the Ferrero chauffeurs, Joris Gilet, is a former junior national champion in pétanque and boules lyonnaises for France. Joris is probably in his early 20's now and left Friday to compete in the national boules lyonaises championship, in Lyon of course.

Competition
The first day went from 10:00 am to 10:30 pm with 7 matches per team including byes. Luckily, or mercifully, the US junior team got two byes which were scored as 13-7 wins. Unfortunately we played the eventual first and third place teams in our first two games. We only won one game all weekend, but we played well and got better with each game and were never fannied. There were some very good teams at this tournament who would give our adult teams in the US a run for their money. We are proud to have scored 3 points on France #2, the eventual champions, who got at least two fannies on other teams in the first day and didn't let anyone score more than three points until Germany #2, who eventually took third place, scored 4 on them. (We scored 4 on that German team!) France #2 even beat France #1 by a score of 13-1 on the second day. (The numeration of the two French teams was not indicative of who was better. For them, this was a qualifying tournament to help determine which combination of the 6 French players they brought would be on the national team in Turkey.)

Game 1
As we began the first match against France #2, we didn't know just how good they were. Sure they had just fannied a Luxembourg team of 10, 11, and 12 year old munchkins, and scored nine on us in the first two ends, but then they missed three shots on a great point by Hai and anything Pengsue didn't shoot out they left behind the coch like rookies. Hai had pointed in one early, then Carly had pointed in one later, and then Pensue pointed in one at the end after shooting one out earlier. They each got one against the champs!! Carly pointed in for two more points and the US juniors confidence edged up a notch as we brought the game back within reach, 9-3. With some of their butterflies settled, the US kids went into the next end with some hope that they really could compete at this level if they played like they knew they could. In fact, France seemed worried. Immediately after the US scored three on them, the French coach called them to a huddle and, calmly, but in no uncertain terms let them know that they could not, under any circumstances, let that happen again. (I happened to be sitting right next to them so I could hear it all.) He told them that they would point short, regardless of how short, then when we pointed in closer, shoot us out. That's exactly what happened and, in an impressive display of skilled shooting, they surgically removed our boules with carreau after carreau, ending our hopes of a Cinderella comeback in the next two ends.

Game 2
In the next game, despite losing to France, the kids were feeling okay because, after all, they lost to France. Even when Germany #2 took a 6-0 lead in the first three ends, it was clear to everyone that if we were competitive. In the fourth end we settled down and really showed what we could do. They had missed several shots from 8.5 meters and left some boules close, but on the side. We had one right next to the coch and one behind that was in third position. With two boules left, Carly pointed in a second point then added two more points by bringing the coch back 2 inches to boule sitting in third position. All of a sudden we were only down 6-4! We had already surpassed what we scored in the first game with more strong play. There was no team huddle for Germany #2, but clearly we had gotten their attention. The coach barked out some things in German and they scored 4 in the next end. Even though we held them to short gains from there, we never got another point. (FYI, the shooter for the German #2 team won the shooting competition this weekend with a score of 34 and holds the German record from last year with 58 points. The high score in the competition was 39 by one of the players from France #1.)

Game 3
There was a significant break between the round 2 and 3 for the juniors so after lunch they played a pick up game with a very young from Luxembourg that had lost to France #2 by a fanny. The US kids played loose and fun. They beat the little ones badly. Unfortunately, moments later in the real game, Luxembourg #2 showed that size doesn't really matter and in a very competitive round, they beat the US 13-10. The US was in control for most of the game and it always felt like they just needed to take advantage of one good end to finish them off. But they let Luxembourg hang around and build their confidence. It was a game they should have won, but a great lesson about competition.

Game 4

The kids were a bit tired by now because this game didn't start until about 8:00 pm. Nonetheless, the US knew they could compete with at least some of the teams here and started out well controlling the first two ends, though not taking advantage of all the points they could have gotten. This German team scored 5 in the next round and the momentum shifted. The game went to 8 ends, and again, the US juniors played well, but not consistently well in the same end. Final score, 13-3, Germany wins.

Game 5
Last chance to win something today and mother nature comes into play. Starting at 9:30 pm, skies that had threatened intermittently throughout the day opened up with a deluge that lasted the whole game. It changed both pointing and shooting considerably. Tirs à la raffle, low skim shots, bounced over their targets and carreaux turned to wasted boules. Shirts and shorts became jackets and warm-ups. At this point, with nothing really at stake, the kids played their best game while Haute-Savoie, another French team (but not one with national contenders), played their worst. We pointed and shot like champs most of the game winning the first three ends and going ahead 5-0. Haute-Savoie seemed lost and did not play as well as they had earlier in the day. They had won several games, but in this one they may have hit a shot or two in the whole game and consistently choked when pointing with plenty of space to point in. Even though it wasn't the best display of skills and they did creep back into it when we had a few lapses, the US controlled the game comfortably. Pengsue shot like a champ in this round making carreaux at 10 meters a foot from the out of bounds line twice in a row in one end. Hai pointed like a champ, especially in the last games when he was consistently making the shooter use his boules early. Carly did not need to shoot often, but she hit her shots when she needed to and pointed in for points after Pengsue cleared the opponents points out. Great way to end the day!

Sunday
Even with a 3-4 record on Saturday thanks to byes, the US juniors don't make it to the concours (pool seeding of +66 to +28) or the consolante (+24 to -2). They are at -15, in the middle of the complimentaire seeding which included teams from -13 to -28. With one more win the US could have made it to the consolante. The first round was a bye and we lost the second game to another German team, but played well. We toasted a respectable showing, great learning experience, and a fun, memorable trip.

