Pronounced ‘pay-tonk’, the game originated in Provence, not far from Marseille, in the early 1900s. Related to bocce, horseshoes and lawn bowling, the basic objective is to toss (or roll) a number of palm-sized metal balls (boules) as close as possible to a small wooden target ball (le cochonnet). Players on both teams take turns and the team that ends up closest to the target ball after all the metal balls have been played, wins.