The "The Game Of Pentanque" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Had just posted some photos on a thread on TravelTalkOnline (TTOL) that asked readers to post some of their favorite photos of the island.  

The Pentanque balls with the jack.

One of my photos showed a few French men playing what I had thought to be Bocci Ball.  Metal balls, approxi- mately the size of a baseball, are used and after throwing a smaller ball, known as the jack, a distance away from the players, the players take turns trying to throw their Bocci balls closest to the jack.  Points are awarded based on who may be the closest to the jack.  

Balancing the cigarette while throwing the ball.

Well, I posted the photos with a small explanation of each photo and before long someone responded telling me that Bocci is a similar game, but played in Italy, Croatia, Montenegro and Herzegovina.  What my photo actually showed was called Pentanque or Boules.  It is similar to Bocci, but it is a game played mostly in the south of France and since my photos I posted were taken on the Caribbean island of St. Martin, the French side of the dual-country island, the game more than likely was Pentanque.  One of the main differences is the French balls are noticeably smaller than the Italian balls.  

The player's ball has just landed.

Then I found that I had hijacked the thread with my photo since many posters began telling of their love for the game of Pentanque and that they bring their Pentanque balls with them when they travel to French St. Martin.  One poster, Kathleen, said that they bring 2 sets of Petanque balls to SXM each trip, since her husband loves to play while on the island.  She also mentioned that their checked luggage gets examined every trip because of balls.  Another poster said that it's a great beach game and brought his Boules balls his last trip.  

Measuring to see which ball is closest to the jack.

Said they cleared customs on the way down from the US, but they were taken away from him at the airport in St. Martin on the way back.  One more poster said they play Pentanque in their home in Spain, but couldn't imagine putting those balls in their suitcase.  And finally, a poster said that there is a court at the new Bikini Beach and quite a few players play on Friday nights.  My photos I have included with this story were taken on a recent Friday evening while vacationing on the French side of St. Martin.  I believe that all were French men and they were taking the game very seriously, using a tape measure to measure and double measure to make sure they had the results correct.  And, I also found it takes a bit more skill to play the game of Pentaque with a cigarette hanging from the corner of your mouth as many of the French men.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  PS - click on photos to view them larger size.