Notes for this last game are included with the scoring details below.

Shooting Competition
Pengsue got 13 in the shooting competition but had a foot fault that cost him three more points. He ranked 12th out of 21.

Scoring Summary
Saturday
Round USA Score/Opponent
1 13 7 Bye
2 3 13 France #2
3 4 13 Germany #2
4 10 13 Luxembourg #2
5 13 7 Bye
6 3 13 Germany Dreiechenhain
7 13 8 Haute Savoie

Sunday (Single Elimination)
Round USA Score/Opponent
1 13 7 Bye
2 8 12 Germany (Called on time limit of 50 min. + one end)

Scoring Details
Saturday - 7 Rounds
Round 1 bye - US 13-7

France #2 v USA
4-0
9-0
9-3 Yea! No fanny!
10-3
13-3 Yea! We lasted 5 ends!

Germany 2 v USA
2-0
5-0
6-0
6-4
10-4
11-4
12-4
13-4 Getting better!

Luxembourg 2 v USA
13-10. Oh snap!

Round 5 bye 13-7

Germany Dreiechenhain v USA
0-1
0-2
5-2
6-2
7-2
7-3
10-3
13-3

Haute-savoie v USA
0-2
0-3
0-5
3-5
3-8
3-11
5-11
6-11
8-11
8-13. Yea!!! Our first win in a steady rain at 9:30 in the pm.

Sunday - Single elimination
Round 1 Bye - USA 13-7

Round 2

Germany v USA
5-0
5-1
5-3 Pengsue shoots two out at 9 meters, Carly points in one on the coch that they can't shoot out and puts in another.

8-3 Our shot nicked their boule and we didn't point in. Shooting is a lot harder on the wet ground. Carreaux are hard to come by.

8-4 Pengsue shoots out their boule at 9 meters with a chapeau that leaves the coch that was just behind by making their boule jump over the coch. What a shot!

9-4 Carly points short in front but does not get the point. Pengsue shoots and misses long on their boule behind twice but Hai pushes Carly forward. Great pointing! Germany shoots out its own boule, but finally takes the point by pushing us out with a point. Hai has to shoot and is close, but misses.

11-4 9 meters they point and Carly improves on their point. They take the coch and are 5" away. Carly points right on their boule and takes the unshootable point. They point in at 2". Pengsue shoots both their boules out using two boules. They point in again at 1". Hai pushes them. Not enough. Hai pushes again but takes the coch and they get two. Nice try.

11-7 Great pointing by us, poor shooting by other team with Hai's point and Carly's boule blocking. Pensue points in.

11-8 Carly points in 2 they use 6 to take it but, when shooting them out to clear and point in more, Pensue shoots Carly. Hai points in close, then Pensue shoots again and takes coch. We get one, but could have had more. Time limit is 50 minutes plus one end. The 5 minute warning whistle blows.

12-8 We point in and have two points. They shoot and miss badly, but randomly hit the coch which rebounds off a boule sending it backwards to about six meters and giving them the point, though within a pointable distance. We are down 3 points and have only three boules while they have two left. We miss our first two points. Pressure! With our last boule, we could shoot for carreau and take three to tie, but they would still have two boules to easily point in and either win the point or reduce our gain to two. With time running out and a bit of miscommunication from coaches to players, we point to prevent them being able to get two points and win, but we miss it just as time runs out anyway. They get one point for a final of 12-8.

Despite losing, we played well and had a great time in this last game as we overcame adversity and made a comeback run. We really felt we could win it with more time. But in the end, if we had won, we would have gotten a trophy, so it's actually not a bad thing to have lost. Who has room for a trophy in their luggage? This way, we got to watch the finals between France and Italy.

Finals
It was one of the most exciting finals they've ever had at this tournament, France #2 was surprised by Italy who took an unexpected 5-0 lead. With Italy in control most of the game, France nonetheless crept back and finally tied it at 12-12. It was quite a display of skill, strategy, and the effect of pressure. The second to last end was climactic. France was 2 inches in front of the coch at 9 meters and had a second off to the side. Italy was down in the count and having difficulty pointing in close enough to merit shooting. With three boules left, they had their middle shoot out the boule in front of the coch then their shooter came in and shot out the coch on a direct hit for a nul end. Despite the momentum Italy gained from this end, France won the next end when Italy could not point in and waited too long to shoot.

Emile Furlan Memorial Invitation

2011-08-10T18:50:00.000-07:00

That's right folks! This is the best event yearly on the west coast.
It is annually hosted by Simone Furlan on her central valley ranch under the cooling shade of her walnut orchard in Knights Landing, California.
It is always an open, select mixed triples with a Saturday evening banquet co-hosted and put on by the

Club Français de Sacramento

Reservations and prepayment are preferred and required (imagine having 100 plus of your closest friends for dinner).
There are many acres available for the campers and motor home sites for those that are adventurist, and motels a short 15 minutes away in Woodland.

We’re looking forward to seeing you there.

Kevin McGill
Director of Petanque
Club Français de Sacramento

Pétanque in Bellevue Downtown Park

2011-08-05T13:29:00.000-07:00

If you’ve ever strolled through Bellevue Downtown Park on a Sunday afternoon and wondered what people were playing on the east garden pathway, wonder no more.

The game is pétanque, a French lawn game that looks like a cross between lawn bowling and shuffleboard. The games at Bellevue's downtown park are organized by the Seattle Pétanque Club. The club also is organizing a doubles tournament that starts at 11 a.m. Sunday (registered teams check in at 10 a.m.) at downtown park, and anyone can come and watch. Teams from around the Puget Sound will participate in the tournament.

