Toulouse, a Mecca for Pétanque in France
Toulouse is the French city paying the most bowling alleys for playing petanque, ahead of Marseille, according to a study by INSEE. A hundred sites allow you to practice this leisure activity in the Pink City. The Marseille city is third, behind Reins.
Forget Marseille and the Old Port. From now on, Toulouse is the French city paying the most bowling alleys to play petanque. This is shown by a study carried out by INSEE and relayed by our colleagues from France 3.
The Pink City has 101 bowling alleys, according to INSEE. Among them, 66 are lit grounds allowing you to play pétanque until the end of the night. There are also ten covered spaces dedicated to this hobby.
Marseille behind Toulouse for the petanque grounds
Behind Toulouse, in second place, Reins has 86 places where you can practice petanque. Marseille is only in third place, with 77 bowling alleys.
The Marseille city is however historically associated with this sport. After all, it hosts La Marseillaise, the largest international pétanque competition in the world, the last edition of which was held from July 3 to 6, 2022. The event brings together more than 13,000 annual players.
Ten thousand licensees in Haute-Garonne
It should be noted that Haute-Garonne has many petanque enthusiasts. “In 2019, before the Covid-19 crisis, there were more than 12,000 licensees”, recalls Raymond le Manach, president of the departmental committee on France 3. “Today, it is a little less, around 10 000.”
After all, petanque can be played from an early age both in town and in the countryside.