Pétanque at Place de Gaulle

Entertaining pétanque at Place de Gaulle

Place De Gaulle is the beating heart of Saint-Paul de Vence. This famous square meets the visitors as the first thing they see and is also known as the city’s “boule pitch”.

Residents enjoy meeting here at all times of the day in the shade of century-old plane trees.

Throughout the summer, boules tournaments are held on Place Charles de Gaulle, bringing the village together in a friendly atmosphere.

The village still remembers the many celebrities who participated in games and tournaments here, such as Lino Ventura, Georges Géret and Yves Montand. Montand even sponsored the boules tournament for the children of the village.

Lose big – Kiss “Fanny”

The sculptor César created a very special decoration for Café de la Place: commonly known as a “Fanny”, representing two juicy buttocks that players have to kiss when they lose without scoring a single point!

A very special “restroom”

Finally, also visit the café and not least their “restroom”, which is decorated with a silver/white glass mosaic on all the walls. The artist Tom Townsey has created a very special work of art of this called – Mirror of Saint-Paul.

In this café and this square, the most famous artists of the golden period had had their go: Pablo Picasso, Miro, Braque, Chagall, just to name a few.

Learn to play pétanque at this historic court yourself

Are Boule and Pétanque the same? Boule (the French word for ball) is the general name for all the different ball games that are mainly played in the southern European countries – Pétanque is the name of a specific ball game.

It is a great experience to book an hour of tuition at the tourist office and learn the game’s facets and expressions on the world’s most famous court. And at the same time enjoy the historic atmosphere that this place exudes.

The tuition takes 1 hour and costs 7 euros per. person. Free for children under 12. Taught in English, French or German.

Information and reservations at the tourist information office:
2 rue Grande
Tel. +33 (0) 4 93 32 86 95
Mail: serviceguide@saint-pauldevence.com.

By Tommy Sverre – 2022