For Pepin, Cooking Is About Technique, Not Stardom

2011-08-03T14:53:00.000-07:00

Back in the woods, behind the kitchen, French and American flags fly over Jacques Pepin's petanque court. He launches his heavy, metallic ball toward a visitor's, popping it off course with a sharp, expert crack.

"That is how you play petanque," he says, smiling at his pupil.

Whether it's lawn bowling or making an omelet as bright and unblemished as the noontime sun, Pepin is, above all things, a teacher. A trim, elegant 75, the greatest cooking instructor America has ever known has entered a genteel upper middle age. His hair is thinner, the limp from the car accident that turned him from chef to professor is a bit more pronounced. But the man who taught two generations of home cooks — and many of today's celebrity chefs — how to hold a knife can still out-chop a food processor and make boning a chicken look like magic.

"I tell a student that the most important class you can take is technique," Pepin says while chopping chives beneath a decorative tile that reads: "A great chef is first a great technician." ''If you are a jeweler, or a surgeon or a cook, you have to know the trade in your hand. You have to learn the process. You learn it through endless repetition until it belongs to you."

for the complete article

FPUSA NW Regional - Men's & Women's Singles

2011-08-01T22:22:00.000-07:00

A last minute reminder:

This Sunday, Aug. 7, Sacramento is hosting the NW Regional Men's Singles and Women's Singles.

If you want to play in the event, call Colette or Reid Evans at (916) 362-0509 to register by phone - as the deadline to register is today.

Visit Club Français de Sacramento's website for the registration form which has the time and other important information.

Hope to see you there

NW Region Doubles and Triples

2011-08-01T21:41:00.000-07:00

The Portland Petanque Club is pleased to host the
NW Region Doubles and Triples over the weekend of August 20-21, 2011. We hope you will join us for what is sure to be a fun weekend with some great competition. Portland is known to be a fun destination for players and our club has a good record of hosting tournaments.

Please consider forming a few teams and figuring out the best combination of players for a day of doubles competition on Saturday and one of triples on Sunday.

Please also distribute these forms to your players. They will be posted on the FPUSA blog and there will be a link to them on the PPC website

Please see the contact info on the forms for any questions you have.

Hope to see you in a few weeks,

Joe Martin

Sunday August 14th

2011-07-27T12:01:00.000-07:00

Fourth-Annual Bay Area and Beyond Inter Club Tournament

Fifth-Annual Interclub Tournament. Non-cash prizes. Bring your own lunch.

**********Pre-registration required**********

5th Annual Bay Area & Beyond Interclub Tournament

2011-07-24T07:25:00.000-07:00

Los Angeles Pétanque Club

2011-07-18T09:29:00.000-07:00

Next weekend, at LAPC:

July 23 - SW regional men's and women's singles
July 24 - SW regional selct mixed triplets
Signup forms

Happy Bastille Day

2011-07-14T09:46:00.001-07:00

FPUSA NW REGIONAL SELECT MIXED DOUBLES - registration

2011-07-10T10:39:00.000-07:00

click on the image, then "control" or "command P" to print

FPUSA NW REGIONAL SELECT MIXED DOUBLES - Lodging

2011-07-10T10:36:00.000-07:00

Here is a list of hotels.

They are listed in order of their proximity to the Courts.

1) Embassy Suites 101 McInnis Pkwy 1735 Lincoln AveSan Rafael, CA San Rafael, CA

415-499-9222 www.embassysuites.com

2) Four Points Sheraton 1010 Northgate Dr San Rafael, CA

415-479-8800 www.fourpoints.com

3) Villa Inn 1600 Lincoln Ave San Rafael, CA

415-456-4975 www.villainn.com

4) Colonial Inn 1735 Lincoln Ave San Rafael, CA

415-453-9188 www.colonialinnmarin.com

5) The Panama Hotel & Restaurant 4 Bayview Street San Rafael CA

415-457-3993 www.panamahotel.com

6) Gerstle Park Inn 34 Grove Street San Rafael, CA

415-721-7611 www.gerstleparkinn.com

7) Courtyard by Marriott 2500 Larkspur Landing Circle Larkspur, CA

415-925-1800 www.marriott.com

Ninth Annual Bastille Day Petanque Event in Brooklyn on July 10th and in TriBeCa on July 14th

2011-07-05T13:18:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK, July 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/

-- This July marks the ninth year of the Bastille Day Petanque event held on Smith Street, in Brooklyn, while for the second year launching in TriBeCa along West Broadway. The 60+ multi-cultural teams will compete on the packed sand courts, as the music, magician, amazing food, cold beverages, and the summer sun all gather around.

Spectators will once again mill about the booths of local businesses, chow down on Bar Tabac or Cercle Rouge specialties and sip on a Classic Ricard due to the work of this tournament's event series founders: Bette Stoltz of SBLDC, the Bar Tabac and Robin des Bois restaurants.

For the complete article, click here.

La Boule New Yorkaise at La Marseillaise

2011-07-03T15:48:00.000-07:00

At the World's largest tournament which started this morning in Marseille:
4624 teams of 3, so 13872 players in all. One of the teams representing the USA: Ernesto, Yngve & Steve from La Boule NY won their first game 13-8. Well done guys!

