Boys and their Balls - Part 56

Pétanque

Pétanque, also known as Boules (which means balls in French), is a game developed in France.  Above, Joueurs de Boules (Game of Bowls), a 1908 painting by Matisse.  Apparently there was already a tradition of playing the game naked.

The object of the game is to toss balls as close as possible to a target ball.  It can be played with one or more players on each team, and the team that gets a ball closest to the target wins.  Above, measuring the distance to the orange target ball.

This birthday card was called "Boules and balls."

Chris Hughes and Kem Cetinany were on the British dating show Love Island in 2017, along with girlfriends, but the surprising show development was the bromance between Chris and Kem.  In 2018 they starred in a reality show You vs Chris & Kem, where they took part in challenges sent in by viewers.  One challenge was to play naked boules, which they did, above, though they seem to be paying more attention to each other than to the game.

Petanque or boules has become a favorite activity at nudist resorts worldwide.

Above, a nude boules tournament in Limburg, Holland is crashed by a clothed streaker.

Petanque players at the Cypress Cove nudist resort in Florida.

Petanque at Cypress Cove.

Petanque at Cypress Cove.

This leaked photo of New Zealand judge David Saunders raking his petanque court caused a scandal in 2016.  In 2021, after the judge had retired, he went public about his nudist lifestyle.

Bocce is another game similar to petanque, though in bocce the balls are bowled at the target, and in petanque they are thrown.  But naked bocce has never become popular at nudist resorts like petanque has.  Above, bocce players at a Burning Man festival.

We close with a note about one of the rules in petanque.  If the losing side scores no points at all, it's called a "fanny," and the loser(s) are supposed to kiss the bottom of a girl named Fanny.  Well, what if a girl named Fanny isn't available?  I'm sure another fanny could be be found for kissing.