Your hosts at Fron Fawr are keen Pétanque players having learned the games' pleasures holidaying in France - that was before holidaying in Wales and then deciding to live in Pembrokehsire

 

So as just part of your 'cottage holiday to remember' you too will be able to enjoy the delights of a game of Pétanque.  A game on Fron Fawr's competition sized pitch (15 x 4 meters).  You don't have to have your own 'boules', there are plenty available for your use.  That said, Graham and Jackie don't know many friend's who haven't had a holiday where they've been able to play Pétanque and then not purchased their own boules set; the game being that enjoyable.  Hence it's Britain's fastest growing sport.

The game was devised in 1910, in a charming little port between Marseilles and Toulon called La Ciotat. In those days they played the so-called jeu provençale, a game that's very similar to the version still played in the Lyon region and known as La boule Lyonnaise. The rules of the jeu provençale stipulate that a player takes a run-up of two paces, gaining momentum before letting fly with the boule.
        It happened one day that one of the game's great adherents, a certain Jules LeNoir, was confined to a wheelchair as a result of an accident. He was mortified, believing that this would deprive him of the pleasure of the game for ever.
        The other villagers, however, were so concerned for their friend that they voted to change the rules of the game so that he would not be at a disadvantage. The new rule stipulated that all players must place both feet in a rough circle scratched in the dirt of about 60 cm (2 feet) in diameter, and take no run-up at all before throwing the boule. In the dialect of the region, it was said that one had to play "pieds tanqués" (feet together), and so was born a new game. If you pronounce the expression "pieds tanqués", particularly with a Provençal accent, it comes out sounding very like "pétanque" [pay-TONK].

Although pétanque at tournament level is normally played on a flat, specially prepared surface, the tradition of the game allows a wide variety of surfaces to be pressed into service. Pathways in public parks are often very suitable, as are many school playgrounds and other hard packed dirt areas. Just about the only surface that is definitely not suitable is a sandy beach, however, special light plastic "beach pétanque" balls can be obtained to make beach play possible.
        The game is played between two competing teams. However, the size of each team can vary from one (mano a mano style) to four or even more at a pinch. Thus any number of guests between two and perhaps ten can enjoy a game. By far the most usual team make ups are two against two (doublettes), and three against three (triplettes). In doublettes each player plays three boules, and in triplettes two; so the total number of boules in the game is almost always twelve.
        So, you've got the family together and perhaps some other guests.  You've got your own set of boules, or one of Fron Fawr's sets, and cochonnet (the little wooden target ball). What now? Well, you need one final item of equipment -- a coin to toss to see which team goes first!
        A player of the team winning the toss selects a starting place and scratches a circle in the ground approximately 1-1/2 foot in diameter (officially 35 to 50 centimetres). He or she then tosses the cochonnet a distance of from six to ten meters (6-1/2 to 11 yards) in any direction; however, it is technically invalid if it ends up less than half a meter (1 1/2 feet) from any wall, tree or other obstacle. As a guide, a meter is a good full pace taken by a fairly tall man.
        The game proper starts when a player of the first team, standing with both feet together within the circle, throws a boule and attempts to place it as near as possible to the cochonnet, preferably between him and the cochonnet. The second team must then play until at least one of its boules is closer to the cochonnet than the first team's boule. This can be accomplished either by more accurate placing of a boule, or by violently shooting the adversary boule out of the game by impact.
        Assuming the second team achieves this before running out of boules, the first team then plays until successful or out of boules, and so on alternately until all the boules of both teams have been played.
        If the cochonnet is displaced, the game continues unless the cochonnet either goes outside an agreed perimeter, or cannot be seen from the circle. In that case the round is annulled and re-started; however, if the cochonnet is knocked away when one team has thrown all its boules and the other team still has boules in hand, the team with the boules earns one point for each one that it has not played.
        When both teams have thrown all their boules, the round is complete and the points are determined. The winning team receives one point for each boule closer than any boule of the opposing team (Thus the maximum possible score in any one round is normally six). A player of the team winning the round again throws the cochonnet and another round begins. The game usually ends when one team has accumulated 13 points.