Pétanque in Fresno. KQED -The California Report

2011-07-03T06:07:00.000-07:00

Valley of the Moon Pétanque

2011-06-30T04:27:00.000-07:00

Petaluma Pétanque

2011-06-29T17:11:00.000-07:00

Dear LPM,
This weekend is the Marin County Fair and your parking lot will be crowded with strangers! So why not come up and visit Petaluma and see your friends! We are at the courts Saturday mornings at 10 AM. There's street parking and some park parking spaces. If you have any problems locating the club, check out our website for a map. This is a very challenging court! Come test your skills....and have fun.

http://www.petalumapetanque.com/

Hope to see you this Saturday!
Teri Sirico

BASTILLE DAY CELEBRATION at The Ledford House in Albion

2011-06-27T12:18:00.000-07:00

The Ledford House Restaurant in Albion, Mendocino County will host their annual Bastille Day festivities on Sunday July 10 with a French market, music, pétanque competition, bicycle tour and waiters relay.
Those interested artisans, farmers, players and vendors, please contact Lisa or stop by for a registration form.

Edmonds WA Pétanque Club

2011-06-27T11:31:00.000-07:00

The Edmonds Petanque Club invites you to “The Inaugural Edmonds Petanque Club Tournament”

WHEN: SUNDAY, JULY 17th, 2011

WHERE: EDMONDS CIVIC PLAYFIELD - Near Sixth Ave and Bell Street. The GPS address is 230 6TH AVE N EDMONDS WA 98020

TIME: 10 AM START TIME

REGISTRATION: OPENS AT 8 AM – TWO-PERSON TEAMS ONLY - See the attached registration form for details

FEES: $25 PER PERSON - Includes one T-shirt

QUESTIONS? Contact Michelle Martin for the registration form and any questions you might have.

WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING YOU AT THE TOURNAMENT!

Michelle Martin
Edmonds Petanque Club
Board Member and Club President
Tel. (425) 771-7073
4FranceAmerique@gmail.com
EdmondsPetanqueClub.org

Spectators at the Pan Am Qualifier and Federation Cup

2011-06-22T18:47:00.000-07:00

If you are coming to watch the Pan Am Qualifier and/or the Federation Cup at Lamorinda Petanque Club this weekend, please bring a picnic lunch and drinks for yourselves.

Lunches are being provided only for the competitors.

Bottled water (50cents) and soft drinks ($1.00) will be on sale, so do bring small change.

Looking forward to seeing you all here.

Etienne Rijkheer
Lamorinda Pétanque Club

UBK Studios on Pétanque

2011-06-21T21:54:00.000-07:00

Here's a short clip the UBK folks did while filming the Pétanque America Open last year. Full length copies will be available soon from Pétanque America.

Petanque America Open 2010 - Short Clip from UBK Studios on Vimeo.

petanque score iphone app

2011-06-21T18:46:00.000-07:00

The folks at Pétanque score, have just launched a brand new iphone app for the pétanque community. If you have an iphone and want to always be on top of the score, click
Pétanque Score

Kentfield Welcomes Pétanque to Creekside Park

2011-06-19T11:49:00.000-07:00

Creekside Park in Kentfield, across from Marin General Hospital on Bon Air Road, has recently undergone a major face lift. The most notable addition for those in the pétanque community is an informal playing area amongst oak and other trees, with picnic tables, comfortable benches and water fountains.

The renovated park will retain the same general configuration; however a number of exciting upgrades have been incorporated into the new design, including:

An expanded playground with wonderful opportunities for creative play—an innovative climbing wall, a climbing net, and a sand and water play area, together with traditional swings and slides, will challenge and thrill kids of all ages.
A marsh overlook with stunning views of Creekside Marsh and Mount Tamalpais.
A redesigned amphitheater which will allow “theater-in-the-round” presentations to local school-age children.
Expanded picnic sites. A healing garden, with herbs and perennials that have healing qualities that have been used for medicinal purposes.
An informal area for pétanque or other similar games.
Improved access throughout the park.

The park will officially open on Saturday June 18th. There will be pétanque games/demonstrations, so bring your boules and a picnic and enjoy this new gem of a park.

After Hours Hong Kong

2011-06-17T18:59:00.000-07:00

By JESSICA YU

Tucked away on a little street in Shek Tong Tsui, on the northwest side of Hong Kong island, is one of the city's more serendipitous finds: Walking into underground café Les Boules is like walking out of south China and into a French neighborhood picnic party. The sounds of live harmonicas, piano music and French murmurs lure you in, and the petanque courts will keep you there.

View Full Image

Jessica Yu/The Wall Street Journal
For the uninitiated, petanque is a game in which a small wooden ball is tossed down a lane. Participants then attempt to toss larger metal balls as close as possible to the wooden ball. Each player is allotted a set number of balls and players can knock opponents' balls away from the wooden one. It's a lot like bocce ball, and perhaps most popular—and intensely played—in the region among Laotian tuk tuk drivers, who play it along the side of the road in Luang Prabang.

Les Boules isn't a place for fancy pants or Jimmy Choos—competitive spirits (sometimes enhanced by liquid ones) will soon have you kicking up clouds of dust as you run down the petanque lanes, wielding a measuring tape to argue over whose ball is a fraction of a centimeter closer.

In between rounds of petanque (the first hour costs 80 Hong Kong dollars a person, or about US$10; the second hour is HK$40 a person), engage in some banter over a plate of saucisson (HK$50)—a variety of French sausage—and (mais oui!) a bottle of wine (HK$50 a glass) or perhaps pastis (HK$40 a glass).

Underscoring the quirky, laid-back nature of the place, Les Boules opens at 3:15 p.m.

