Playing boules in France

Playing boules is fun. It is played anywhere in France. Most villages have a ‘boule pitch’ where people meet up and play. If you can’t find a boule pitch in your area, you can play anywhere (ie in a lane or drive-way) but it is best to find a flat area! Bumps and holes could make it more challenging!

To play boules you will need to find at least 1 friend! You can play one-on-one or in teams of 2 or 3.

You can have for example 3 teams of 2 people. Once you have sorted out the teams take 2 metal ‘boules’ each.

One person will throw the ‘but’ (jack) also called ‘cochonnet’ and each of you have to aim at it. The nearest to the ‘but’ will get a point and the game is over when a team has 13 points.

My advice: make sure you have a tape measure with you in case you are unsure what boule is the closest. It will avoid arguments! We have a telescopic pen measurer which is more precise!

When we decided to buy our house in Brittany I made sure we had an area for our future boule pitch. See photos. We share this pitch with the guests who stay in our gite (self-catering accommodation). We often play boules with them in the summer and they often enjoy it so much that they buy some boules to take back home with them!

We even have some Irish guests who asked us details about building a boule pitch!

Boules can be purchased from any sports shops in France. In the summer you can even find them in supermarkets in Brittany.

Have a go during your next holiday in France!

To find out how to build a boule pitch see this link here.