London

A daily game of pétanque with a glass of rosé is an essential part of the French holiday experience but, like all holiday pastimes, it’s never as good at home. Or is it? Balls Brothers wine bar at London Bridge runs a free pétanque pitch in the middle of the smart Hay’s Galleria shopping arcade. It’s proved such a hit that there’s also an annual lunchtime pétanque tournament. We decided to take on last year’s winners, The Complete Pétanquers, a trio (all called John) from AHJ Insurance in Aldgate. To beef up the Time Out team, I recruited two Balls Brothers staffers.

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Pétanque couldn’t be more simple, requires no prior experience and can be played on equal terms by young and old, male and female, drunk and sober. In triples, each team has two boules each, which they must throw as near as possible to the golf ball-sized cochonnet. The player or team whose boule is closest to the cochonnet at the end of the frame wins a point. The first team to win 13 points wins the game. You could be 5-0 up, as we found ourselves in the first game against the Pétanquers, but, within seconds, 6-5 down – as we also found, to our dismay. We never quite recovered from this blow, eventually going down 13-7, but the second game was more competitive. We lost a tight encounter 13-11.

OK, so London Bridge isn’t quite the Dordogne, but Hay’s Galleria is a great place to while away a balmy evening with a summer drink (Balls Brothers recommend a bottle of Joseph Perrier Rosé Champagne). And if you really get the hang of it you could win your own body weight in champagne in this year’s tournament. The three Johns won 172 bottles last year. After their victory, unsurprisingly, they got completely Pétanquered.

To book the pétanque pitch at Balls Bros, Hay’s Galleria, Tooley St, SE1 call 020 7407 4301. The City Pétanque Challenge runs June 26-July 7. You can also play Pétanque at the Prince Of Wales, 48 Cleaver Square, SE11 (020 7735 9916).Perfect pétanque

The boys at Balls Brothers’ expert advice

1. Always throw underarm, with the knees bent and with the hand and ball
facing downwards.

2. You need a good cop and a bad cop in your team. The good cop is the pointeur, who always goes first and aims to get his ball in pole position just in front of the cochonnet. The bad cop is the tireur, who blasts opponents’ balls out of the way.

3. If you’re the tireur, your throw needs a much steeper trajectory and a bit of backspin to achieve the speed and accuracy to remove your opponents’ balls.

4. Discretion is often the better part of valour – if your team has the nearest boule to the cochonnet and one left to throw, don’t be greedy. You could easily end up losing the end.

5. You’ll play better after a couple of cheeky Châteauneufs. No more, no less.