Les Boules - Café Pétanque

18 Woo Hop St., Shek Tong Tsui, Hong Kong. Tel: 2872 -0102

Open Tuesdays to Sundays, 3:15 p.m. to 11 p.m.

www.lesboules.hk

NW Regional Mixed Triples @ La Boule d'Or, SF

2011-05-30T23:47:00.001-07:00

Hong Kong Pétanque

2011-05-30T23:09:00.000-07:00

Petanque Tournament

Les Boules Cafe Petanque is honoured to invite you on Sunday 5th June 2011 at 11 am until 8.30 pm to a petanque championship (3 persons per team), for beginners as well as experts.

The winning and the second team will get three bottles of champagne each (one bottle per person), offered by Frenchy Cellar, www.frenchy-cellar.com

FEE FOR THIS YEAR' S TOURNAMENT

MEMBER OF LES BOULES: HK$ 90 per person with a free standard drink until Sunday May 29, 2011.
Late enrolment fee is HK$ 140, after Sunday May 29, 2011.

NON-MEMBER: HK$ 150 per person with a free standard drink until Sunday May 29, 2010.
Late enrolment fee is HK$ 200, after Sunday May 29, 2011.

Bring your friends and familly as well looking foward to some good games.

You can contact me from now to book your place or for any question.

Come with your friends, drink, listen to music.

Les Boules Cafe Petanque details

Address

18 Woo Hop St, Shek Tong Tsui

Area Sheung Wan

Open 11am - 8pm

Visit website

View events at Les Boules Cafe Petanque

View Larger Map

Hotelier transforms quaint Shelter Island inn

2011-05-28T07:08:00.001-07:00

After a deal to buy a bigger, more visible hotel on Shelter Island fell through, an international hotelier and his local partner invested in refurbishing the Olde Country Inn.
Scotland native Alistair MacLean and John Sieni, a lifelong Shelter Island resident, in January bought the Olde Country Inn and renamed it “La Maison Blanche.” Since then, the duo has transformed the 19th century structure into an upscale hotel with a French flair – a complete makeover that involved replacing old-fashioned net curtains with sleek shades, repainting peach walls a chic white and installing courts for Pétanque, a version of bocce ball.
MacLean, who also runs The Smyth in Tribeca and formerly managed hotels in Saint-Tropez, did not disclose how much he invested in the hotel. Last year, he put an offer a Shelter Island landmark, the Chequit Inn, but the deal collapsed over a dispute on a parking easement.
The hotel business on the 12.1-square-mile Island, which only has a year-round population of 2,300, is booming, according to local real estate agents. Economic strain has pushed Island visitors who would normally rent a home for the season into the Island’s hotels, explained Georgiana Ketcham. Ketcham owns Georgiana B. Ketcham Real Estate in Shelter Island and has worked as a broker for 40 years.
“People are doing a lot of weekend vacations rather than whole seasons,” Ketcham said.
The Chequit, which greets visitors to the Island who arrive on the North Ferry, is currently on the market for $4.75 million, according to Brandon Tarpey, a broker from Manhattan-based Massey Knakal who is handling the transaction. Since the real estate firm took over selling the 35-room hotel in March, it has received inquiries from as far afield as the West Coast, Tarpey said.
The Chequit also comes with the Ram’s Head Inn, a 250-seat restaurant overlooking Dering Harbor.
La Maison Blanche’s location on the Island is more secluded, quiet and closer to the beach, advantages in MacLean’s eyes when he looked into buying it and making it into a year-round destination. MacLean had a sense of the real estate market from his eight years of experience running Sunset Beach, another hotel with a sophisticated feel on Shelter Island.
On weekends since April, the hotel’s restaurant has recorded more than 100 covers per night. MacLean hopes a deal recently inked with a Manhattan-based seaplane company can attract more customers.
Helicopters, the preferred mode of transportation for many East End visitors, are forbidden on Shelter Island, MacLean noted.
Penelope Moore, an associate broker with the Corcoran Group in Shelter Island, said that the year-round businesses on Shelter Island that do best cater to both the locals and the out-of-towners. From what she’s seen of the new hotel so far – such as its takeout window, lunch menu and restaurant – it has a chance of succeeding.
“They have a lot of goodwill to begin with, and it seems like they want to appeal to everybody, both year-rounders and vacationers,” Moore said.

Benicia to Host French Marketplace

2011-05-26T05:40:00.000-07:00

Benicia Main Street on June 11 will bring its third annual Marché Benicia, an outdoor marketplace with a French flair, to downtown Benicia's scenic shoreline promenade.

The marketplace, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the foot of First Street overlooking the Carquinez Straits, is an ideal setting for a day of food and wine, arts and crafts, and delightful entertainment, organizers say.

Entertainment includes French barrel organist Michel Saga and French singer Isabelle Magidson, pétanque (a French game of boules) offered by the Lamorinda and Marin Pétanque Clubs, can-can dancing by Susie Harper's School of Dance and face-painting, among other activities.

Eventgoers can stroll, shop and relax while listening to the songs and music that bring the ambiance of Paris to the shores of Benicia. Admission is free.

For more information, contact Benicia Main Street at 745-9791 or visit beniciamainstreet.com

2011-05-23T21:54:00.000-07:00

LPM - Steak Picnic

2011-05-21T09:29:00.000-07:00

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Steak Picnic and Panaché Tournament

Open to all – bring guests and friends

Tournament Fee $7.00

Tournament Registration ends @ 11:00 - Games begin after lunch

No Cash Prizes

Prizes awarded for 1^st 2^nd & 3^rd Place / wins + score

Plus Wine by raffle

*** Menu ***

Steak, carrots and peas, salad, brie & bread

(Bring your own plate and utensils)

Picnic Cost $13.00 per person

**Please Note**

**Reservations are Required for Lunch**

If you reserve by email, please leave the names of each person you are reserving for. If you are reserving by phone, please speak clearly – and leave a phone number in case of questions.

