Petanque-a-tonk

Petanque, pronounced "peh-tonk" is a VERY popular game in the south of France.  It is pretty similar to bocce ball but as you can see in the photo below, the metal ball (hollow and about the size of an orange) is tossed palm down with backspin towards a small target ball.

Lucky for us, there happened to be a petanque competition on our first night in Sault!  With one practice game under our belt, we entered the competition... and WON our first game!!!  The locals were super happy about "Hawaiian people" beating them.

Since then, we have played petanque at bbqs, at the house, and at the local petanque field.  Unfortunately, we haven't improved much and the beginners luck has worn off.