Reserve by Thursday, June 9

Alain Efron email: lutecemeister@gmail.com or phone (415) 479-5820

For up-to-date tournament information check

www.cochonnetmarin.com or www.petanque-marin.blogspot.com

La Boule d'Or, San Francisco

2011-05-18T23:03:00.000-07:00

This coming Sunday, our friends in San Francisco, La Boule d'Or, will host a mixed doubles tournament at their beautiful courts in Golden Gate Park. Entry fee is $7.- with cash prizes.
Registration ends at 9:30 and games start at 10:00
contact: alain gusella for more information: 1.209. 251.9157

2012 New Zealand International Open

2011-05-18T10:47:00.000-07:00

click on image to enlarge

Pétanque America Open 2011

2011-05-16T21:36:00.000-07:00

Click on the banner for more info

Please spread the word!

The Registration is now Open for the Pétanque America Open 2011

November 12th and 13th 2011.

Petanque America
1438-A East Oak St
Fernandina Beach, FL 32034
Phone: 800-682-2557 or 904-491-1190
Fax: 904-491-1189
www.petanque-america.com

Marin parks visionary Pierre Joske dies at 82

2011-05-14T08:25:00.000-07:00

Pierre Joske, a brilliant civic leader who spearheaded formation of the Marin County Open Space District and launched a string of regional parks during his 17 years as Marin's parks and recreation chief, has died at 83.

Mr. Joske died Sunday after suffering from prostate cancer.

Mr. Joske, who left county government in 1983 to set up an eyeglass business in Novato, was widely regarded as one of the most talented administrators of the era.

"He is one of our most important department heads ... one of the principal architects of the Open Space District," Supervisor Gary Giacomini said at the time. "He will be terribly missed," the late Gloria Duncan, then head of the Marin Conservation League, observed about his departure from county government. "He was a one-of-a-kind person."

Mr. Joske, who worked as chief of parks and planning for Los Angeles County before taking the $14,000-a-year top parks job at Marin Civic Center in 1966, promptly scrapped a parks master plan that failed to provide for recreational hubs near population centers along Highway 101.

He launched Stafford Lake, McInnis, McNears Beach and Bay Front parks, talked the state into acquiring China Camp and Rancho Olompali, urged acquisition of 6,000 acres on Mount Tamalpais, and promoted the Open Space District. He boosted a growing system of bicycle, riding and hiking trails, as well as preservation of Bolinas Lagoon.

Mr. Joske moved the county fair from the Marin Art & Garden Center in Ross to the Civic Center grounds during a storied career in which he also headed Marin Center operations. The outspoken parks advocate fought back plans in 1973 to merge his department with the planning and public works departments, calling the efficiency proposal by County Administrator John Barrows "a step backward."

Barrows this week recalled Mr. Joske as an administrator who performed well, doing "a good job" with a focus on preserving parkland. "He was certainly dedicated to the county park system, improving and adding to it where he could," Barrows said.

Mr. Joske was born in Germany, the son of a Jewish lawyer, and fled to France with his family to avoid Nazi persecution. He wandered Europe as a refugee after being separated from his family for a time, then worked as an estate gardener and fruit farm manager. He served in both the French and U.S. armies and attended college in France, New York and California, earning a degree in horticulture and landscape architecture. He was a landscape construction foreman before joining the Los Angeles County engineer's office in 1956.

He lived in Novato for many years, and moved to the city of Sonoma two decades ago, where he built a family home on an acre lot. He traveled and was an active member of the Petanque Club in recent years.

He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Maryse, of Sonoma; two sons, Mark, of Davis, and Alain, of Rohnert Park; a daughter, Marianne, of Sonoma; five grandchildren and a great grandchild.

Plans for a celebration of his life in July are pending. For more information, query arjoske@pacbell.net.

Donations in his memory may be made to the open space districts in Marin or Sonoma counties.

Pierre was also a great friend of many of the members of La Pétanque Marinière and was the person responsible for the county granting conservatorship to our newly formed club in 1972 for the land on which our beautiful courts are located. He was a North West Regional counselor for the FPUSA and one of the Founders of The Valley of the Moon Pétanque Club in Sonoma.

An interview with Pierre Joske, the first general manager of the Marin County Open Space District; hosted by Martin Rosen, former president of the Trust for Public Land can be seen by clicking on the following links:

Pierre Joske Interview; 1 0f 2

Pierre Joske Interview; 2 0f 2

Guerrilla Pétanque in Lamorinda

2011-05-10T09:27:00.000-07:00

This coming weekend there is a lot of serious Petanque happening in the area, notably the National Doubles Tournament in Fresno. Get there if you can!

For those who really cannot get to Fresno but are looking for another way to get some excitement on this coming Sunday the 15 th. we will be having another Guerrilla Petanque Tournament at the Lamorinda Petanque Club courts.

It really is a crazy idea because the Weather Man says we have a 70% chance of rain, and I believe him. He's been right more often than not. But so what? It is Guerrilla Petanque after all, and what's a little rain between petanquers? Bring your umbrella, rain gear, scuba gear, or whatever and come and meet the challenge. Also bring a little picnic and some drinks. We will have a couple of gazebos set up for shelter so that you can at least be in the dry when you have lunch.

We play our Guerrilla Petanque on a set course of 13 pitches. We will play doublette and if you arrive with a partner you will play together for the entire match. If you arrive alone we will organise a good partner for you.

There will be a nominal entry fee of $5.00 per person. You don't have to pay. Crazy? No! You see, there will be cash prizes awarded but only those who have paid will be eligible for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place based on your final team score after 2 rounds of play. That means twice around the 13 pitches..

100% of any money paid for entry fees will be divided fairly between 1st 2nd and 3rd place.

It is really just for fun, but it is pretty challenging as well. Come along.

Etienne

Visit our blog at lamorindapetanque.blogspot.com

LPM Tête á Tête Tournament 2011

2011-05-09T09:40:00.000-07:00

Everyone seemed to have a nice time at yesterday's tête á tête (singles) tournament. There were an even number of competitors on both sides as twelve men and twelve women competed. After the dust had settled the victorious were:

1^st Place Men’s: Paul Kos $38 + ribbon w/ crepe & brioche sac

1^st Place Women’s: Verena Rytter $38 + ribbon w/ crepe & brioche sac

2^nd Place Men’s: Jacques Lecouturier $22 + ribbon

2^nd Place Women’s: Peggy Matsuda $22 + ribbon /

3^rd Place Men’s: Patrick Vaslet $15 + ribbon /

3^rdPlace Women’s: Tie Sabine Mattei $7.50 + ribbon / Carolina Jones $7.50

La Boule d'Or, San Francisco

2011-05-08T23:16:00.001-07:00

San Francisco's own La Boule d'Or pétanque club, now has their very own website. Click here to visit the site

Tête á Tête Tournament

2011-05-02T09:41:00.000-07:00

Saturday, May 7
Men's & Women's Tête à Tête (Singles) Tournament
$7.00 Entry Fee

Registration ends at: 10:00 a.m. Games start at 10:30 a.m.
Men’s Tournament / Woman’s Tournament
Cash Prizes for the first three places in each tournament

Registration and cut-off, and tournament start times will be honored.

Be on time!

County needs to move quickly on assessing public safety building

2011-04-30T17:28:00.000-07:00

Marin Independent Journal Editorial

Posted: 04/28/2011 03:00:00 AM PDT

IT MAKES SENSE for Marin to take a closer look at whether the Marin Commons office complex could be turned into the county's public safety complex.

The other choice is building a new facility near the Marin Civic Center.

It appears the county could save money in both short- and long-term costs by buying the office complex just west of Highway 101 off Lucas Valley Road.

County staff estimates it could cost $450,000 more to find out whether the Marin Commons meets the county's space and security needs as well as to determine the seismic safety of the 1970s-era building.

That's a lot of money, especially right now, when services are being cut and county workers being laid off.

The evaluation process also means spending more on consultants, which makes us nervous for the reasons in the previous sentence.

The public safety project is a worthy — if expensive — one.

Supervisors need to get the county's communications center and emergency services out of the Civic Center and into a building more capable of surviving a major earthquake. Two grand jury reports have stressed the importance of completing this project as soon as possible.

Click here for the complete article

Petaluma High French students get petanque-y

2011-04-20T11:05:00.000-07:00

Do you Pétanque?

French teacher Sarah Wadsworth and about 25 Petaluma High School French students got a lesson in the classic French game (think of something akin to bocce) from the Petaluma Valley Pétanque Club. The lesson was given in French in Oak Hill Park last Friday afternoon.
Click on full article for further reading.

LPM Polos

2011-04-19T23:53:00.000-07:00

LPM introduces Gildan quality polo shirts embroidered with our logo. These shirts are available now for pre-order. Actual price per shirt will vary commensurate on the total amount of shirts ordered.
Send your order to: marinbouliste@gmail.com

2011-04-19T22:10:00.000-07:00

PETANQUE from The Rats on Vimeo.

2011 Lentils & Sausage Picnic

2011-04-18T21:28:00.000-07:00

After last month's tournament played, for the most part, in the rain, the skies looked favorably upon our 2011 Lentils & sausage Picnic and Panaché Open. The turn-out was quite large with some 45 players and approximately 60 people enjoying the food.
This was also the first tournament to feature LPM's brand new scoreboards.

FIRST PLACE
Antonia Paulsen Christine Cragg Larrry Cragg

SECOND PLACE
Jacques Mathieu John Mengshol John Krauer

THIRD PLACE
Jacques Avedissian Joe La Torre Henriette Matocq

Click here to view a slideshow of the day

cochonnet on a roll....

2011-04-09T08:26:00.000-07:00

Here's a fantastic video of a little wooden ball rolling along, plinking out J.S. Bach's bmv 147 or jesu, joy of man's desiring, actually an ad for a cel phone case, but what creativity. Watch it in HD full screen. Thanks to PA

LPM - Lentils & Sausage Picnic

2011-03-29T12:08:00.000-07:00

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Lentils & Sausage Picnic
PANACHE Tournament

Family and friends welcome - Open to all **

Tournament Fee $7.00

Tournament Registration ends @ 10:30
Lunch served @ 11:30
Games begin after lunch @ 12:30 or ASAP

Prizes will be awarded by winning scores as well as by raffle.

- Menu -
Lentils, Sausage, Salad, Brie & Bread
(Bring your own plate and utensils)

Picnic Cost $11.00 per person

! Reservation Required for Picnic !
Reserve by Thursday, April 7
Alain Efron 479-5820 or lutecemeister@gmail.com

For up-to-date-tournament information
www.cochonnetmarin.com or petanque-marin.blogspot.com
Christine’s cell (415) 302-5069

Lamorinda Pétanque

2011-03-29T12:07:00.000-07:00

SOMA Interactive Pétanque

2011-03-28T12:02:00.000-07:00

On Friday, April 8th, from 6-9 PM, will be an art opening called

Spread
Artists Reception April 8, 6-9pmp
Closing Happy Hour April 27th 5-7pm
Show dates April 6-27th
SOMArts Gallery
934 Brannan Street
San Francisco, CA 94103

In this exhibition, I will install an indoor petanque court (30'x10') in the gallery space which will be playable for the month of April. During the opening, I have invited three seasoned players from La Boule d'Or who have won national and international championships, Joss and Jean Krauer and Jacques Biscay, to take on all comers with previous experience. If you have played before, you are welcome to try your skills against them in triplettes during the opening. If you have never played, you are welcome to come by during the rest of the month and learn the game. There will be informal lessons and games scheduled and unscheduled throughout the month.

Let it rain in April, there will be a place to play

Best,
Paul Kos

California Commemorative Cup

2011-03-14T11:11:00.000-07:00

The California Commemorative Cup took place yesterday, the first time it was open to competitors throughout the entire state of California. Twenty-four teams showed up for the games and it seemed that a fun, although a cold and wet day was had by all. The weather was an issue from the start as a thirty percent chance of showers were forecast for the afternoon. With all of the latest computer and radar storm tracking, the prognosticators were not off by very much at all. After lunch the small drizzle turned into larger drops and by late afternoon during the final match, it was raining enough to turn the terrain into areas of large puddles. Even with all of the inclement weather trying to impede the competition, the die-hards trudged on until the last point was played.
After the "dust had settled" the winners emerging were:

FIRST PLACE: Alain Gusella & Phimprapha Nielsen
SECOND PLACE: Jean Claude Bunand & Verena Rytter

CONSOLANTE FIRST PLACE - Hans Kurz & Lisa Vaughan
CONSOLANTE SECOND PLACE - Larry & Christine Cragg

LPM would like to thank all of those who journeyed from afar to make the event as enjoyable as it turned out to be.

Click here to view the slideshow.

La Pétanque Marinière

La Pétanque Marinère Clothing and Accessories

Valley of the Moon Pétanque Club - 2012 Season

March 2012 Tournament

LPM 2012 Calendar

2012 Bay Area & Beyond Calendar

Bryant Park, NYC soundwalk

Santa Monica Update - Pétanque

Hymne des Fraternises- Joyeux Noel

Petanque club seeks funds for Zanesfield, Ohio project

Palisades Park shuffle board courts now pétanque playground

Pétanque Euro-Cup 2011 (CB Monegasque - Duc de Nice )

Panier de Noël - La Boule d'Or

Pétanque in Fernandina

Park Reopens in Menlo Park

Meet the Fresno Pétanque Club

Pétanque comes to Santa Monica

Pétanque America Open 2011 - Results

Pétanque America Open 2011

Petanque - The Greatest Game You Never Heard Of.

From the Author

boules, bier und brats - VOMPC

County to buy San Rafael office building for public safety complex

Jacques Pépin Tribute Video

Tino Lofaro Memorial Tournament

Can Britain Come Out To Play

Wine Country Classic - Tino Lofaro Memorial

Wrap-up of Fresno Juniors trip to Luxembourg

Emile Furlan Memorial Invitation

Pétanque in Bellevue Downtown Park

For Pepin, Cooking Is About Technique, Not Stardom

FPUSA NW Regional - Men's & Women's Singles

NW Region Doubles and Triples

Sunday August 14th

5th Annual Bay Area & Beyond Interclub Tournament

Los Angeles Pétanque Club

July 23 - SW regional men's and women's singlesJuly 24 - SW regional selct mixed tripletsSignup forms

Happy Bastille Day

FPUSA NW REGIONAL SELECT MIXED DOUBLES - registration

FPUSA NW REGIONAL SELECT MIXED DOUBLES - Lodging

Ninth Annual Bastille Day Petanque Event in Brooklyn on July 10th and in TriBeCa on July 14th

La Boule New Yorkaise at La Marseillaise

At the World's largest tournament which started this morning in Marseille:4624 teams of 3, so 13872 players in all. One of the teams representing the USA: Ernesto, Yngve & Steve from La Boule NY won their first game 13-8. Well done guys!

Pétanque in Fresno. KQED -The California Report

Valley of the Moon Pétanque

Petaluma Pétanque

BASTILLE DAY CELEBRATION at The Ledford House in Albion

Edmonds WA Pétanque Club

Spectators at the Pan Am Qualifier and Federation Cup

UBK Studios on Pétanque

petanque score iphone app

Kentfield Welcomes Pétanque to Creekside Park

After Hours Hong Kong

By JESSICA YU

NW Regional Mixed Triples @ La Boule d'Or, SF

Hong Kong Pétanque

Petanque Tournament

Hotelier transforms quaint Shelter Island inn

Benicia to Host French Marketplace

LPM - Steak Picnic

La Boule d'Or, San Francisco

2012 New Zealand International Open

Pétanque America Open 2011

Marin parks visionary Pierre Joske dies at 82

Guerrilla Pétanque in Lamorinda

LPM Tête á Tête Tournament 2011

La Boule d'Or, San Francisco

Tête á Tête Tournament

County needs to move quickly on assessing public safety building

Petaluma High French students get petanque-y

LPM Polos

2011 Lentils & Sausage Picnic

cochonnet on a roll....

LPM - Lentils & Sausage Picnic

Lamorinda Pétanque

SOMA Interactive Pétanque

California Commemorative Cup

July 23 - SW regional men's and women's singles
July 24 - SW regional selct mixed triplets
Signup forms

At the World's largest tournament which started this morning in Marseille:
4624 teams of 3, so 13872 players in all. One of the teams representing the USA: Ernesto, Yngve & Steve from La Boule NY won their first game 13-8. Well done guys!